Durham Huskies
| Durham Huskies | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Durham, Ontario |
| League | Various Senior Leagues |
| Operated | Circa 1908-1992 |
| Home arena | Durham Community Centre |
| Colours | Blue, Red, and White |
| Head coach | Royden Burnett, Irvie Elvidge, Andy Grant, Sr., Mike Murrell, Jim Nixon, Sr. |
| Franchise history | |
| 1920-1952 | Durham Hockey Club |
| 1952-1992 | Durham Huskies |
The Durham Huskies were an ice hockey franchise based in the town of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The team is actually a series of teams that have spanned nine decades and through an uncountable series of leagues. The Huskies have existed under of couple short lived monikers before finding their name by accident in the 1950s. This team has spanned the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior levels of Ontario hockey.
Founded around 1920, the Durham Hockey Club participated in the Ontario Hockey Association Intermediate League. The league was divided into numerous small divisions in which each club would have two home-and-homes with. The team with the top record after this round robin moved on to the provincial playdowns.
Their inaugural season, 1920–21, had the Durham Hockey Club competing against Markdale, Owen Sound, and Wiarton in OHA Group 14 of the Intermediate division. The season would end with the Club earning their historic first victory but still finishing last tied with Owen Sound.
As members of Intermediate Group 16, the 1928-29 Durham Hockey Club competed against Markdale and Flesherton. In their four game schedule, the Club went undefeated. In the first round of the playoffs they met Walkerton who beat them 7-6 and 5-2 to win the series 12-goals-to-8. In 1930-31, the Club was moved into a division with Walkerton and Owen Sound, still referred to as Group 16. Durham had one win and three losses and was eliminated from playoff contention. At the same, Durham's junior team won the Northern Hockey League's junior hockey championship.
In these infantile years, many OHA clubs played a second season after the OHA season was done. This season was played under the league name: the Northern Hockey League. The Durham Hockey Club played in both leagues.
1935-36 marked the year that the Durham Hockey Club won its first ever Senior OHA Championship. Coached by Dr. Royden Burnett, this team went the distance and took home the last championship this organization would see until the 1950s.
During the 1951-52 season, the Durham Hockey Club was competing in the Western Ontario Hockey Association Intermediate "A" League. The Club was dominant, but a reporter from the town's local paper, The Chronicle, felt the team was missing a name. He attempted to give them names like the "Hornets" and the "Phantoms", but nothing stuck. Possibly by mistake, near the end of the 1952 playoff run, The Chronicle ran an article calling the Club the "Huskies". The name stuck and the team won its first championship in over a decade. The team repeated their championship run in the 1952-53 season, but at the senior level, again fell dormant. The Intermediate Huskies took over from there, winning the OHA "B" championship in 1953-54 and 1955-56. After the success of the early 1950s, even the Intermediates fell off the map for a short while. It took until the 1967-68 season for the Intermediates to win the OHA again. The Huskies repeated the next year, and then disappeared from the history books.
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Wikipedia