# Kitchener Dutchmen

The Kitchener Dutchmen were a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Dutchmen turned into the Ayr Centennials.

## History

The Kitchener Dutchmen franchise was founded in 1956 when the Junior A Kitchener Canucks were moved to become the Peterborough Petes. With the Canucks gone, the new Kitchener Greenshirts were founded as members of the Central Junior B Hockey League to fill the void left by their Junior A counterparts.
The Greenshirts changed their name to the "Ranger B's" in 1969 to better reflect their relationship with their parent club, the Kitchener Rangers who entered the market in 1963. The team started in the Central Junior B league, but as part of the 1971 geographic realignment, moved to the Western Junior B league. In 1973, the team joined the "Southwestern Junior "B" Hockey League", which became the "Waterloo-Wellington Junior "B" Hockey League" and then the Midwestern "B" in 1977. The team was a long-standing member of the league but relocated to Ayr in 2020.
An original charter member team, in 1992 the franchise became the first team in Mid-Western "B" history, other than the Waterloo Siskins and the Stratford Cullitons, to win the league and the Sutherland Cup. They won a second consecutive league title in 1993, but failed to come away with another Ontario Hockey Association title. The team did not miss the playoffs from 1979 until they relocated. The Dutchmen were a long time farm team for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
On April 26, 2020, it was announced that the OHA had given approval for the Ayr Centennials to purchase the Dutchmen and move them to Ayr in order to promote the Centennials from Junior C to Junior B, effective starting in the 2020-21 season. This thus brought an end to the 63 years of Dutchmen hockey in Kitchener.

