The Soo Thunderbirds are a Junior "A"

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 from

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants of ...

, Canada. They are a part of the

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Canadian Junior ice hockey league and member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The winner of the NOJHL playoffs competes for the Dudley Hewitt Cup ...

(NOJHL).

History

Soo Thunderbirds first came into being as a junior hockey program in from 1978 to 1982 through a group started by the late Zoltan Kovacs, Sr. Zoltan, who emigrated to Canada from Hungary in 1956, started the Thunderbirds of the former

International Junior B Hockey League The International Junior B Hockey League (IJBHL) was a Canadian junior hockey, Junior ice hockey league in the Northern Ontario and Northern Michigan regions. The league was controlled by the Northern Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Ama ...

to keep more young hockey players at home. Abbie Carricato coached the Thunderbirds during Zoltan's ownership period (1978-1982). The Thunderbirds won three IJHL championships during Zoltan's ownership. The IJHL later folded. The Soo Thunderbirds announced they would become the Soo Jr. Greyhounds for 2002–03 to establish closer relations with the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (often shortened to Soo Greyhounds) are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Greyhounds play home games at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The present team was ...

. This only lasted one season and became the Soo Thunderbirds once again. In 2012, the Thunderbirds won the NOJHL League Championship as well as the coveted

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, ...

. They went on to play at the

Royal Bank Cup Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Humboldt, Saskatchewan Humboldt is a city in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located 113 km east of Saskatoon at the junction of Highway 5 and Highway 20. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Humboldt No. 370. History Named after Ger ...

where they lost in the semifinals. The Thunderbirds won NOJHL titles back-to-back in 2014–15 and 2015–16. In 2015, the Thunderbirds would again win the Dudley Hewitt Cup but lose in the finals in 2016. Following the 2015–16 season and Dudley Hewitt Cup campaign, it was announced that owner, Albert Giommi, had sold the organization to a group called The Tech 921 Ltd., led by former

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 ...

player and

coach,

Denny Lambert Denny Lambert (born January 7, 1970) is a former professional Canadian ice hockey player and member of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, Batchewana First Nation. Lambert was drafted in the Ontario Hockey League where he played for the S ...

. Following the sale, general manager Jamie Henderson and team president Kevin Cain both resigned. Head coach Jordan Smith was later also assigned the general manager position. In 2017, the team was struggling financially and the ownership had not committed playing the 2017–18 season. On March 17, local businessman Darren Smyl took over operations of the Thunderbirds in order to keep the team from leaving. However, general manager and head coach Jordan Smith would move on to become the associate coach of the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

in the

. Smith would be replaced by

John Parco John Parco (born August 25, 1971) is an Italian-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played most of his professional career with Asiago HC in the Serie A. He is formerly the head coach of the Soo Thunderbirds in the Northern Ontario ...

, a local who played most of his professional career in Europe and had been coaching

SG Cortina Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is an ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at ''Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio'', located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. They currently play in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A. Achievement ...

in Italy. The Thunderbirds also changed rinks and moved into the John Rhodes Community Centre after playing at the Essar Centre. With the ownership change, the Thunderbirds updated to a new color scheme and logo in blue, orange, and white. In 2021, Smyl sold the team to an ownership composed of former NHL player

Trevor Daley Trevor Daley (born October 9, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Everblades of the ECHL and also serves as a hockey operations advisor for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played ...

, longtime professional player

Cole Jarrett Rodney Coleman Jarrett (born January 4, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman, who played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Islanders. As of 2021, he is an owner and the head coach of the Soo ...

, and Lee-Anne Jarrett. Cole took over as head coach of the team and Jamie Henderson was brought back as general manager.

Season-by-season results

Dudley Hewitt Cup

Central Canada Championships
''Winners of the

NOJHL The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Canadian Junior ice hockey league and member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The winner of the NOJHL playoffs competes for the Dudley Hewitt Cup ...

OJHL The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best d ...

SIJHL The Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) is a junior A ice hockey league and a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and Hockey Canada. The league operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of M ...

, and Host''
Round robin play with 2nd vs 3rd in semi-final to advance against 1st in the finals.

Royal Bank Cup

CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
'' Dudley Hewitt Champions - Central, Fred Page Champions - Eastern, Western Canada Cup Champions - Western, Western Canada Cup - Runners Up and Host''
Round robin play with top 4 in semi-final and winners to finals.

References

External links

Soo Thunderbirds
{{NOJHL Sport in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League teams 1999 establishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1999