The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982.
Both teams were owned by the Emms Family, and were relocated to Niagara Falls from another city. The Niagara Falls Memorial Arena was home ice to both teams.
History
thumb|right|125px|Flyers logo from 1960 to 1972.
The first Flyers team relocated to Niagara Falls from Barrie in 1960. The team was affiliated with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers appeared in three Memorial Cups in the 1960s, winning in 1965 and 1968. Both versions of the Flyers played home games at Niagara Falls Memorial Arena from 1960 to 1972, and again from 1976 to 1982. The arena hosted Memorial Cup games in 1968.
1963 Memorial Cup
Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons for the OHA championship, and the Espanola Eagles to win the George Richardson Memorial Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives.
The Flyers were runners up to the Memorial Cup in 1963 played at Edmonton's Arena Gardens. They lost in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven series. Flyers players Dornhoefer and Harmer both suffered broken legs while on the ice.
1965 Memorial Cup
Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the defending champions Toronto Marlboros for the OHA championship. The Memorial Cup in 1965 was again played at Edmonton's Arena Gardens. They defeated the Oil Kings 4 games to 1 in a best-of-seven rematch series from two years previous. The series was filled with brawls and suspensions, as well as a heavy police presence throughout.
1968 Memorial Cup
Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers for the OHA championship, and the Verdun Maple Leafs for the eastern championship.
The 1968 Memorial Cup featured two Boston Bruins farm teams playing one another. The Flyers would play the Estevan Bruins on home ice, except for game two at the Montreal Forum. Game 4 was the longest in Memorial Cup history, lasting into five periods. Niagara Falls defeated Estevan in a best-of-seven series in five games.
Second Flyers
thumb|right| Team uniforms from 1980 to 1982
The Emms Family sold the Flyers in 1972 after it played for 12 seasons. The new owners then relocated the team to Sudbury to become the Sudbury Wolves.
Later the same year, after selling the Flyers, the Emms family bought the St. Catharines Black Hawks team who were the OHA champions the previous year. Four years after buying the Black Hawks, the Emms family relocated them to Niagara Falls in 1976, taking the same name as the previous team. The Emms family later sold this version of the Flyers in 1978.
The second Flyers team played for 4 seasons in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1976 to 1980, and 2 years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1980 to 1982. The Flyers appeared in the OHA finals in 1979, losing to Peterborough. Niagara Falls lost its Flyers team a second time in 1982 when they moved to North Bay to become the Centennials, who have subsequently moved to Saginaw in 2002 to become the Saginaw Spirit.
Championships
The Niagara Falls Flyers are one of a few clubs to win multiple Memorial Cup championships. Also of note, the franchise were repeat champions in different home cities, of Barrie and Niagara Falls. In total, the Flyers won the Memorial Cup twice in Niagara Falls, and twice in Barrie. and the J. Ross Robertson Cup 3 times each in Barrie and Niagara Falls. The Flyers finished first overall in 1963 & 1965 during the regular season to win the Hamilton Spectator Trophy. The second Niagara Falls Flyers team won the western conference Emms Trophy in the 1978–79 playoffs.
:Memorial Cup
- 1963 Lost to Edmonton Oil Kings
- 1965 Champions vs. Edmonton Oil Kings
- 1968 Champions vs. Estevan Bruins
:George Richardson Memorial Trophy
- 1963 Champions vs. Espanola Eagles
- 1965 Champions vs. Lachine Maroons
- 1968 Champions vs. Verdun Maple Leafs
:J. Ross Robertson Cup
- 1963 Champions vs. Neil McNeil Maroons
- 1965 Champions vs. Toronto Marlboros
- 1968 Champions vs. Kitchener Rangers
- 1979 Lost to Peterborough Petes
:Hamilton Spectator Trophy
- 1962–63 (69pts) and 1964–65 (81pts)
:Emms Trophy
- 1978–79 (Western Conference)
Coaches
The Flyers from 1960 to 1972 were coached by Hap Emms, Bill Long and Paul Emms. The Flyers coaches from 1976 to 1982 are listed below.
