The St. Catharines Teepees were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1947 to 1962. The team was based in St. Catharines, Ontario, and won the 1954 Memorial Cup and 1960 Memorial Cup as national champions.
History
The St. Catharines Teepees were established in 1947, when George Stauffer, the president of Thompson Products Ltd., purchased the St. Catharines Falcons team for $2500 from Rudy Pilous and named the team after the company's initials. The Teepees played in the Garden City Arena.
During the fifteen years the Teepees played, they developed into a powerhouse in the OHA. St. Catharines finished in first place five years in a six-year span, and won the league championship twice. The team also produced five league leading scorers and three MVPs in the same period. The Teepees won the Memorial Cup in both 1954 and 1960.
In 1961-62 the Teepees, no longer owned by Thompson Products, were in financial trouble and the Chicago Black Hawks came to their rescue. In 1962–63, the Teepees became the St. Catharines Black Hawks and would remain so until the team moved to Niagara Falls for the 1976–77 season.
1954 Memorial Cup
St. Catharines, still coached by Rudy Pilous, won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Toronto Marlboros in seven games for the OHA championship, and the Quebec Frontenacs to win the Richardson Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives. The Teepees won the Memorial Cup in 1954 played at Maple Leaf Gardens. They defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 0 with one tie game, in a best-of-seven series.
{|
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| Game 1 || St. Catharines|| 8|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 2
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| Game 2 || St. Catharines|| 5|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 3
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| Game 3 || St. Catharines|| 4|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 1
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| Game 4 || St. Catharines|| 3|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 3
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| Game 5 || St. Catharines|| 6|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 2
|}
1960 Memorial Cup
St. Catharines was now coached by Max Kaminsky and Rudy Pilous was the team manager for the 1960 Memorial Cup rematch versus the Edmonton Oil Kings. On the road to the Cup, the Teepees defeated the Toronto St. Michael's Majors for the OHA championship, and the Brockville Canadiens to win the Richardson Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives. The series against Brockville was decided in the 8th game after each team had won three games each with a tie game.
The 1960 Memorial Cup opened up at the Garden City Arena with remaining games played at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Teepees defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings for the second time in the Memorial Cup, 4 games to 2 in a best-of-seven series.
{|
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| Game 1 || St. Catharines|| 3|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 5
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| Game 2 || St. Catharines|| 6|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 2
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| Game 3 || St. Catharines|| 9|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 1
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| Game 4 || St. Catharines|| 3|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 9
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| Game 5 || St. Catharines|| 9|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 6
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| Game 6 || St. Catharines|| 7|| vs.|| Edmonton|| 3
|}
Award winners
{|class="wikitable"
!Season!!Player!!Award(s)!!Recognition!!Source
|-
| rowspan="2"|1953–54 || rowspan="2"|Brian Cullen || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || Scoring champion ||
|-
| Red Tilson Trophy || Most outstanding player ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1954–55 || rowspan="2"|Hank Ciesla || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || Scoring champion ||
|-
| Red Tilson Trophy || Most outstanding player ||
|-
| 1957–58 || John McKenzie || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || Scoring champion ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1958–59 || rowspan="2"|Stan Mikita || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || Scoring champion ||
|-
| Red Tilson Trophy || Most outstanding player ||
|-
| 1959–60 || Chico Maki || Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy || Scoring champion ||
|}
Notable players
Hall of Famers: Phil Esposito (1961-1962), Bobby Hull (1955-1957), Stan Mikita (1956-1959), Pierre Pilote (1950-1952), and Rudy Pilous (coach).
Notable Teepees who also played in the National Hockey League or World Hockey Association:
- Buddy Boone
- John Brenneman
- Wayne Brown
- Gord Byers
- Hank Ciesla
- Norm Corcoran
- Roger Crozier
- Barry Cullen
- Brian Cullen
- Ray Cullen
- Ian Cushenan
- Norm Defelice
- Denis DeJordy
- Marv Edwards
- Roy Edwards
- Phil Esposito
- Gerry Foley
- Vic Hadfield
- Murray Hall
- Duke Harris
- Wayne Hillman
- Ken Hodge
- Cecil Hoekstra
- Ed Hoekstra
- Brent Hughes
- Bobby Hull
- Dennis Hull
- Doug Jarrett
- Chico Maki
- Frank Martin
- Larry Mavety
- Ab McDonald
- Jack McIntyre
- John McKenzie
- Stan Mikita
- Ellard O'Brien
- Pierre Pilote
- Dan Poliziani
- Poul Popiel
- Matt Ravlich
- Doug Robinson
- Len Ronson
- Ken Schinkel
- Don Simmons
- Bill Speer
- George Standing
- Fred Stanfield
- Jack Stanfield
- Pat Stapleton
- Art Stratton
- Red Sullivan
- Skip Teal
- Jerry Toppazzini
- Zellio Toppazzini
- Moose Vasko
Season-by-season results
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
|-
|1947–48||36||19||17||0||38||0.528||137||155||6th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Galt Rockets) 2–1
|-
|1948–49||48||25||20||3||53||0.552||191||198||4th OHA||Won quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 2–0<br />Lost semifinal (Toronto Marlboros) 3–0
|-
|1949–50||48||27||17||4||58||0.604||269||211||3rd OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Guelph Biltmores) 3–2
|-
|1950–51||54||23||24||7||53||0.491||200||192||6th OHA||Won quarterfinal (Guelph Biltmores) 3–2<br />Lost semifinal (Toronto Marlboros) 3–1
|-
|1951–52||54||30||23||1||61||0.565||249||229||5th OHA||bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won quarterfinal (Kitchener Greenshirts) 3–1<br />Won semifinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 3–2<br />Lost OHA final (Guelph Biltmores) 4–1
|-
|1952–53||56||31||20||5||67||0.598||219||234||4th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 3–0
|-
|1953–54||59||42||15||2||86||0.729||308||211||1st OHA||bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won semifinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–3–1<br />Won OHA final (Toronto Marlboros) 4–3<br />Won Eastern Canada championship final (Quebec Frontenacs) 4–2<br />Won 1954 Memorial Cup final (Edmonton Oil Kings) 4–1
|-
|1954–55||49||32||15||2||66||0.673||260||176||1st OHA||bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–0–1<br />Lost OHA final (Toronto Marlboros) 4–2
|-
|1955–56||48||28||17||3||59||0.615||219||197||1st OHA||Lost semifinal (Toronto Marlboros) 4–1–1
|-
|1956–57||52||25||25||2||52||0.500||184||193||3rd OHA||bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won quarterfinal (Barrie Flyers) 3–0<br />Won semifinal (Toronto Marlboros) 4–2<br />Lost OHA final (Guelph Biltmores) 4–2
|-
|1957–58||52||32||14||6||70||0.673||246||174||1st OHA||Lost semifinal (Toronto Marlboros) 4–3
|-
|1958–59||54||40||11||3||83||0.769||257||175||1st OHA||Lost semifinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–2–1
|-
|1959–60||48||25||19||4||54||0.562||209||191||2nd OHA||bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won quarterfinal (Guelph Biltmores) 4–1<br />Won semifinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–1–1<br />Won OHA final (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 3–1–2<br />Won Eastern Canada championship final (Brockville Canadiens) 4–3–1<br />Won 1960 Memorial Cup final (Edmonton Oil Kings) 4–2
|-
|1960–61||48||18||24||6||42||0.438||167||204||5th OHA||Lost quarterfinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–2
|-
|1961–62||50||19||23||8||46||0.460||194||206||3rd OHA||Lost semifinal (Hamilton Red Wings) 4–1–1
|}