Notre Dame Hounds


The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior B Hockey League, but the team folded after the 2005–06 Season. The team plays its homes games in Duncan McNeill Arena, which has a seating capacity of 1,200. The team colours are red and white.

History

The Hounds entered the SJHL in 1970 until 1976 when, after a dismal season, they left the SJHL. Not much is known about the franchise between 1976 and 1987. It is known that they operated as a Midget "AAA" minor hockey team until 1987 and lost the final of the Canadian Midget Championship, the Air Canada Cup, to the Quebec seed in the tournament. The AAA team has continued and all parts of the Notre Dame Hounds are affiliated with Athol Murray college of Notre Dame.
In 1987, the Hounds came straight into Tier II Junior "A" from minor hockey. The team came out of the regular season with a series of tight victories, but enough of them to earn them a berth in the playoffs. The Hounds, operating well as a unit which had stayed mostly intact for the previous three seasons, found little trouble winning the SJHL Championship, with only the Yorkton Terriers taking the Hounds as far as six games before the Terrier were eliminated. The Hounds moved on to the ANAVET Cup to face the Winnipeg South Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Hounds swept the series in four games and moved on to face the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the Abbott Cup. The Hounds initially trailed in the series 3-games-to-1 before coming back in games five and six. In game seven with a 3–2 lead, future National Hockey League goaltender Curtis Joseph led the team to a victory and a berth into the Centennial Cup. In the first game, the Hounds played the Halifax Lions of the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League, defeating them 6–5. In the second game, they played the Thunder Bay Flyers of the United States Hockey League, resulting in a 9–7 win. The Hounds then played the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Junior A Hockey League and lost in triple overtime by a score of 4–3. The semi-final re-matched them against the Lumber Kings, and avenged the previous loss with a 7–3 win, seting up a final between the Hounds and the Lions. The Hounds trailed 2–1 after two periods of play. The score was evened in the third period until future NHL player Rod Brind'Amour assisted on Dwayne Norris' game winning goal for the Hounds. Brind'Amour won awards for being the Top Scorer, Most Valuable Player, and Top Centre, while another future NHL player, Joby Messier, won Top Defenseman.
Perhaps the team's best known contribution to the NHL is the Toronto Maple Leafs Hound Line of the 1985–86 season, when Gary Leeman, Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnall played on the same forward line. Although those individuals played for the AA midget team and not on the same line; Wendel Clark was actually a defenceman until he played with the world junior team.
From the 1987–88 championship team, 19 players graduated to the National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey teams, and some, like Rod Brind'Amour, Curtis Joseph, Joby Messier, Dwayne Norris, Jason Herter, and Scott Pellerin, made it all the way to the National Hockey League.
Since 1995, the Hounds have only failed to make the SJHL playoffs three times, but have yet to win their second league title.

Season-by-season standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Lose, T = Tie, OTL = Overtime Lose, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, P = Points
SeasonGPWLTOTLGF GAPResultsPlayoffs
1970-71353320-10225167th SJHL
1971-723816220-162223288th SJHL
1972-734818300-255327165th SJHL South
1973-745019292-207244405th SJHL South
1974-755720361-256332415th SJHL South
1975-76587501-131390156th SJHL South
1987-88605352-3211601081st SJHLWon League, Won AC, Won CC
1988-896444164-338223921st SJHL
1989-906824431-253331496th SJHL SouthDNQ
1990-916831343-265266654th SJHL NorthLost Quarter-final
1991-926432248-259251725th SJHL SouthDNQ
1992-936425318-266259585th SJHL SouthDNQ
1993-946825367-277280575th SJHL SouthLost Quarter-final
1994-956424364-270275527th SJHL SouthDNQ
1995-966418379-215264455th SJHL SouthLost Quarter-final
1996-976429350-223264583rd SJHL SouthLost Quarter-final
1997-986427316-205203604th SJHL SouthLost Quarter-final
1998-996640206-228179863rd SJHL SouthLost Semi-final
1999-006023289-150181554th SJHL SouthLost Quarter-final
2000-0162233441173228514th SJHL SherwoodLost Quarter-final
2001-0264381673245166861st SJHLLost Semi-final
2002-0360311964203186721st SJHL SherwoodLost Quarter-final
2003-0460252663202193592nd SJHL SherwoodLost Quarter-final
2004-0555311770185138693rd SJHL SherwoodLost Quarter-final
2005-0655311752192162692nd SJHL SherwoodLost Semi-final
2006-07582423011202234594th SJHL SherwoodTBA
2007-08582035-31762584311th SJHL
2008-09562333-01922394610th SJHL
2009-10583220-6178180704th SJHLLost Quarter-final
2010-11582130-71581964911th SJHLDNQ
2011-12582233-3172233475th Sherwood Div
10th SJHL		Lost Preliminary round
2012-13542127-6164173483rd Sherwood Div
6th SJHL		Lost Quarter Finals
2013-14562227-7136175514th Kramer Div
9th SJHL		Lost Quarter Finals
2014-1556371414165133792nd of 4 Kramer Div
3rd of 12 SJHL		Won Quarter Finals, 4-3
Won Semi Finals, 4-2
Lost League Finals, 0-4
2015-1658222943163218513rd of 4 Finning Div
9th of 12 SJHL		Lost Wildcard, 1-3
2016-1758262372174167513rd of 4 Finning Div
7th of 12 SJHL		Won Wildcard, 3-1
Lost Quarters, 1-4
2017-1858292414192174634th of 4 Global Ag Div
8th of 12 SJHL		Lost Wildcard, 1-2

Playoffs