The Iroquois Falls Storm are a Canadian Junior "A" Hockey team based out of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. They currently play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. The team was originally known as the Elliot Lake Bobcats in Elliot Lake, Ontario, until the 2014–15 season; where they moved to Cochrane, Ontario as the Cochrane Crunch until their move to Iroquois Falls in 2023. The Storm are the third NOJHL franchise to be located in Iroquois Falls after the Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis/Abitibi Eskimos (1999-2015) and Iroquois Falls Eskis (2015-17).

History The expansion of the Bobcats made them the tenth team in the independent Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) and one of six 2007 expansion teams. The Bobcats were Elliot Lake's first Junior "A" team since the folding of the Elliot Lake Ice in 1999. On September 7, 2007, the Elliot Lake Bobcats played their first game, at home, against the Espanola Kings. The Bobcats also picked up their first win as they defeated the Kings 3–2.

On January 1, 2008, the Bobcats hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 9–2. This was the third game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMHL clubs. The Bobcats played against Kazakhstan's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 squad on January 8, 2009, in an international exhibition game. The Bobcats won the game 5–3.

In mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario, and its 500-seat outdoor arena would host a regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era. Elliot Lake won the game 8–2 in front of an estimated 400 fans.

On April 2, 2011, the Bobcats won the 2011 Russell Cup Championship over the South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 with an 8–5 victory. The Bobcats were down 3-games-to-1 in the series, but came back with three straight victories to win their first league title. The Bobcats are the first GMHL team that did not participate in the inaugural 2006–07 season to win the Russell Cup.

In 2011–12, the Bobcats finished fifth in the GMHL. The Bobcats played the Bobcaygeon Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Bucks 2-games-to-1. In the league quarter-final, their season ended losing 3-games-to-1 to the South Muskoka Shield.

In April 2012, the Elliot Lake Bobcats became members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, leaving the GMHL after five seasons, two regular season titles, and winning the 2011 championship. On September 7, 2012, the Bobcats played their first game in the NOJHL. They played the North Bay Trappers and lost 8–0. On September 21, 2012 the Bobcats won their first NOJHL game 6–2 over the Blind River Beavers.

The Bobcats moved to Cochrane, Ontario, for the 2014–15 NOJHL season and became the Cochrane Crunch. In April 2015, the Crunch qualified for the league finals by sweeping the Powassan Voodoos in four games to become East Division champions.

On March 1, 2018, the NOJHL announced that the Crunch would host the 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup, their first time hosting the Central Canadian Junior A championship tournament. On April 24, 2018, the Crunch defeated the Rayside-Balfour Canadians for the NOJHL championship and made their first appearance in a Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament. They finished without a win the round-robin portion of the 2018 tournament.

In August 2020, Ryan Leonard sold the Crunch to former Ontario Hockey League player Tom Nickolau.

On April 29, 2023 the Crunch would apply for a potential relocation to Iroquois Falls. On May 9, 2023 the relocation of the Crunch would be approved by the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. With the Crunch relocating, the team would rebrand; changing the name from the Crunch to the Storm. The main reason the Crunch moved was due to poor attendance over their final few seasons in Cochrane.

Season-by-season standings Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts Result PlayoffsElliot Lake Bobcats2007–08 42 26 13 - 3 203 170 55 5th GMHL Lost semi-final2008–09 43 31 8 - 4 276 119 66 4th GMHL Lost Division Final2009–10 42 35 4 - 3 297 152 73 1st GMHL Lost semi-final2010–11 42 38 2 - 2 320 144 78 1st GMHL Won League2011–12 42 28 11 - 3 236 145 59 5th GMHL Lost quarter-final2012–13 48 15 31 0 2 147 238 32 6th NOJHL Lost quarter-final2013–14 56 26 24 0 6 200 203 58 5th NOJHL Lost quarter-finalCochrane Crunch2014–15 52 29 21 0 2 226 188 60 2nd of 5, East 5th of 9, NOJHL Won Div. Semifinals, 4–2 (Eskimos)Won Div. Finals, 4–0 (Voodoos)Lost League Finals, 1–4 (Thunderbirds)2015–16 54401022298169841st of 6, East 2nd of 12, NOJHL Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 (Rock)Lost Div. Finals 1–4 (Gold Miners)2016–17 56381341257175812nd of 6, East 3rd of 12, NOJHL Lost div. semi-finals, 2–4 (Rock)2017–18 56361712233165752nd of 6, East4th of 12, NOJHL Won Div. Semifinals, 4–1 (Gold Miners)Won Div. Finals, 4–1 (Rock)Won League Finals, 4–2 (Canadians)2018–19 563120—5200186675th of 6, East6th of 12, NOJHL Lost div. quarter-finals, 0–2 (Rock)2019–20 562625—5166189574th of 6, East8th of 12, NOJHL Won Div. Quarterfinals, 2–1 (Gold Miners)Postseason cancelled2020–21 21415—255122103rd of 4, East6th of 9, NOJHL No playoffs were held2021–22 48243—39127076th of 6, East12th of 12, NOJHL Missed Playoffs2022–23 58749—299327166th of 6, East12th of 12, NOJHL Missed PlayoffsIroquois Falls Storm2023–24 581639—3157273354th of 6, East9th of 12, NOJHL Lost div. quarter-finals, 0–4 (Rock)2024–25 52222613161202488th of 12, NOJHL Lost div. quarter-finals, 0–4 (Cubs)

Playoffs 2008 Lost semi-final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Nipissing Alouettes 4-games-to-1 in bye round Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Deseronto Storm 4-games-to-2 in quarter-final Bradford Rattlers defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-none in semi-final 2009 Lost Division Final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Minden Riverkings 3-games-to-none in division quarter-final Received a bye through Division Semi-final South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-1 in division final 2010 Lost semi-final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Algoma Avalanche 3-games-to-none in quarter-final Deseronto Storm defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-2 in semi-final 2011 Won League Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Powassan Dragons 3-games-to-none in quarter-final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Toronto Canada Moose 4-games-to-none in semi-final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 in final 2012 Lost quarter-final Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Bobcaygeon Bucks 2-games-to-1 in bye round South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 3-games-to-1 in quarter-final 2013 Lost quarter-final Sudbury Nickel Barons defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final 2014 Lost quarter-final Abitibi Eskimos defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final

Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A ChampionshipsNOJHL – OJHL – SIJHL – HostRound-robin play with 2nd vs. 3rd in semifinal to advance against 1st in the finals. Year Round-robin Record Standing Semifinal Gold medal game 2018 L, Thunder Bay North Stars (SIJHL), 0–4L, Dryden Ice Dogs (Host/SIJHL), 0–3L, Wellington Dukes (OJHL), 3–6 0–3–0 4th of 4 did not advance 2019Host W, Thunder Bay North Stars (SIJHL), 4–1L, Oakville Blades (OJHL), 2–6OTW, Hearst Lumberjacks (NOJHL), 5–4 2–1–0 2nd of 4 L, Hearst Lumberjacks, 0–6 Did not advance

Retired numbers 22 – Dustin Cordeiro 74 – Connor Lovie

References

Further reading

External links Cochrane Crunch Webpage