The Berlin Dutchmen were an early professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team operating out of

Berlin, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a 1916 referendum change ...

, (renamed Kitchener in 1916) from 1907 in the

Ontario Professional Hockey League The Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a fully professional league and consisted ...

(OPHL). The Berlin team is notable for challenging the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

in 1910 versus the

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

. The dormant team was revived in 1926 as the Kitchener Dutchmen of the

Canadian Professional Hockey League The Canadian Professional Hockey League, also known as Can-Pro, was a minor professional hockey league founded in 1926. After three seasons, it became the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1929. The Can-Pro name was then given to a new league ...

. The dormant name was revived in 1947 as the senior Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, notable for winning Canada a bronze medal at the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were ...

and a silver medal at the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

. The minor junior

Kitchener Dutchmen The Kitchener Dutchmen were a Canada, Canadian junior ice hockey, junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Dutchmen tu ...

continue the name today.

Etymology

"Dutchman" is a misnomer from ''Deutsch'' (German) for a Germanic person. This is even more so for Waterloo County, Ontario, as many of the earliest settlers were so-called "Pennsylvania Dutch".

History

The Dutchmen were one of the founding teams of the OPHL in 1907. Starting play in January 1908, the club would be a member of the OPHL until 1911. The club would win the OPHL championship once, in 1910, giving the team a chance to challenge for the Stanley Cup, then the Canadian professional championship trophy. Berlin played in Montreal against the Wanderers and were defeated 7–3. The OPHL would only survive for only one more year before folding.

Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen

The name was revived in 1927 as the Kitchener Dutchmen, a professional team in the

(which became the International Hockey League). In 1929, the franchise was moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, becoming the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and eventually the Cleveland Barons of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. The name was revived again in 1947 as the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen. This senior amateur ice hockey team represented Canada at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

. The team qualified to represent Canada in Italy after beating the Fort William Beavers 4-1 to win the

1956 Allan Cup The 1956 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1955–56 senior "A" season. The event was hosted by the Vernon Canadians and Vernon, Kelowna, and Kamloops, British Columbia. The 1956 playoff marked the 48th time t ...

. They captured a bronze medal placing behind Russian and the United States. They competed in the Olympics in 1960 after the Whitby Dunlops, who won the 1959 Allan Cup, declined to compete. The K-W Dutchmen played 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. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

Senior Division from 1947 until 1963. The Senior Division Dutchmen won the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

in 1955 and 1957, the national senior amateur men's ice hockey championship. These Dutchmen were the last self-contained club (compared to the later purpose built

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

) to represent Canada in the Olympic hockey tournament—they were also the only club team to represent Canada at two Olympics ( 1956 bronze medal, 1960 silver medal).

Notable players

Hugh Lehman Frederick Hugh "Old Eagle Eyes" Lehman (October 27, 1885 – April 12, 1961) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He started his ice hockey career playing for the Pembroke Lumber Kings and the Berlin Dutchmen. In 1911, Lehman joine ...

- in the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

* Jack McKenzie

References

{{end Defunct ice hockey teams in Kitchener, Ontario 1907 establishments in Ontario 1911 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey teams representing Canada internationally Ice hockey clubs established in 1907 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1911

Etymology

History

Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen

Notable players

References

See also

References