Corner Brook Royals

Corner Brook Royals
City	Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
League	Central West Senior Hockey League
Founded	1955 (1955)
Home arena	Corner Brook Civic Centre Humber Gardens (1955-1997)
Colours	Blue, Red, White
Head coach	Darren Langdon
Captain	Michael Hynes
Website	Official website Royals on league website
Franchise history
1935–1949	Corner Brook
1949–1955	Corner Brook All-Stars
1955–2012	Corner Brook Royals
2012–2014	Western Royals
2014–present	Corner Brook Royals

The Corner Brook Royals are a senior ice hockey team based in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Central West Senior Hockey League.

History

The Royals have their roots in picked teams from the local league beginning in 1927. Hockey in Corner Brook was first organized in 1925 following the completion of the pulp and paper mill. The first team of Corner Brook's best players, picked from the local league, was in February 1927 for a series with a visiting team from Sydney, Nova Scotia. That same year, a picked Corner Brook team played the first inter-papertown home-and-home series with a Grand Falls team in what would be an annual competition for the Tuma Cup.

In 1935 the St. John's league sent an invitation to the western champions for a series at the Prince's Rink to determine the first Newfoundland hockey champions. After winning its intertown series with Grand Falls, it was agreed that Corner Brook would represent western Newfoundland. The Corner Brook team defeated the Guards in the final game and was presented the recently donated Herder Memorial Trophy as the first all-Newfoundland champions.

The Corner Brook All-Stars were renamed the Royals in 1955 after the opening of the new Humber Gardens. The Royals' first provincial playoff action was in the all-Newfoundland section 'B' semi-finals in February 1956 against the Grand Falls Bees for the Evening Telegram Trophy. In 1958 and 1959, the Royals entered teams in both the section A and section B provincial playoffs.

In 1985, the Royals were the first Newfoundland team to win the G. P. Bolton Memorial Cup as Eastern Canadian senior hockey champions and hosted the 1985 Allan Cup championship. The series went to seven games but royals lost the series to the Thunder Bay Twins.

The following season, the Royals repeated as all-Newfoundland and Eastern Canadian champions. In the 1986 Allan Cup final, the Royals defeated the Nelson Maple Leafs in four straight games to become the first team from Newfoundland and Labrador to win the Allan Cup, the symbol of Canadian senior hockey supremacy.

Until 2012, the team's stadium was the Pepsi Centre, the former Canada Games Centre as it was built for the 1999 Canada Games. In August 2012, the team was renamed the Western Royals, and moved to Deer Lake due to increased cost of using the Pepsi Centre, and low turnout at games. Due to the low attendance at games, live radio broadcasts on CFCB ceased, hoping to get more people at the game.

Before the start of the 2014-15 season, the club were renamed the Corner Brook Royals and changed their home ice to the Corner Brook Civic Centre.

Seasons and records

Season by season results

This is a list of the last five seasons completed by the Royals. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Corner Brook Royals seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

WCSHL = West Coast Senior Hockey League, NSHL = Newfoundland Senior Hockey League, CWSHL = Central West Senior Hockey League

Corner Brook Royals regular season and postseason statistics and results, 2010–present

Season	League	Regular season									Postseason
		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	GP	W	L	GF	GA	Result
2010–11	WCSHL	24	9	12	—	3	90	104	21	4th
2011–12	NSHL	24	12	11	—	1	95	104	25	3rd	5	1	4	11	20	Lost in Herder semi-finals to Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 1-4
2012–13	NSHL	24	13	11	—	0	108	115	26	3rd						Lost in semi-finals to Clarenville Caribous
2013-14	NSHL	24	11	10	—	3	87	83	25	3rd	7	3	4	24	22	Lost in Herder semi-finals to Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 1-4
2014-15	CWSHL	24	14	10	—	0	89	82	28	1st	8	4	4	33	24	Lost in Herder finals to Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 0-4
2015–16	CWSHL	22	12	10	—	0	87	88	24	2nd	12	5	7	34	43	Lost CWSHL finals to Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 1-4

• Notes: The Royals relocated to Deer Lake for the 2012-13 and 2013-2014 seasons and were known as the Western Royals.

Allan Cup results

Season	Location	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Results
1968	Winnipeg, Manitoba	8	4	4				Lost in Eastern semi-finals vs. Victoriaville Tigers, 1-3
1985	Corner Brook, NL	14	10	4				Lost Allan Cup final vs. (Thunder Bay Twins, 3-4
1986	Nelson, BC	11	8	3				Won Allan Cup final vs. Nelson Maple Leafs, 4-0

Current roster

For the current team roster see Royals profile on the Central West Senior Hockey League website

Leaders

Captains

• Craig Kennedy (1985-86)
• Darren Colbourne (2007-08)
• Morgan Warren (2008-09)
• Michael Hynes (2014-16)

Coaches

• Jim Grant (1979-80)
• Terry Gillam (playing-coach 1979-80)
• Forbes Kennedy (1980-81)
• Steve Robson (playing-coach 1983-84)
• Bobby Clarke (1984-85)
• Mike Anderson (1985-87)
• Gus Greco (playing-coach 1987-89)
• Terry Gillam (1989-1990)
• Rob French (2007-08)
• Angus Head (2008-09)
• Darren Langdon (2014-16)

Trophies and awards

Team awards

• Awarded the Allan Cup in 1986 as Canadian Senior hockey champions.
• Two Eastern Canadian hockey championships (G.P. Bolton Memorial Cup): 1985, 1986.
• Ten all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships (Herder Memorial Trophy): 1935, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1988, 2001
• First place in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (Evening Telegram Trophy): 1964, 1966, 1973, 1977,
• First place in the Central West Senior Hockey League: 2015

Individual awards

S.E. Tuma Memorial Trophy (Top scorer in the regular season)

• Frank Dorrington, 1970, 1973, 1974
• Robbie Forbes, 1986
• Craig Jenkins, 1988

T.A. (Gus) Soper Memorial Award (MVP in the regular season)

• Bruce Campbell, 1981
• Dave Matte, 1986
• Dan Cormier, 1988

Albert "Peewee" Crane Memorial Trophy (Senior league rookie of the year)

• Bram Pike, 1971
• Dave Oxford, 1974
• Rob Brown, 1984
• Kev McCarthy, 1985
• Ken Mercer, 1986
• Brent Jenkins, 1989

Howie Clouter memorial Trophy (Most sportsmanlike player in the regular season)

• Robbie Forbes,1987
• Craig Jenkins, 1988
• Darren McWhirter, 1989

Top Goaltender Award (Top goaltender in the regular season)

• Bert Brake, 1964, 1966
• Ted McComb, 1977
• Dave Matte, 1986

Honoured Members

Retired Numbers

• #2 Joe Lundrigan
• #5 Danny Cormier (2011)
• #15 Jimmy Guy (2015)
• #25 Darren Colbourne (2015)

NL Hockey Hall of Fame

The following people associated with the Royals have been inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame.
Note:(the year of induction into NLHHOF is noted)

• Doug Grant (1994)
• Joe Lundrigan (1995)
• Claude Anstey (1996)
• Frank (Danky) Dorrington (1996)
• Ernest Hynes (2003)
• Jim Guy (2004)
• Mike Anderson (2007)
• Ed Lawrence (2010)
• Eddie O’Quinn (2011)
• Bert Brake (2012)
• Todd Stark (2013)
• Clobie Collins (2014)
• Darren Colbourne (2015)
• James Critch (2008)

References

Bibliography

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Newfoundland and Labrador

External links

• Official website for the Royals