The St. Catharines Falcons are a junior ice hockey team based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Eastern conference of the Greater Ontario Hockey League. The Falcons play their home games inside Seymour Hannah 4-pad in Western Hill St. Catharines.
History
The current Falcons franchise originated in 1968. The league entered the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League that same year. The Niagara "B" split with several teams, including St.Catharines, forming the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League in 1974. The Falcons have competed every year in the league since 1968.
In 2012, the Falcons attempted to win the Sutherland Cup for the first time in six tries. They defeated the Brantford Eagles 4-games-to-2 to clinch their first ever OHA Junior B championship.
The 2013-14 Falcons had won the 2013-14 Golden Horseshoe regular season crown with the best record by a Junior B team since the 1980s (45-3-1), but were caught with too many imports against the Caledonia Corvairs and Welland Jr. Canadians. Due to the protest by those two teams to the Ontario Hockey Association, the Falcons were stripped of the two victories, which slipped them back to second place in the standings (43-5-1) and allowed Caledonia a superior record (45-3-1) and playoff seed.
The Falcons won their franchise's second Sutherland Cup in the 2021-22 season after a dominating playoff run. The Falcons swept the first two rounds against the Pelham Panthers and Caledonia Corvairs, outscoring their opponents 40-11 with three consecutive shutouts. In the conference finals the Falcons defeated the Hamilton Kilty B's in a competitive series including a double overtime thriller and a defensive 1-0 battle to close out the series on home ice for the Falcons. The Falcons moved on to the re-vamped Sutherland Cup playoffs to face the Cambridge Redhawks (Midwest Conference) and the Chatham Maroons (Western Conference) in a home-and-home round robin tournament. After defeating Chatham 3-2 (OT) and 5-1 in the first two games, the Falcons lost their third and only game on home ice in the playoffs 4-3 in overtime but bounced back to beat the Redhawks 3-2 to finish the round robin with a 3-0-1 record, good enough for first place. In the Sutherland Cup Final, the Falcons defeated Chatham 6-2 on home ice at the Jack Gatecliff Memorial Arena, which would be the final game played in the historic arena's history. With a chance to win their second Sutherland Cup in franchise history, the Falcons defeated the Maroons 8-2 in front of a sold out crowd of 2300 in the Chatham Memorial Arena and successfully captured the Sutherland Cup.
Notable games On March 26, 2006, in Game 6 of the semi-finals against the Thorold Blackhawks, the St. Catharines Falcons played a four-overtime game. If the Falcons had won they would have played game 7 on the same day game 6 ended.
On May 4, 2012, the St. Catharines Falcons defeated the Brantford Golden Eagles to capture the franchises 1st Sutherland Cup Championship
On March 23, 2016, the St. Catharines Falcons played the longest game in GOJHL and GOJHL Playoff history against the Ancaster Avalanche. The game included four overtimes and lasted 131 minutes and five seconds. The Avalanche defeated the Falcons 3-2
On May 29, 2022, the St. Catharines Falcons defeated the Chatham Maroons to capture the franchises 2nd Sutherland Cup Championship
Season-by-season results Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1968-69 36 15 15 5 - 154 136 35 5th NDJHL1969-70 36 9 19 8 - 136 170 26 6th NDJHL1970-71 36 28 5 3 - 231 124 59 1st NDJHL1971-72 35 28 5 2 - 255 119 56 1st NDJHLWon League1972-73 35 18 13 4 - 158 146 40 4th NDJHL1973-74 35 22 8 5 - 217 137 49 3rd NDJHL1974-75 40 22 14 4 - 248 210 48 4th GHJHLLost final1975-76 40 28 7 5 - 291 209 61 1st GHJHL Won League1976-77 32 19 7 6 - 235 147 44 1st GHJHL Won League1977-78 40 26 9 5 - 285 167 57 1st GHJHL Won League1978-79 42 35 5 2 - 322 155 72 1st GHJHL Won League1979-80 44 27 13 4 - 296 234 58 4th GHJHLLost final1980-81 42 36 2 4 - 308 135 76 1st GHJHL Won League1981-82 36 20 9 7 - 233 179 47 1st GHJHL Won League1982-83 42 26 12 4 - 261 192 56 1st GHJHLLost final1983-84 42 22 11 9 - 246 200 53 3rd GHJHL1984-85 42 30 4 8 - 274 154 68 1st GHJHL Won League1985-86 40 23 10 7 - 268 188 53 2nd GHJHL Won League1986-87 42 25 11 6 - 231 171 56 3rd GHJHL1987-88 42 17 20 5 - 241 233 39 4th GHJHL1988-89 42 24 14 4 - 231 200 52 3rd GHJHL1989-90 48 40 6 0 2 362 188 