- 1976–78: Paul Emms (2)
- 1978–79: Bert Templeton (2)
- 1979–80: Barry Boughner, F.Stanfield
- 1980–81: Paul Gauthier
- 1981–82: Bert Templeton (2)
Players
Award winners
{|class="wikitable"
!Season!!Player!!Award!!Recognition!!Source
|-
| rowspan="2"|1962–63 || rowspan="2"|Wayne Maxner || Red Tilson Trophy || Most outstanding player ||
|-
| Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || OHA scoring champion ||
|-
| 1963–64 || rowspan="2"|Bernie Parent || rowspan="2"|Dave Pinkney Trophy || rowspan="2"|Lowest team GAA ||rowspan="2"|
|-
| 1964–65
|-
| 1966–67 || Derek Sanderson || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || OHA scoring champion ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1967–68 || rowspan="2"|Tom Webster || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || OHA scoring champion ||
|-
| William Hanley Trophy || Most sportsmanlike player ||
|-
| 1976–77 || Mike Gartner || Emms Family Award || OHA rookie of the year ||
|-
| 1978–79 || Nick Ricci || F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy || Lowest rookie GAA ||
|-
| 1981–82 || Ron Meighan || Max Kaminsky Trophy || Most outstanding defenceman ||
|}
NHL alumni
Ninety-one players from the Flyers played in the National Hockey League (NHL) or World Hockey Association. Two Hockey Hall of Fame inductees are Flyers alumni: Bernie Parent (1963–1965) and Mike Gartner (1976–1979).
:1960 to 1972
- Mike Amodeo
- John Arbour
- Steve Atkinson
- Don Awrey
- Jacques Blain
- Bob Boyd
- Brian Bradley
- Doug Brindley
- Tom Colley
- Terry Crisp
- Jim Dorey
- Gary Dornhoefer
- Tommy Earl
- Doug Favell
- George Gardner
- Jeannot Gilbert
- Bill Goldsworthy
- Larry Gould
- Gary Holt
- Randy Holt
- Mike Keeler
- Wayne King
- Bill Knibbs
- Don Lever
- Rick Ley
- Jim Lorentz
- Don Marcotte
- Gilles Marotte
- Wayne Maxner
- Don McCulloch
- Don McLean
- Brent Meeke
- Phil Myre
- Rosaire Paiement
- Wilf Paiement
- Bernie Parent
- J. P. Parisé
- Jean Pronovost
- Bob Ring
- Phil Roberto
- Wayne Rutledge
- Larry Sacharuk
- Derek Sanderson
- Ron Schock
- Jim Schoenfeld
- Brad Selwood
- Ted Snell
- Steve Stone
- Garry Swain
- Don Tannahill
- Dave Tataryn
- Morris Titanic
- Eric Vail
- Dave Walter
- Rob Walton
- Tom Webster
- Ed Westfall
- Barry Wilkins
- Butch Williams
- Dunc Wilson
:1976 to 1982
- Mark Botell
- Marty Dallman
- Mike Dwyer
- Jeff Eatough
- Daryl Evans
- Lou Franceschetti
- Ron Friest
- Bob Froese
- Mike Gartner
- John Gibson
- Paul Gillis
- Pat Graham
- Jim Jackson
- Bob LaForest
- Mark LaForest
- Steve Larmer
- Steve Ludzik
- Andrew McBain
- Kevin McClelland
- Scott McLellan
- Ron Meighan
- Mark Osborne
- Steve Peters
- Mark Renaud
- Nick Ricci
- Gerry Rioux
- Bill Root
- Andy Schliebener
- Howard Scruton
- Bill Stewart
- Tom Thornbury
Season-by-season results
1960–1972
Regular season and playoffs results:
Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
{| class="wikitable"
|bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|<small>Memorial Cup champions</small>
|bgcolor="#B3FFB3"|<small>League champions</small>
|bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|<small>League finalists</small>
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Season !! colspan="9"|Regular season !! rowspan="2"|Playoffs
|-
! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Finish
|-
