The Strait Pirates are a Junior B

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

Port Hawkesbury Port Hawkesbury (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Chlamhain'') is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County. History ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. The Pirates play at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre and are a member of the

Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League The 'Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League'' (formerly the Nova Scotia Junior B Hockey League) is a Junior "B" ice hockey league in Nova Scotia, Canada, sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The winner of the Nova Scotia playoffs competes for the Don Johnson ...

. The Pirates are the longest countiously running Junior B franchise in Canada.

History

In 1964 a group headed by Tiger Mackie got together to form a junior hockey club in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, in an attempt to create a tenant for the new Port Hawkesbury Arena, which began construction in 1963. The team was dubbed the Strait Pirates, and were accepted into the Cape Breton Junior Hockey League (CBJHL) the following year. For the 1966-67 season the Pirates actively recruited players from across

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The increased strength of the team led to them being kicked out of the CBJHL due to other teams being unable to compete. In 1992 the Northcumberland Junior B Hockey League folded and the Pirates joined the Mainland Junior B Hockey League, who subsequently changed their name to the Nova Scotia Junior B Hockey League (NSJHL). In 1998 the Pirates officially shortened their name from the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates to just simply the Strait Pirates. On April 14, 2017 the team announced that ownership would be transferred to the community for the first time in the teams 53-year history. Adam Rodgers was named as the new team president, former head coach Tim MacMillan was named as general manager, and Brad Raike and Brian Tracey were named as assistant general managers.

NHL alumni

* Aaron Johnson *

Mike McPhee Michael Joseph McPhee (born July 14, 1960) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward. Playing career McPhee began his professional career with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League, after being selected in the sixth-round (124th ...

Award winners

Individual awards

Yearly results

References

{{Reflist

External links

Pirates website
1964 establishments in Nova Scotia Ice hockey clubs established in 1964 Ice hockey teams in Nova Scotia Cape Breton County