The 2014-2015 Champion Tillsonburg Thunder are a

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 based in

Tillsonburg Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London, on Highway 3 at the junction of Highway 19. History Prior to European settlement, the present site of Tillso ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. They play in the Western Ontario Super Hockey League.

History

The Tillsonburg Vipers were founded in 2001 as a Senior "AAA" team in the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

's Major League Hockey. In the 2003–04 season, the Vipers reached the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

finals, but lost to the Aylmer Blues 4-games-to-2. Tillsonburg's improved on their 2003-04 record in the 2005-06 season. After finishing the regular season in second place with 17 wins in 30 games, the Vipers knocked off the

Cambridge Hornets The Cambridge Hornets were a Senior "AAA" ice hockey team based out of Cambridge, Ontario. They played in the Ontario Hockey Association's Major League Hockey. The new Cambridge Hornets were brought into Southwestern Senior A Hockey League in 199 ...

4-games-to-3 to make the league finals. In the league final, the Vipers fell to the

Dundas Real McCoys The Dundas Real McCoys are a Canadian senior ice hockey team based in Dundas, Ontario. They play in the Ontario Hockey Association's Major League Hockey. The Real McCoys have won two National Championships, winning the 1986 Hardy Cup as Cana ...

4-games-to-3. The MLH fell apart in 2008, just after the

Brantford Blast Brantford Blast are a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association's Allan Cup Hockey, from Brantford, Ontario. The team was established in 2000, and play their games at the Brantford Civic Centre. The Blast were the winn ...

won the league's first ever

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

. The team filled the gap when the disgruntled

left the MLH, the collegiate

Windsor St. Clair Saints The Windsor St. Clair Saints were a Senior "AAA" ice hockey team based in St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. They joined the Ontario Hockey Association's Major League Hockey in 2006, only to leave in 2008. History The St. Clair Sa ...

, walked away from the league. The Vipers decided it was their time to leave as well and applied to join the

Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior Hockey League The WOAA Senior AA Hockey League is a Canadian senior ice hockey league governed by the Western Ontario Athletic Association. The league operates in Southwestern Ontario. History Format The league uses Hockey Canada playing rules but is not o ...

. The WOAA is an independent league with no connections to the

. It classifies itself as Senior "AA", and allows for both a Senior "AA" and Senior "A" championship come playoff time. On May 14, 2008, the WOAA granted expansion to the Tillsonburg Vipers. The first ever Tillsonburg WOAA game took place on October 4, 2008, as the Thunder defeated the

Goderich Pirates The Goderich Pirates are a senior hockey team based out of Goderich, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior Hockey League. Championships Goderich has won two WOAA Championship, back in the 1953-54 season an ...

6-5 in overtime in Tillsonburg. The Thunder had a successful first season in the WOAA, earning a record of 11-7-2, registering 24 points, and fifth place in the South Division. Tillsonburg would lose to the Clinton Radars in the "AA" qualifying round, being sent to the "A" playoffs. In the "A" quarter-finals, the Thunder were upset by the Exeter Mohawks in six games, ending their season.

Season-by-season standings

References

External links

Tillsonburg Thunder
{{OHA Senior Ice hockey teams in Ontario Senior ice hockey teams Tillsonburg