82 1st GHJHL Won League1990-91 42 26 13 2 1 282 186 55 3rd GHJHL1991-92 42 27 12 2 1 296 194 57 2nd GHJHL Won League1992-93 42 27 13 1 1 272 194 56 3rd GHJHL1993-94 40 34 6 0 0 350 153 68 1st GHJHL Won League1994-95 42 22 16 4 4 232 194 52 3rd GHJHLLost final1995-96 50 33 14 3 0 224 171 69 3rd GHJHLLost final1996-97 42 30 10 1 1 276 169 62 3rd GHJHL Won League1997-98 49 30 13 5 1 248 169 66 2nd GHJHLLost final1998-99 48 31 14 0 3 212 140 65 2nd GHJHL Won League1999-00 48 31 12 4 1 215 130 67 2nd GHJHL Won League2000-01 48 12 35 1 0 149 266 25 7th GHJHL2001-02 47 10 29 3 5 165 248 28 6th GHJHL2002-03 48 21 24 3 0 163 187 45 5th GHJHL2003-04 48 16 30 2 0 126 179 34 5th GHJHL2004-05 48 26 18 3 1 179 139 56 3rd GHJHL2005-06 49 33 13 2 1 220 167 69 2nd GHJHL Lost semi-final2006-07 49 34 11 2 2 278 183 72 2nd GHJHL Won League2007-08 49 28 14 5 2 208 158 63 3rd GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. Final2008-09 52 36 9 - 7 261 150 79 1st GOJHL-GH2009-10 51 38 8 - 5 280 146 81 1st GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. Final2010-11 51 34 13 - 4 218 136 72 3rd GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. SF2011-12 51 40 9 - 2 257 117 82 1st GOJHL-GH Won League2012-13 51 39 8 - 4 298 131 82 1st GOJHL-GH Lost Round Robin SF2013-14 49 43 5 - 1 253 128 87 2nd GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. Final2014-15 49 31 13 - 5 222 130 67 2nd GOJHL-GH Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-1 (Blackhawks)Won Conf. Semi-finals, 4-1 (Jr. Canadians)Lost Conf. Finals 1-4 (Corvairs)2015-16 50 33 12 2 3 212 121 71 2nd of 8-GH5th of 26 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-1 (Jr. Canadians)Won Conf. Semi-finals, 4-2 (Avalanche)Lost Conf. Finals 0-4 (Corvairs)2016-17 50 40 7 0 3 289 101 83 2nd of 9-GH3rd of 27 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Panthers)Won Conf. Semifinals, 4-2 (Canucks)Lost Conf. Finals 2-4 (Corvairs)2017-18 50 38 8 1 3 227 116 80 2nd of 9-GH3rd of 26 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Panthers)Won Conf. Semifinals 4-3 (Jr. Canadians)Lost Conf. Finals 0-4 (Corvairs)2018-19 47 39 6 1 1 259 105 80 2nd of 8-GH2nd of 25 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Jr. Canadians)Won Conf. Semifinals 4-2 (Kilty B's)Lost Conf. Finals 3-4 (Canucks)2019-20 50 33 15 1 1 201 119 68 3rd of 9-GH8th of 26 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Panthers)Incomplete Conf. Semifinals 3-2 (Canucks)remaining playoffs cancelled2020–21 Season lost due to Covid-192021-22 48 36 10 1 1 178 78 74 2nd of 8-GH2nd of 25 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Panthers)Won Conf. Semifinals 4-0 (Corvairs)Won Conf. Finals 4-2 (Kilty B's)GH Conference ChampionsRound Robin 3-1 vs. (Maroons) & (Redhawks}Won League Finals 2-0 (Maroons)Sutherland Cup Champions (2nd)2022-23 50 38 6 6 0 194 111 82 1st of 8-GH1st of 25 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-0 (Panthers)Lost Conf. Semifinals 3-4 (Corvairs)2023-24 50 36 12 1 1 194 128 74 3rd of 7-GH5th of 23 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-1 (Panthers)Lost Conf Semifinals, 2-4 (Meteors)2024-25 50 35 13 1 1 202 137 72 1st of 11 East Conf3rd of 23 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-1 (Kilty B's)Won Conf Semifinals, 4-0 (Titans)Won Conf Final 4-2 (Meteors)Lost Sutherland Cup 2-4 (Maroons)2025-26 50 42 6 2 0 202 218 113 1st of 11 East Conf3rd of 23 GOJHL Won Conf. Quarter-finals, 4-1 (Kilty B's)Won Conf Semifinals, 4-0 (Titans)Won Conf Final 4-2 (Meteors)Lost Sutherland Cup 2-4 (Maroons)
Sutherland Cup appearances 1979: Streetsville Derbys defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-none 1990: Stratford Cullitons defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-none 1994: Waterloo Siskins defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-2 1997: Elmira Sugar Kings defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-3 2000: Cambridge Winterhawks defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-none 2012: St. Catharines Falcons defeated Brantford Eagles 4-games-to-2 2014: Caledonia Corvairs defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4-games-to-3 2022: St. Catharines Falcons defeated Chatham Maroons 2-games-to-none
Notable alumni Steve Bancroft Brian Bellows Ryan Christie Jeff Greenlaw Paul Laus Daultan Leveille Rob Robinson Andy Rymsha Steve Rymsha Riley Sheahan Vic Teal Jacques Michaud Arber Xhekaj
References
External links Falcons Webpage GOJHL Webpage