|1960–61||48||22||21|| 5||49||0.510||165||166||4th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Guelph Royals) 10–4
|-
|1961–62||50||16||23||11||43||0.430||193||193||4th OHA||Won semifinal (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 4–2<br />Lost OHA final (Hamilton Red Wings) 8–0
|-
|1962–63||50||31||12|| 7||69||0.690||212||146||1st OHA||bgcolor="#B3FFB3"|Won semifinal (Hamilton Red Wings) 8–2<br />Won OHA final (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 8–0<br />Won Ontario Junior A final (Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons) 4–2<br />Won Eastern Canada playoffs (Espanola Eagles) 4–0<br />Lost 1963 Memorial Cup (Edmonton Oil Kings) 4–2
|-
|1963–64||56||26||22|| 8||60||0.536||207||178||4th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Toronto Marlboros) 8–0
|-
|1964–65||56||36||11|| 9||81||0.723||236||168||1st OHA||bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 8–4<br />Bye through semifinal<br />Won OHA final Toronto Marlboros 8–2<br />Won Eastern Canada playoffs (Lachine Maroons) 3–1<br />Won 1965 Memorial Cup (Edmonton Oil Kings) 4–1
|-
|1965–66||48||23||15||10||56||0.583||210||162||3rd OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Kitchener Rangers) 8–4
|-
|1966–67||48||23||15||10||56||0.583||238||195||2nd OHA||Won quarterfinal (London Nationals) 8–4<br />Lost semifinal (Hamilton Red Wings) 8–6
|-
|1967–68||54||32||15|| 7||71||0.657||255||169||4th OHA||bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won quarterfinal (Peterborough Petes) 8–2<br />Won semifinal Montreal Junior Canadiens 8–4<br />Won OHA final Kitchener Rangers 9–7<br />Won Eastern Canada playoffs (Verdun Maple Leafs) 3–2<br />Won 1968 Memorial Cup (Estevan Bruins) 4–1
|-
|1968–69||54||28||24|| 2||58||0.537||223||229||4th OHA||Won quarterfinal (Ottawa 67's) 9–5<br />Lost semifinal (St. Catharines Black Hawks) 8–6
|-
|1969–70||54||10||41|| 3||23||0.213||151||313||10th OHA||Did not qualify
|-
|1971–72||63||27||27|| 9||63||0.500||280||293||6th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 8–4
|}
1976–1982
Regular season and playoffs results:
Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
{| class="wikitable"
|bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|<small>Memorial Cup champions</small>
|bgcolor="#B3FFB3"|<small>League champions</small>
|bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|<small>League finalists</small>
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Season !! colspan="9"|Regular season !! rowspan="2"|Playoffs
|-
! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Finish
|-
|1976–77 ||66||15||45|| 6||36||0.273||254 ||370||6th Emms||Did not qualify
|-
|1977–78 ||68||17||41||10||44||0.324||261 ||340||6th Emms||Did not qualify
|-
|1978–79 ||68||43||21|| 4||90||0.662||361 ||243||1st Emms||bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 8–6<br />Won semifinal round-robin (Windsor Spitfires and London Knights)<br />Lost OMJHL finals (Peterborough Petes) 8–6
|-
|1979–80 ||68||29||39|| 0||58||0.426||325 ||355||4th Emms||Won division quarterfinals (London Knights) 3–2<br />Lost division semifinals (Windsor Spitfites) 4–1
|-
|1980–81 ||68||30||36|| 2||62||0.456||354 ||359||4th Emms||Won division quarterfinals (Toronto Marlboros) 3–2<br />Lost division semifinals (Kitchener Rangers) 9–5
|-
|1981–82 ||68||31||34|| 3||65||0.478||311 ||338||4th Emms||Lost division quarterfinals (Windsor Spitfires) 6–4
|}