The Olds Grizzlys are a
junior A
Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team in the
Alberta Junior Hockey League
The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. There are currently 16 teams in the league. The reg ...
. They play in
Olds, Alberta
Olds ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada within Mountain View County and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. It is approximately south of Red Deer and north of Calgary. The nearest towns are Didsbury to the south, Bowden to the north, Su ...
, Canada with home games at the
Olds & District Sports Complex.
History
The Olds Grizzlys joined the
Alberta Junior Hockey League
The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. There are currently 16 teams in the league. The reg ...
(AJHL) after the
Taber Golden Suns
The Taber Golden Suns were a Junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League based in Taber, Alberta, Canada.
History
The Golden Suns were founded in 1974 as an expansion club, lasting seven seasons before being sold and relocated ...
franchise relocated to Olds following the 1980–81 season. The Grizzlys were a dominant team in the AJHL in the early 1990s with three straight league championships and a
Centennial Cup
The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...
title as Junior A national champions, won on home ice, in 1994.
On June 30, 2017, the league announced that the franchise had been transferred to new ownership called the "Friends of the Grizzlys".
Season-by-season records
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T/OTL = Ties/Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''
Junior A National Championship
The
National Junior A Championship
The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...
, known as the
Centennial Cup
The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...
and formerly as the Royal Bank Cup or RBC Cup, is the postseason tournament for the Canadian national championship for Junior A hockey teams that are members of the
Canadian Junior Hockey League
The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) is an association of Canadian junior A ice hockey leagues and teams and was formed in November 1993, emerging from the Canada West Association of Junior 'A' Hockey. The champion of the Canadian Junior H ...
since 1971. Since 1986, the tournament has consisted of the regional Junior A champions and a previously selected host team. Since 1990, the national championship has used a five-team tournament format when the regional qualifiers were designated as the
ANAVET Cup (Western),
Doyle Cup
The Doyle Cup is an ice hockey trophy won through a best-of-7 series conducted annually by the Canadian Junior Hockey League to determine the Pacific region berth in the Centennial Cup, the national Junior A championship. From 1971 to 2021, the se ...
(Pacific),
Dudley Hewitt Cup
The Dudley-Hewitt Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy awarded to the Central Canadian Junior A champion. The trophy is currently decided by round robin tournament format, at the conclusion of the playoffs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, ...
(Central), and
Fred Page Cup
The Fred Page Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy, won by a tournament conducted by the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The award is given to the winner of a round-robin and playoff between the Bogart Cup champions of the Central Canada Hoc ...
(Eastern). From 2013 to 2017, the qualifiers were the
Dudley Hewitt Cup
The Dudley-Hewitt Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy awarded to the Central Canadian Junior A champion. The trophy is currently decided by round robin tournament format, at the conclusion of the playoffs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, ...
(Central),
Fred Page Cup
The Fred Page Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy, won by a tournament conducted by the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The award is given to the winner of a round-robin and playoff between the Bogart Cup champions of the Central Canada Hoc ...
(Eastern), and the
Western Canada Cup
The Western Canada Cup (WCC); was the Junior 'A' ice hockey championship for western Canada from 2013 to 2017. The annual five-team event consisted of the host team and the champions from the four western leagues (Alberta Junior Hockey League, Bri ...
champions and runners-up (Western #1 and #2).
The tournament begins with round-robin play between the five teams followed by the top four teams playing a semifinal game, with the top seed facing the fourth seed and the second facing the third. The winners of the semifinals then face each other in final game for the national championship. In some years, the losers of the semifinal games face each other for a third place game.
NHL alumni
The following former Grizzlys have gone on to play in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL):
*
Darcy Campbell
Darcy Campbell (born May 12, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Playing career
Campbell played two years of junior hockey in the Alberta Ju ...
*
Phil Crowe
*
Kevin Haller
Kevin Wade Haller (born December 5, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with seven teams between 1990 and 2002. He won the Stanley Cup in 1993 while with the Mon ...
*
Nathan Lawson Nathan Lawson may refer to:
* Nathan Lawson (ice hockey)
* Nathan Lawson (rugby union)
{{hndis, Lawson, Nathan ...
*
Jay Rosehill
*
Matthew Yeats
Matthew Yeats (born April 6, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played five games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Washington Capitals during the 2003–04 season. The rest of his career, which lasted fr ...
See also
*
List of ice hockey teams in Alberta
This is a list of ice hockey teams in Alberta. It features the leagues they have played for, and championships won.
Since hockey was introduced to Alberta, Canada, in the 1890s, teams at all levels have come and gone. While the professional rank ...
References
External links
Olds Grizzlys websiteAlberta Junior Hockey League website
{{Alberta Sports
Alberta Junior Hockey League teams
Ice hockey teams in Alberta
Ice hockey clubs established in 1981
1981 establishments in Alberta