The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are a senior ice hockey team based in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Central West Senior Hockey League.
Since it was formed in 1966, the Cataracts hockey club has been awarded the Herder Memorial Trophy eight times as all-Newfoundland senior hockey champions, including three consecutive championships from 2014 to 2016, and were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy on six occasions for finishing first overall in the NSHL regular season. The Cataracts won the senior ice hockey championship of Canada in 2017, winning the club's first Allan Cup.
The Cataracts play their home games at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium, formerly known as the Grand Falls Stadium until March 22, 1991.
History Plans to form a new Grand Falls senior hockey team to re-enter the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL) started at the conclusion of the Central Hockey League's 1965-66 season. A group of ex-Andcos and league executive members, together with a group of volunteers that later formed the Cataracts Booster Club, raised the necessary funds to start a new senior team and pay off the debts remaining of the Andcos hockey club. The Andcos was the previous papertown entry that folded at the end of the 1964–65 season. The start-up group included former Andcos Leo Murphy, Walt Davis, Al Dwyer Jr. and Jim Temple, who all would play many games with the new club.
In July & August 1966 the Central Hockey League sponsored an island-wide contest to pick a new team name.Grand Falls Advertiser July 21, 1966 p.1 The name Cataracts was selected by a Central Hockey League Committee from a list of popular entries.Grand Falls Advertiser September 15, 1966 p.4
The Cataracts joined the NSHL for the 1966–67 season as the sixth team. The Grand Falls Recreation Commission hired Winnipeg native and twelve-year NHL veteran Nick Mickoski as the coach for the town's senior and junior hockey programs. Mickoski would be the Cataracts' first head coach. At the end of the 1967-68 regular season, after their second year, the Cataracts finished in first place and were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy. Mickoski coached the Cataracts for the club's first three seasons before returning to Winnipeg in 1969.
In September 1970 the Cataracts hired 33-year old Jean-Guy Morissette. The Causapscal, Quebec native, who played in one NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens in 1963, was then ranked by many as the top amateur goalie in Canada.The Grand Falls Advertiser September 17, 1970 p.7 Morissette backstopped the Cataracts for two seasons, playing in 68 of 72 regular season games, and was the league's top goaltender in 1972. Jean-Guy helped the Cataracts win their first Herders in 1971 and 1972.
Joe Byrne coached the Cataracts to back-to-back all-Newfoundland senior hockey championship titles in 1981 and 1982. In 1983 the Cats were looking for a three-peat but lost in the finals to the Stephenville Jets in the seventh and deciding game.
The Cataracts did not join the Newfoundland Senior Hockey league in 1983–84 due to significant debts at the conclusion of the previous season. The Grand Falls Sportstop Cataracts joined the Central Beothuck Intermediate Senior Hockey League for the 1983-84 season, winning the league championship in a seven-game final series.
The Cataracts re-joined the NSHL for the 1984–85 season to make it a four-team league. The league permitted teams to hire seven paid "imports" including a goaltender and up to six skaters.The Western Star November 3, 1984 p.30 This created a very competitive league but the Cataracts once again ended the season with a significant deficit, leading to the decision to drop out of the league the following season. The Cataracts would not have a team in a local or provincial league for the next seven seasons.
In 1992 a six-member committee was formed, spearheaded by Mike Browne, to raise money and bring back the Cataracts to senior hockey. In the fall of 1992 the Cataracts entered the Central Beothuck Senior Hockey League to make it a six-team league. The CBSHL had no import players but financial problems were still present in the league.
From 2011 through 2014 the Cataracts were part of the re-formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. Following a first-place league finish at the end of the 2010–2011 season, the Cataracts defeated the Conception Bay North Cee Bee Stars 4–games-to-0 in the Herder final to win the hockey club's first provincial senior hockey championship since 1982. The club was denied a repeat in 2012, losing the Herder final to the Clarenville Caribous in five games.
In game six of the 2014 Herder final, Cataracts' import and league scoring champion Rob Hennigar scored a power play goal in sudden death overtime to win the series four-games-to-two to capture the Herder Memorial Trophy.
