The Napanee Comets were an ice hockey franchise based in the Eastern Ontario town of Napanee , Ontario , located in Lennox and Addington County , approximately 40 kilometres west of Kingston, Ontario , Canada. The Comets played in a number of OHA leagues in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Their home games were played in the Napanee & District Community Arena, 170 York St, Napanee.
20-682: As a member of the Ontario Major Intermediate A Hockey League the Comets had a successful run in the late 1950s capturing three consecutive Ontario championships in 1958, defeating Dundas in the final, 1959 defeating Georgetown in the final and 1960 defeating Oshawa in the final. The Comets made it back to the championship series in 1961 but their reign was halted that year by the Port Colborne Sailors . The Comets were led by Walt Gerow and player-coach Les Douglas ,
40-624: A 30-7-0 record, but Port Elgin won the inaugural playoff championship. The Sunocos placed second at 24-10-1 and beat the third-place Greys (14-22-1) in one semifinal series. Orangeville finished dead last at 2-32-0, was swept by Collingwood and folded. Port Elgin then defeated Collingwood 4-2 in the final series. The Georgian Bay league played an interlocking schedule with the five teams of the Niagara District Intermediate A Hockey League—the Georgetown Raiders ,
60-683: A former Stanley Cup Champion (1943) centre with the Detroit Red Wings . Detroit Red Wings GM, Jack Adams was married to Helen (née) Trimble, a Napanee girl. Through the connections with Adams and Douglas, the Detroit Red Wings agreed to play the Napanee Comets during both the 1957-58 and 1958-59 seasons. The games were played on 2/27/58 and 2/17/59. Despite the Comets dominance in Major Intermediate A,
80-615: A local OHA Intermediate B loop. Collingwood, Georgetown and Barrie (now known as the Broncos) were absorbed into the Senior A league. Dundas and Owen Sound are the only teams that remain in existence today. Despite the success and talent of the Major Intermediate A Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey Association had set a litmus test for the league's champions to determine whether or not they were capable of competing for
100-614: A re-match final with their 70-71 opponents from Lucan, defeating the Jets by a 4 games to 1 margin. The Comets would return one final time to the provincial championship in 1972-73 losing in the championship final to the New Hamburg Screaming Eagles. The Napanee Comets made appearances in the Ontario Major Intermediate C playoffs in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 seasons losing both times to Minden in
120-775: A two-game, total goals series. It wouldn't be until the 1969-70 season when the Comets would return Napanee to the Intermediate B playoff action getting one step closer before falling short against the Lucan Jets in the best of seven final, 4 games to 2. They returned to the finals in 1970-71 but this time the Comets captured the OHA Intermediate B provincial title by defeating the Southern Counties Intermediate B champion, Durham Huskies , 4 games to 1. They repeated as champions in 1971-72 in
140-787: The Dundas Merchants , the Thorold Athletics , Port Colborne and Fort Erie. The Niagara league was founded in 1964. In 1979-80 Georgetown and Dundas joined the Georgian Bay league, which also took in the Orillia Terriers and the Barrie Flyers from the OHA Senior A Hockey League. Dundas finished first in the standings and beat third-place Georgetown 3-1 in a best-of-five playoff final. Collingwood
160-808: The OHA Senior A and Intermediate A ranks in the 1970s and 1980s. The Raiders won the W.G. Hardy Trophy, also known as the Hardy Cup , as the Canadian Intermediate A champions in 1982. They are not known to be connected to another Georgetown Raiders team which is currently a member of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League . Georgetown was an entry in the Niagara District Intermediate A Hockey League , which folded in 1979. Georgetown
180-603: The 1982–83 season but the Durham Huskies entered from Senior A. Unfortunately, they were overmatched and finished in sixth and last place, behind Georgetown, Collingwood, Port Elgin, Midland and Barrie. Although the Raiders topped the standings for the third year in a row, Collingwood finally won the playoff championship by downing Georgetown 4-1 in the final. The Major Intermediate A Hockey League folded in 1983. Midland disappeared with it while Port Elgin and Durham joined
200-620: The Comets were fashioned after the black and yellow of the Boston Bruins with an "N" in the centre of the circle. Major Intermediate A Hockey League The Major Intermediate A Hockey League was an ice hockey league in Ontario , Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association . It existed from 1978 to 1983. Its champion was eligible to compete for the W.G. Hardy Trophy , emblematic of Canadian Intermediate A hockey supremacy. The Georgian Bay Intermediate A Hockey League
