Woodstock Navy-Vets

The Woodstock Navy-Vets are a junior hockey team based in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.

Woodstock Navy-Vets
CityWoodstock, Ontario
LeagueProvincial Junior Hockey League
ConferenceSouth
DivisionDoherty
Founded1966 (1966)
Home arenaWoodstock District Community Complex
ColoursNavy blue and white
Owner(s)Community Board of Directors - Devon Young (President)
General managerMatt Fidlin (2020-21)
Head coachDarren Young (2018-19)
Websitewww.woodstocknavyvets.ca
Franchise history
1966–2007Woodstock Navy-Vets
2007–2010Woodstock Renegades
2010–presentWoodstock Navy-Vets

The team was known as the Woodstock Renegades for three seasons from 2007–08 to 2009–10.

The team was preceded by the Woodstock Warriors who were an OHA Junior B team in the Central and Western leagues from 1951–52 to 1961–62, winning the Sutherland Cup emblematic of Provincial Junior B Champions in the 1954–55 season with a team that included future NHL player and Hall of Famer Bobby Hull.

History

The Woodstock Navy-Vets were founded in 1966 and played in the OHA-C Group III (Intercounty Junior C Hockey League - IJCHL). In 1971–72 the Navy-Vets became a member of the Western Junior B Hockey League when the IJCHL disbanded before moving the following season to the Central Junior C Hockey League. In 1976–77 the Navy Vets became a charter member of the new Southwestern Junior B Hockey League along with the London Diamonds, St. Thomas Colonels, Tillsonburg Mavericks, Simcoe Jets, and Brantford Penguins. The SWJBHL folded after two seasons and the Navy Vets joined the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League for the 1978–79 season where they played until 2012–13. The OHA realigned the NDJHL and SOJHL Junior C leagues in the summer of 2013 and forming a new MWJCHL. The Navy Vets were a member of the new league along with Norwich, New Hamburg, and Paris from the NDJHL West along with Ayr, Burford, Delhi, Tavistock and Wellesley from the SOJHL. In the summer of 2016 with the eight leagues from Southern Ontario joining to create the single Provincial Junior Hockey League, the former leagues became divisions of the PJHL. The Midwestern League re-branded to the Pat Doherty Division and became members of the Central Conference.

1969: Championship season

The Navy-Vets won their only OHA Junior C championship in the 1968–69 season, eliminating Dresden 4 games-to-0 in the quarter-final and New Hamburg 4 games-to-1 in the semi-final before beating Oakville Blades in seven games in the final.

1984

After finishing in fourth place in the 1983–84 NDJCHL West regular season with a record of 13 wins, 9 losses, and 8 ties, the Navy-Vets played sixty-five games that season and six rounds of playoffs. In the division quarter-finals, the Navy-Vets drew the New Hamburg Spirit 83's. The best-of-5 series went the distance, Woodstock taking it in the end 3-games-to-2. In the division semi-final, the Navy-Vets then took on the Dundas Blues. The Blues were tough early, but the Navy-Vets had all the momentum and took the series 4-games-to-2. They next played the well rested and top ranked Norwich Merchants in the division final. The Merchants, like the Blues, were tough early in the series but the Navy-Vets were tougher winning 4-games-to-2. They next had to play the Stoney Creek Warriors in the Niagara District championship. The Warriors were tough and dominated much of the play. The series went back and forth, and ended up going to a final and deciding seventh game. Woodstock fought hard and took Stoney Creek into overtime. Early in the second overtime, Woodstock would break the hearts of the Stoney Creek faithful in their own arena and win 6–5. From this point on, the Woodstock Sentinel-Review referred to the 1983–84 edition of this team as "The Cardiac Kids". With the win, the Navy-Vets were catapulted into the OHA Junior C semi-finals. Their opponents would be the Dresden Jr. Kings of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League. Dresden took game one big, 10–4. Game two went to Woodstock in double overtime (4–3) and game three in single overtime (8–6). Dresden came back and put Woodstock's backs against the wall with 4–2 and 7–2 victories, leaving the Cardiac Kids in a do-or-die situation. Woodstock responded and won 6–5 and 6–2 to win the series. They then moved on to face the Penetang Kings of the Georgian Bay Junior C Hockey League in the provincial final. Penetang had just knocked off the Bowmanville Eagles 4-games-to-3. Unfortunately for the Cardiac Kids, the Kings had no intention of losing, taking the series in four games: 8–7 in overtime, 6–5, 9–6, and 9–1. The fairy tale run was over for the Navy-Vets, as they walked away Niagara West champions, Niagara & District champions, and OHA Junior C finalists.