The following year Cataracts repeated as all-Newfoundland champions after import player Cam Fergus scored the series-winning winner in overtime to sweep the 2015 Herder final in four games.
In 2016, in a new Herder championship format, the Cataracts completed the Herder three-peat following a sweep of the St. John's Caps who were the Avalon East Senior Hockey League champions.
The Cataracts won their first Allan Cup on April 15, 2017 in Bouctouche, NB after defeating the Lacombe Generals 7–4 in the final.
After a two-year absence from the all-Newfoundland final, the Cats won the Central West championship in 2019 and then defeated the East Coast champions in five games in a best-of-seven series to win the town's 15th Herder.
Crest and sweater design
The primary colours for the Cataracts' jerseys are the traditional green, white and red of the previous Grand Falls senior all-star hockey teams.
The first sweaters worn by the Cataracts hockey team in the fall of 1966 had a new crest designed by Len Sullivan that included the island of Newfoundland, a wheel and a hub containing a picture of trees and a falls. The wheel and hub symbolized Grand Falls as the hub of Newfoundland. The new crest contained the Cataracts three primary colours. The island in the background and the spokes of the wheel were green. The lettering on the wheel was red and the crest background was white.
In 1979 the Cataracts displayed new jerseys with a re-designed crest.
Since 2002 the Cataracts have adopted home and away jerseys of the National Hockey league's Minnesota Wild.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Table key +Key of colors and symbolsColor/symbolExplanationHerder Memorial Trophy champions Led league in points
+Key of terms and abbreviationsTerm or abbreviationDefinitionNSHLNewfoundland Senior Hockey League (1962-1989) or Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (2011-2014)NSHL-CNewfoundland Senior Hockey League (Central Division)CBIHLCentral Beothuck Intermediate Hockey LeagueWCSHLWest Coast Senior Hockey LeagueCWSHLCentral West Senior Hockey LeagueGPNumber of games playedWNumber of winsLNumber of lossesTNumber of tiesOTLNumber of losses in overtime (since the 1999–2000 season)FinishFinal position in division or league standingsGFGoals for (goals scored by the Cataracts)GAGoals against (goals scored by the Cataracts' opponents)PTSNumber of points—Does not applyDNQDid not qualifyn/aNot applicable
+Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts regular season and postseason statistics and results, 1966–presentSeasonLeagueRegular seasonLocal league PostseasonHerder PlayoffsGPWLTOTLGFGAPTSFinishGPWLGFGAResultGPWLGFGAResult1966-67 NSHL40 15 223 - 146 162 33 5th -- - - -- - - -- - DNQ1967-68 NSHL 40 21 15 4 - 197 156 46 1st - -- - - - 7 3 4 31 30 Lost Herder semi-finals 3–4 to Corner Brook Royals1968-69 NSHL 40 17 16 7 - 153 150 41 3rd - -- - - - 6 2 4 19 36 Lost Herder semi-finals 2–4 to Gander Flyers1969-70 NSHL 40 17 18 5 - 173 185 39 4th - -- - - - 7 3 4 30 29 Lost Herder semi-finals 3–4 to Gander Flyers1970-71 NSHL 36 14 17 5 - 148 149 33 3rd - -- - - - 7 4 3 27 16 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Capitals, 4-31971-72 NSHL 36 25 8 3 - 188 98 53 1st - -- - - - 12 12 0 77 24 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Capitals, 4-01972-73 NSHL 36 17 18 1 - 