Napanee Raiders

Napanee Raiders
City Napanee, Ontario
League Empire B Junior C Hockey League
Founded 1989 (1989)
Home arena Strathcona Paper Centre
Colours Black, Silver, and White
General manager Adam Bramburger
Head coach Mike Hartwick
Previous franchise history
1960-1963 Napanee Red Wings
1964-1965 Napanee Legion
1966-1980 Napanee Kelly Tiremen
1980-1986 Napanee Warriors

The Napanee Raiders are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Napanee, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Empire B Junior C Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.

History

The current Napanee Junior C hockey team found its genesis in the 1960s as a member of the Eastern Junior C Hockey League when the team was known as the Napanee Red Wings and later the Napanee Legion. In 1966 the team changed its name to the Napanee Kelly Tiremen, a name that remained with the team through to the 1980 season. Napanee made several appearances in the Clarence Schmalz Cup playoffs during this era advancing to the cup final in 1963, semi-finals in 1966 and 1967 and the quarter-finals in 1968. In 1980 the Kelly Tiremen became the Napanee Warriors. By this time the Eastern League became the Quinte-St. Lawrence Junior C Hockey league. The league was floundering and in 1986 merged with the more western Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League. The merger left the Napanee Warriors without a local league and forced them to go on hiatus.

Raiders era

After three seasons with no junior hockey, the Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League was re-formed. The Napanee Raiders were its first regular-season and playoff champions in 1990.

In 1993, the Napanee Raiders forced the Ontario Hockey Association to take the far-east upstart league seriously. The Raiders finished first in the regular season with thirty-two wins in thirty-five games played. They won the league playoffs and entered the Clarence Schmalz Cup provincial playdowns. They made it to the provincial final where they faced the Western Ontario Junior C Hockey League's Hanover Barons for Ontario's crown. The Raiders came out on top with a 4-games-to-2 series win. This marked both the Raiders' and the new league's first provincial championship.

The Raiders won the Eastern Ontario Junior C League title again in 1994 and 1995. After the 1995 championship, the league announced that they were changing their name from the Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League to the Empire B Junior C Hockey League. The name change was to end confusion between the league and the neighbouring Ottawa District Hockey Association's long-running Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League.

In 1995–96, the Napanee Raiders won their fourth straight league championship. Unlike the previous two years, the Raiders made it through to the Clarence Schmalz Cup final. Their opponents were the Paris Mounties of the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League. However unlike the 1993 finals, the Raiders fell short of their bid for a second provincial crown, losing in the championship series, 4-games-to-1.

In the 2000-01 season, the Raiders won their sixth Empire B Junior C Hockey League championship.

In 2005-06, the Raiders finished the regular season in first place overall. They received a bye through the league quarter-finals and ended up against the second year Colborne Cobras in the league semi-final. The Raiders proved too much for the Cobras and crushed them 4-games-to-none. In the league final, the Raiders met up with the Amherstview Jets. In a long and tough series, the Raiders prevailed in game 7, winning the series 4-games-to-3. In the provincial semi-final, the Raiders ran into the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League's Port Perry Mojacks. The Mojacks swept the Empire B champions 4-games-to-none.

The 2006-07 season saw the Napanee Raiders slip to third place overall in the regular season standings. The Raiders met the Amherstview Jets in the league semi-final. The Jets were set on avenging the 2006 Finals loss to the Raiders and defeated them 4-games-to-2 to move on to the league final. During the 2006-07 season, the Raiders invited the local Canada World Youth branch along with a large contingent of Peruvians from "La Brigada de Voluntarios Bolivarianos del Peru" to attend the game. The Raiders defeated the Picton Pirates 6-3 in front of their guests.

The 2007-08 season saw the Raiders win the Empire B Championship and for the first time since 1996 they defeated the Central Ontario League Champion (Georgina Ice) in the CSC QF. The Raiders would fall to the Alliston Hornets (eventual CSC Champs)in five games in the CSC SF

The Raiders finished the 2008-09 season with a 20-0 home record.

The Raiders regained their league championship in 2009-10 but had similar results in the CSC playdowns. They defeated the Little Britain Merchants (Central Ontario League) in 7 games but fell again to the Alliston Hornets (Georgian Mid Ontario) this time pushing them to six games.

After failing to make the playoffs for the first time in 2012-2013, the Raiders have been showing signs of improvement over the past three seasons under head coach Michael Hartwick. The team missed the playoffs by one point in 2013–2014, then reached the Empire B Junior C Hockey League final in each of the past two seasons, ultimately losing to Port Hope both years. The team has improved its wins and points records both seasons also.

Season-by-season results

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1989-90 30 25 4 1 - 255 100 51 1st EOJCHL Won League
1990-91 30 22 7 1 - 191 123 45 1st EOJCHL
1991-92 30 27 0 3 - 192 78 57 1st EOJCHL
1992-93 35 32 2 1 - 282 97 67 1st EOJCHL Won League, Won CSC
1993-94 36 24 9 3 - 212 166 51 1st EOJCHL Won League
1994-95 40 29 7 - 4 264 147 62 1st EOJCHL Won League
1995-96 42 28 12 2 0 249 164 58 1st EBJCHL Won League, Lost CSC Final
1996-97 42 31 9 2 - 207 134 64 1st EBJCHL
1997-98 36 17 18 1 - 144 157 35 4th EBJCHL
1998-99 36 13 18 3 2 142 155 31 3rd EBJCHL
1999-00 36 17 17 1 1 136 152 36 2nd EBJCHL
2000-01 34 21 8 3 2 176 126 47 1st EBJCHL Won League, Lost CSC QF
2001-02 36 20 14 0 2 150 149 42 1st EBJCHL
2002-03 34 11 19 1 3 150 191 26 3rd EBJCHL
2003-04 34 19 12 2 1 172 147 41 2nd EBJCHL
2004-05 34 23 8 1 2 149 127 49 1st EBJCHL
2005-06 34 24 6 4 0 206 112 52 1st EBJCHL Won League, Lost CSC QF
2006-07 40 22 16 2 1 192 146 47 3rd EBJCHL Lost Semi-final
2007-08 40 28 8 - 4 253 156 60 2nd EBJCHL Won League, Lost CSC SF
2008-09 40 37 3 - 0 276 113 74 1st EBJCHLLost Finals
2009-10 40 29 7 - 4 218 130 62 1st EBJCHL Won League, Lost CSC SF
2010-11 40 22 16 - 2 171 149 46 1st EBJCHL Lost Final
2011-12 40 16 18 - 6 156 173 38 4th EBJCHL Lost Quarter Final
2012-13 40 10 27 - 3 121 197 23 5th EBJCHL DNQ
2013-14 40 20 17 - 3 182 148 43 5th EBJCHL DNQ
2014-15 40 22 17 1 - 182 117 45 2nd EBJCHL Won semi-final - 4-1 - (Rebels)
Lost League finals - 0-4 - (Panthers)
2015-16 40 24 12 4 - 163 129 52 2nd of 6 EBJCHL Won semi-final - 4-1 - (Jets)
Lost League Finals, 0-4 (Panthers)

Schmalz Cup Finals appearances

1963: New Hamburg Hahns defeated Napanee Red Wings 4-games-to-0
1993: Napanee Raiders defeated Hanover Barons 4-games-to-2
1996: Paris Mounties defeated Napanee Raiders 4-games-to-1

External links

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