2002: OHA semi-finalists

The 2001–02 Navy Vets won 25 games and had 52 points to finish in 1st place in the West Division during the regular season by 10 points over rival Norwich Merchants. They beat New Hamburg Firebirds in 6 games in the West Division Semi-Finals and then knocked off Norwich in 5 games to win the West Division title. They then upset the East Division champ Chippawa Riverhawks, who had an identical season record as the Vets, in 6 games to win the Niagara District Junior C Hockey League championships and move on to the OHA Semi-Finals against the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League champion Essex. The series was hard-fought with the Navy Vets finally succumbing in 4 games. The team captured the enthusiasm of the city during their late season heroics with fan support building in numbers and noise with each playoff victory to a peak in the 2 games at Southwood Arena for the OHA SF that saw over 2000 fans at each game. The Navy Vets were led up front by the trio of Jeremy Demarest, Chad Paton, and Matt Carey. Demarest won the West Division scoring title with 62 points and a division-high 40 assists. Demarest also was named Most Sportsmanlike in the West Division. Forward Taylor Winkler was among the league leaders in hits. The blueline was anchored by Chris Corriveau, Scott Roode, and Sean McLaren. The goaltending tandem of Mike Matika & Matt Richardson provided stellar goaltending all season finishing 2nd in the West Division in Goals Against. The team was led by West Division Coach of the Year Scott Brooks.

Renegades logo

2007: Renegades

On April 27, 2007, new team owner Bill McLeod announced that the team would be changing its name to the 'Woodstock Renegades', effective the start of the 2007–2008 season, ending a 41-year relationship with the Oxford County Naval Veterans Association.[1] The team played its first game as the Woodstock Renegades in September 2007.

Navy Vets logo

2010: Navy Vets return

On March 31, 2010, team owner Bill McLeod announced that the team would be adopting the Navy Vets moniker once again effective the start of the 2010–2011 season.[2] Along with the name change would be a new look, including a new logo (pictured on the right). However, on August 16, 2010, it was announced that the new logo would not be adopted and that the team would be using the original Navy Vets logo.[3]

On August 17, 2010, it was announced that Bill McLeod had stepped down as team owner & GM/Head Coach and Jeff Morrison would take over as Director of Hockey Operations/GM/Head Coach. In addition, it was announced that a process had begun to turn the team into a non-profit organization, returning the hockey team to its roots as a community-owned team.[4]

2012: Coaching changes

On December 10, 2012, Jeff Morrison resigned as GM-head coach of the Navy Vets for personal reasons. Assistant Coach Mark Jones assumed the head coach position, but then resigned at the end of the month. Frank Mueller took over as GM-head coach in January 2013.[5]

2013: Organizational changes

On April 15, 2013, a local group of Woodstock community members represented the Navy Vets as its board of directors.[6] On December 19, 2013, there was a coaching staff change with former Navy Vet Adam Wallace being named head coach replacing Frank Mueller and Bill Wallace and Geoff Killing being named assistant coaches replacing Rob Hutchison.

2015

The Navy Vets in the 2014–15 season had a 16-win improvement. Mike Gillespie led the team in scoring for the 2nd straight season and finished in 6th place in league scoring with 45 points on 26 goals. He was named the MWJCHL Most Valuable Player. Head Coach Adam Wallace was named the MWJCHL Coach of the Year for leading the team to its season. Goalie Michael Roefs tied a team record with 3 shutouts and combined with rookie Jackson Swindells and AP North Davies for a team record total of 6 shutouts. Captain Jake Schneider, Dylan Wettlaufer, and Justin Elms also finished in the league's top 25 scorers. The team had an 8-game winning streak in November. They finished in 5th place and took 4th place defending champion Paris Mounties to 7 games in the quarterfinals before their turn-around season came to an end. Over 10000 fans came through the gate to watch the team for 23 games (20 reg.season & 3 playoff) this season - an average of 448 well over that of any season in the last decade.