220-404: The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Comets by a wide margin on both occasions. The 1950s Comets wore blue and white jerseys with a ligature of "Napanee" from bottom left to top right. In 1935-36, Napanee made an appearance in the Intermediate B, Group 1 provincial playoffs defeating Trenton, 3 games to 0 in quarter final play only to be knocked out of play in the next round by Belleville, 16 - 5, in
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#1732801728520240-635: The Greys 4-1 in a best-of-seven final. The same seven teams returned in 1981–82, although Port Elgin changed its nickname to the Suns, and Georgetown and Collingwood again captured the top two places in the standings. Port Elgin, Orillia, Midland, Owen Sound and Barrie rounded out the league. Georgetown swept the playoffs, beating the Shipbuilders 4-0 in the final, and went on to win the Hardy Cup as Canadian champions. Owen Sound and Orillia departed prior to
260-563: The Northstars in the Ontario Hockey Association final but were defeated 2-games-to-none. This essentially marked the end of Intermediate "A" hockey in Ontario as the league merged with the OHA Senior A Hockey League before the beginning of the 1983–84 season. Prior to 1980, after 1934 realignment. Georgetown Raiders Sr A The Georgetown Raiders were an ice hockey team from Georgetown , Ontario , Canada. They competed in
280-613: The Raiders, defeating them 2-games-to-none. A year later, the Georgetown Raiders won their second straight league title and challenged the Timmins Northstars again. This time fate laid with the Raiders, as they won the series 2-games-to-1. The Raiders ended up moving on to win the 1982 Hardy Trophy. In 1983, the Collingwood Shipbuilders won the Major Intermediate A Championship. They met
300-722: The coveted Hardy Trophy. The litmus test in question was the Northern Ontario Hockey Association 's only Intermediate team, the Timmins Northstars. In 1980, the playoff champion Dundas Merchants got the first crack at the Northstars. In a best-of-three series, the Granites defeated the Merchants 2-games-to-1. After the 1980–81 season, the champion Georgetown Raiders took their chances with Timmins. The Northstars made short work of
320-621: The playoff final in all four seasons, losing to Dundas in 1980, beating the Owen Sound Greys in 1981, defeating the Collingwood Shipbuilders in 1982 and losing to Collingwood in 1983. In 1982, the Raiders became the first OHA team to ever win the Hardy Cup . Only two Ontario teams ever won it, the other being the Dundas Real McCoys in 1986. The Hardy Cup was the Senior "AA"/Intermediate "A" National Championship. The Major Intermediate A league folded in 1983. Georgetown
340-530: The semi-finals. The Napanee Comets was also the name of a Napanee team that played in the OHA Senior 'A' Hockey League from 1974 through 1976 before ceasing operations. Their leading scorer during the 1974-75 season was former NHL player Dick Cherry (brother of Don Cherry ). Their goaltender in the 1975-76 season was Steve Rexe , the first ever draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1967 NHL Amateur Draft . The uniform of this version of
360-643: Was founded in 1978. Its founding members were the Collingwood Shipbuilders , the Port Elgin Sunocos , the Owen Sound Greys and the Orangeville Cougars . Port Elgin had been part of the OHA Intermediate C loop and Owen Sound was returning to the ice after a one-year hiatus caused by the 1977 collapse of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League . Collingwood was the first regular season champion, finishing first with
380-682: Was one of two teams from that loop (the Dundas Merchants were the other) to be accepted into the Georgian Bay Intermediate A league, with which the Niagara league had played an interlocking schedule. The league changed its name to the Major Intermediate A Hockey League in 1980. The Raiders played four years in the Georgian Bay/Major league and finished in first place three times. They also advanced to
400-540: Was second, Orillia was fourth, Barrie was fifth, Port Elgin dropped to sixth and Owen Sound finished seventh. In 1980-81 the league changed its name to Major Intermediate A as it had fully absorbed the Niagara league which floundered around 1979. Dundas departed for Senior A but the Midland Athletics were added. The order of finish was Georgetown, Collingwood, Owen Sound, Orillia, Barrie, Port Elgin and Midland. The Raiders ended up as playoff champions, defeating
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