Gander Flyers
| Gander Flyers | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Gander, NL |
| League | Central West Senior Hockey League |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Home arena | Gander Community Centre |
| Colours |
Purple, Gold |
| General manager | Garry White |
| Head coach | Ben Fitzgerald |
| Captain | Mike Dyke |
| Website | Flyers on League website |
| Franchise history | |
| 1947–48 | Gander |
| 1948–61 | Gander All-Stars |
| 1961-Present | Gander Flyers |
Purple, Gold
The Gander Flyers (also commonly known as the Kelly Ford Gander Flyers due to a sponsorship deal that began October 3, 2014) are a senior ice hockey team based in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of in the Central West Senior Hockey League.
The Gander Flyers hockey club has its roots in picked teams from the Royal Canadian Air Force hockey league at RCAF Station Gander and the 1947 picked team from the Gander Hockey League that formed the previous year. The RCAF 'Bombers' and 'Fliers' played exhibition games at other Newfoundland hockey centres during the second World War including Corner Brook and Grand Falls.
Gander first joined the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association, and the race for the Herder Memorial Trophy, in 1947 as part of the Central Division with teams from Bishop's Falls, Buchans and Grand Falls.
Gander's entry into Newfoundland senior hockey was occasionally nicknamed the 'Flyers' until an official name change in the early 1960s. From 1953 to 1959, Gander entered a team in provincial Section B senior hockey in competition for the Evening Telegram Trophy. The all-stars were finalists in the 1954 all-Newfoundland senior 'B' championships hosted by Grand Falls but lost the close series to the Bell Island All-Stars 2-games-to-1. In 1960, the all-stars became part of the Western Division and in 1963 Gander joined the province-wide Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL). In 1967 player Lyle Carter was selected to play in the Allan Cup; he later went on to play in the NHL.
The Flyers were part of the NSHL, with the exception of a two-year break in the mid-1970s, until the hockey club folded in 1983. The Gander Flyers started the 1982-83 season but folded at the end of November.
Gander didn't enter a team in the NSHL for the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons. In 1975, Flyers alumni formed the Intermediate 'B' Gander Lakers and joined the Central Intermediate B Hockey League. The Lakers team became the re-formed Flyers and joined the Newfoundland Senior League for the 1976-77 season. After the team folded in November 1983, Flyers alumni re-formed the Gander Lakers and joined the Central Beothuck Intermediate Hockey League for the 1983-84 season.
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