2015-16: 50th anniversary season

The Navy Vets unveiled a new logo and jerseys for their 50th anniversary season. The team held an Alumni night in December with many former Navy Vets returning for a celebration. Woodstock also hosted the MWJCHL Showcase in January, with a Navy Vets Alumni Team playing a MWJCHL All-Star Team prior to the MWJCHL Prospects Game.

2016-17

The Navy Vets 16-yr old Andrew Bruder was named PJHL Doherty Division Rookie of the Year.

2017-18

The Navy Vets won 30 games for only the 4th time in their history. Their season attendance total was 10504 for a 525 AVG during 40-game reg.season most in Doherty Division and 2nd in PJHL (only 3rd OHA Jr C team to reach 10000). They also advanced to the semi-finals for the 1st time since 2010.

2019-20

The playoffs finals for the 2019–20 season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after the Vets had been eliminated in the semi-finals.

2021-22

The Navy Vets won the Doherty Division Regular Season Title for the 1st time in 20 years. Captain Kyle Baker won the Doherty Scoring Title with 75 points (the most by a Vet since 1998) with a PJHL league-leading 50 assists and was named Doherty Division MVP. Patrick Klazer led the division in scoring by a defenceman with 11 goals and 40 points, and Nolan Brett led all division rookies in scoring with 38 points, while Caden Bower (2nd) and Christian Pelley (9th) also finished in the Top-10 scorers. Veteran overage goalie Keaghan Brett led the division with 17 wins. The team passed the 10000 total attendance mark (500+ per game average) for the 4th straight season and 6th time in last 7 years) which was 2nd best in the PJHL. But the promising season came to a disappointing end when they lost to New Hamburg in Game#7 of the semi-finals at home.

Jr. Vets

The logo for the "Jr. Vets" used by the Woodstock Minor Hockey Association teams was designed by Woodstock-based Graphic Designer, Bill Bowman.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGP W L T OTLGF GA PointsFinishPlayoffs
1966–67302073-14689412nd ICJCHLWon League, Lost OHA QF
1967–68312551-14568511st ICJCHLLost Final
1968–69221633-----351st ICJCHLWon League, Won CSC
1969–70301884-191144402nd ICJCHLLost Final, Lost Super C Final
1970–71231724-14282381st ICJCHLWon League, Won Super C Final
1971–723911235-156209277th WJBHLDNQ
1972–733216115-----374th CJCHLLost SF, Won Super C Final
1973–74312632-24687541st CJCHLWon League, Won Super C Final
1974–75363222-31599661st CJCHL IIILost SF, Won Super C Final
1975–76312074-235117442nd CJCHL IIILost Final, Won Super C Final
1976–773817183-215200373rd SWJBHL
1977–784015232-192215325th SWJBHLDNQ
1978–793813196-----324th NJC-W
1979–80419311-----196th NJC-WDNQ
1980–81322363-----491st NJC-WWon League, Lost OHA SF
1981–823119102-----402nd NJC-W
1982–83362673-----551st NJC-WWon Division. Lost Final
1983–84301398-----334th NJC-WWon League, Lost OHA F
1984–853017103-170126372nd SWJCHLWon Division, Lost Final
1985–863610179-----294th NJC-W
1986–873315144-----343rd NJC-W
1987–88362564-----552nd NJC-WWon Division, Lost Final
1988–893619107-----453rd NJC-WWon Division, Lost Final
1989–903614148-----364th NJC-W
1990–91347225-----196th NJC-WDNQ
1991–923513184-162158305th NJC-W
1992–93362925-247121631st NJC-WWon Division, Lost Final
1993–943618126-177146423rd NJC-WWon Division, Lost OHA QF
1994–95362853-243112591st NJC-WWon League, Lost OHA SF
1995–96403343-258102691st NJC-WLost Division F
1996–97403243121493681st NJC-W
1997–9839221340187157483rd NJC-W
1998–9935286-1----571st NJC-WWon Division, Lost Final
1999–00361817-1----373rd NJC-WLost Division SF
2000–0136181611----382nd NJC-WLost Division F
2001–023625911----521st NJC-WWon League, Lost OHA SF
2002–0336151542116125363rd NJC-WLost Division SF
2003–04369241293145216th NJC-WDNQ
2004–053615190298148324th NJC-WLost Division SF
2005–0636112023104148274th NJC-WLost Division SF
2006–0736211311185141444th NJC-WLost Division F
2007–0836151821155125335th NJC-WLost Division QF
2008–09362013-3119103434th NJC-WLost Division SF
2009–10361913-4138123423rd NJC-WLost Division SF
2010–1136725-4102199186th NJC-WLost Division QF
2011–1236827-1107192176th NJC-WLost Division QF
2012–1338632-089218126th NJC-WLost Division QF
2013–1440533-294207129th MWJCHLDNQ
2014–154021190-137105425th MWJCHLLost QF 3-4 (Mounties)
2015–164017194-119115386th of 9 MWJCHLLost QF 2-4 (Mounties)
2016–174020182-152136426th of 9- PJHL
Doherty Div
Lost Div Quarter 2-4 (Applejacks)
2017–184030901200112613rd of 9- PJHL
Doherty Div
Won Div Quarter 4-1 (Merchants)
Lost Div Semi Finals 0-4 (Braves)
2018–1940171726145136407th of 9- PJHL
Doherty Div
Lost Div Quarter 2-4 (Firebirds)
2019–2040241222214119524th of 9- PJHL
Doherty Div
Won Div Quarter 4-3 (Mounties)
Lost Div Semi Finals 0-4 (Braves)
2020-21Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22362763018398571st of 7 - PJHL
Doherty Div
Lost Div Semi Finals 3-4 (Firebirds)
2022–2341182111140171385th of 7 - PJHL
Doherty Div
Lost Div Quarter Finals 3-4 (Braves)