158 149 35 3rd --- - - - 12 4 8 38 54 Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 0-41973-74 NSHL 32 17 11 4- 171 136 38 2nd - -- - - - 10 5 5 64 54 Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 1-41974-75 NSHL 16 8 6 2 - 84 66 18 2nd - -- - - - 2 0 2 11 13 Lost Herder semi-finals to Corner Brook Royals, 0-21975-76 NSHL 20 12 6 2 - 111 71 26 2nd - -- - - - 8 4 4 43 37 Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 1-41976-77 NSHL 32 11 19 2 - 161 179 24 3rd, West - -- - - - 3 1 2 21 21 Lost Herder quarter-finals to Gander Flyers, 1-2 1977-78 NSHL 32 19 12 1 - 200 163 39 3rd, West - -- - - - 3 0 3 8 25 Lost Herder quarter-finals to Gander Flyers, 0-31978-79 NSHL 30 8 15 7 - 135 172 23 5th - -- - - - - - - - - Did not Qualify for playoffs1979-80 NSHL 34 17 15 2 - 191 170 36 3rd - -- - - - 4 1 3 Lost semi-finals 1–3 to Labatt BlueCaps1980-81 NSHL 32 20 9 3 - 198 138 43 1st - -- - - - 11 8 3 47 33 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-21981-82 NSHL 32 19 10 3 - 212 148 41 2nd - -- - - - 12 7 5 2628 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Gander Flyers, 4-31982-83 NSHL 32 19 11 2 - 174 134 40 2nd - -- - - - 12 6 6 35 38 Lost Herder finals 3–4 to Stephenville Jets1983-84 CBIHL 24 13 8 3 - 29 3rd 139 4 Won CBIHL Championship - - - - - n/a1984-85 NSHL 36 7 28 1 - 170 258 15 4th - -- - - - 3 03 9 26 Lost Herder semi-finals 0–3 to Corner Brook RoyalsThe Western Star MARCH 33, 1985 P.71992-93 CBIHL 24 11 12 1 - 145 168 234th 4 04 Lost league semi-finals to Gander Flyers 4 games to 0. - - - - - DNQ1993-94 CBIHL 21 6 14 1 - 89 156 13 4th 2002-03 WCSHL -2003-04 WCSHL -2004-05 WCSHL -2005-06 WCSHL -2006-07 WCSHL -2007-08 WCSHL -2008-09 WCSHL 24 12 12 110 116 253rd lost 1–4 to Clarenville Caribous2009-10 WCSHL 24 16 8 124 83 33 2nd lost 2–4 to Clarenville Caribous2010-11 NSHL 24 15 6 - 3 134 95 331st - -- - - - Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. CBN Eastlink CeeBee Stars, 4-0Newfoundland Hockey Scene Issue 9 July 2011 page 82011-12 NSHL 24 15 7 - 2 109 77 32 2nd - -- - - - 5 1 4 14 19Lost Herder finals to Clarenville Caribous 1-42012-13 NSHL 24 20 3 - 1 114 78 411st - -- - - - Lost Herder semi-finals2013-14 NSHL 24 19 5 - 0 124 7038 1st - -- - - - Won Herder Memorial Trophy2014-15 CWSHL 24 13 10 - 1 99 82 27 2nd Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-02015-16 CWSHL 22 15 6 - 1 98 72 31 1st 10 8 2 45 17 Won CWSHL championship vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-1 3 3 0 23 4 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Toyota Plaza Caps, 3-0 2016-17 CWSHL 18 13 2 - 3 76 52 29 1st Lost CWSHL championship in OT to Clarenville Caribous, 3-4 - -- - -DNQ2017-18 CWSHL 16 6 10 - 0 55 65 12 3rd Lost CWSHL semi-final in OT to Clarenville Caribous, 1-4 - -- - -DNQ2018-19 NSHL-C 17 10 5 - 2 65 48 22 2nd 6 4 2 23 18 Won Central Division championship vs. Gander Flyers, 4-2 5 4 1 16 10 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Southern Shore Breakers, 4-1 2023-24 CWSHL 18 13 4 - 1 118 74 27 2nd 9 5 4 40 31 Lost CWSHL championship vs. Deer Lake Red Wings, 1-4 - -- - -DNQ2024-25 CWSHL 18 5 10 2 1 74 87 133rd 5 1 4 7 23 Lost CWSHL semi-finals vs. Deer Lake Red Wings, 1-4 - -- - - DNQ2025-26 CWSHL 18 11 7 - - 96 61 222nd 5 1 4 15 23 Lost CWSHL semi-finals vs. Deer Lake Red Wings, 1-4 - -- - - DNQ
Allan Cup results