Playoffs

  • 2005 Lost in West Division semifinals
Simcoe Storm defeated Woodstock Navy Vets in 4-games-to-0 West Division semifinals.
  • 2006 Lost in West Division semifinals
Simcoe Storm defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in West Division semifinals.
  • 2007 Lost in West Division finals
Woodstock Navy Vets defeated Simcoe Storm 4-games-to-3 in West Division semifinals.
Norwich Merchants defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-1 in West Division finals.
  • 2008 Lost in West Division semifinals
New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-2 in West Division semifinals.
  • 2009 Lost in West Division finals
Woodstock Navy Vets defeated New Hamburg Firebirds 4-games-to-1 in West Division semifinals.
Norwich Merchants defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-2 in West Division finals.
  • 2010 Lost in West Division semifinals
Woodstock Navy Vets received first-round bye.
Norwich Merchants defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in West Division semifinals.
  • 2011 Lost in West Division quarter-finals
Norwich Merchants defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in West Division quarter-finals.
  • 2012 Lost in West Division quarter-finals
New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in West Division quarter-finals.
  • 2013 Lost in West Division quarter-finals
Paris Mounties defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in West Division quarter-finals.
  • 2015 Lost in MWJCHL quarter-finals
Paris Mounties defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-3 in MWJCHL quarter-finals.
  • 2016 Lost in MWJCHL quarter-finals
Paris Mounties defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-2 in MWJCHL quarter-finals.
  • 2017 Lost in PJHL Doherty Division quarter-finals
Wellesley Applejacks defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-2 in PJHL Doherty Division quarter-finals.
  • 2018 Lost in PJHL Doherty Division semi-finals
Woodstock Navy Vets defeated Norwich Merchants 4-games-to-1 in PJHL Doherty Division quarter-finals.
Tavistock Braves defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-0 in PJHL Doherty Division semi-finals.
  • 2022 Lost in PJHL Doherty Division semi-finals
New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Woodstock Navy Vets 4-games-to-3 in PJHL Doherty Division semi-finals.

Clarence Schmalz Cup appearances

1969: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Oakville Blades 4-games-to-3
1984: Penetang Kings defeated Woodstock Navy-Vets 4-games-to-none

George S. Dudley Trophy Super "C" appearances

1970: Barrie Colts defeated Woodstock Navy-Vets 4-games-to-2
1971: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Kitchener Ranger B's 4-games-to-2
1973: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Kitchener Ranger B's 4-games-to-3 with 1 tie
1974: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Owen Sound Salvagemen 4-games-to-none
1975: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Owen Sound Salvagemen 3-games-to-none
1976: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Brantford Penguins 4-games-to-none

Notable alumni

Woodstock born players (who never played for Navy Vets)

References

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