## Season-by-season record

| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | Results | Playoffs |
| 1956–57 | 27 | 11 | 14 | 2 | — | 77 | 97 | 24 | 4th CJBHL | |
| 1957–58 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0 | — | 148 | 109 | 40 | 2nd CJBHL | |
| 1958–59 | 30 | 7 | 23 | 0 | — | 83 | 175 | 14 | 6th CJBHL | |
| 1959–60 | 30 | 4 | 25 | 1 | — | — | — | 9 | 5th CJBHL | |
| 1960–61 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 0 | — | 168 | 175 | 30 | 3rd CJBHL | |
| 1961–62 | 30 | 25 | 4 | 1 | — | 231 | 121 | 51 | 1st CJBHL | |
| 1962–63 | 36 | 14 | 22 | 0 | — | 144 | 184 | 28 | 4th CJBHL | |
| 1963–64 | 34 | 13 | 20 | 1 | — | 146 | 170 | 27 | 4th CJBHL | |
| 1964–65 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 0 | — | 236 | 138 | 62 | 1st CJBHL | Won League, won Sutherland Cup |
| 1965–66 | 38 | 30 | 8 | 0 | — | 281 | 149 | 60 | 1st CJBHL | Won League |
| 1966–67 | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | — | 230 | 114 | 53 | 1st CJBHL | Won League, won Sutherland Cup |
| 1967–68 | 40 | 19 | 17 | 4 | — | 197 | 186 | 42 | 3rd CJBHL | Won League |
| 1968–69 | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | — | 246 | 130 | 53 | 1st CJBHL | |
| 1969–70 | 40 | 23 | 13 | 4 | — | 243 | 191 | 50 | 2nd CJBHL | |
| 1970–71 | 42 | 20 | 18 | 4 | — | 229 | 184 | 44 | 3rd CJBHL | |
| 1971–72 | 40 | 28 | 8 | 4 | — | 242 | 158 | 60 | 1st WOJHL | |
| 1972–73 | 41 | 12 | 22 | 7 | — | 191 | 235 | 31 | 7th WOJHL | |
| 1973–74 | 40 | 23 | 13 | 4 | — | 242 | 172 | 50 | 2nd SWJBHL | |
| 1974–75 | 40 | 25 | 11 | 4 | — | 264 | 176 | 54 | 2nd WWJHL | |
| 1975–76 | 42 | 17 | 20 | 5 | — | 252 | 233 | 39 | 4th WWJHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1976–77 | 40 | 20 | 17 | 3 | — | 216 | 207 | 43 | 3rd WWJHL | |
| 1977–78 | 40 | 9 | 28 | 3 | — | 159 | 251 | 21 | 5th MWJBHL | Did not qualify |
| 1978–79 | 42 | 12 | 23 | 7 | — | 167 | 229 | 31 | 6th MWJBHL | Did not qualify |
| 1979–80 | 42 | 15 | 20 | 7 | — | 186 | 219 | 37 | 3rd MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1980–81 | 42 | 21 | 20 | 1 | — | 217 | 206 | 43 | 4th MWJBHL | Lost final |
| 1981–82 | 42 | 29 | 13 | 0 | — | 266 | 177 | 58 | 3rd MWJBHL | Lost final |
| 1982–83 | 42 | 23 | 19 | 0 | — | 257 | 228 | 46 | 4th MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1983–84 | 42 | 18 | 25 | 0 | — | 200 | 223 | 36 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1984–85 | 42 | 22 | 18 | 2 | — | 202 | 192 | 44 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1985–86 | 40 | 18 | 20 | 2 | — | 229 | 206 | 38 | 4th MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1986–87 | 41 | 22 | 18 | 1 | — | 222 | 206 | 45 | 4th MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1987–88 | 48 | 23 | 24 | 1 | — | 236 | 249 | 47 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1988–89 | 48 | 11 | 35 | 2 | — | 184 | 290 | 24 | 8th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1989–90 | 48 | 21 | 26 | 1 | — | 225 | 224 | 43 | 6th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1990–91 | 48 | 24 | 23 | 1 | — | 190 | 200 | 49 | 6th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1991–92 | 48 | 39 | 6 | 3 | — | 270 | 134 | 81 | 1st MWJBHL | Won League, won Sutherland Cup |
| 1992–93 | 48 | 41 | 7 | 0 | — | 339 | 168 | 82 | 1st MWJBHL | Won League |
| 1993–94 | 48 | 17 | 29 | 2 | — | 178 | 220 | 36 | 7th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1994–95 | 48 | 17 | 27 | 4 | — | 203 | 229 | 38 | 8th MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1995–96 | 48 | 28 | 16 | 4 | — | 269 | 178 | 60 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1996–97 | 48 | 30 | 13 | 5 | — | 256 | 165 | 65 | 3rd MWJBHL | Lost semi-final |
| 1997–98 | 48 | 30 | 15 | 3 | — | 259 | 128 | 63 | 4th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1998–99 | 48 | 20 | 22 | 6 | — | 216 | 219 | 46 | 6th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 1999–00 | 48 | 27 | 20 | 1 | — | 218 | 185 | 55 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 2000–01 | 48 | 26 | 19 | 3 | — | 235 | 179 | 55 | 6th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 2001–02 | 48 | 17 | 28 | 3 | — | 160 | 178 | 37 | 7th MWJBHL | |
| 2002–03 | 48 | 29 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 231 | 148 | 65 | 2nd MWJBHL | Lost final |
| 2003–04 | 48 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 188 | 153 | 67 | 2nd MWJBHL | Lost final |
| 2004–05 | 48 | 31 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 178 | 118 | 66 | 1st MWJBHL | |
| 2005–06 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 0 | — | 169 | 161 | 48 | 7th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 2006–07 | 48 | 21 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 158 | 162 | 46 | 5th MWJBHL | Lost quarter-final |
| 2007–08 | 48 | 21 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 167 | 163 | 48 | 6th GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Quarter-final |
| 2008–09 | 52 | 34 | 14 | — | 4 | 240 | 172 | 72 | 2nd GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Final |
| 2009–10 | 51 | 16 | 34 | — | 1 | 153 | 231 | 33 | 8th GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Quarter-final |
| 2010–11 | 51 | 25 | 24 | — | 2 | 179 | 164 | 52 | 6th GOJHL-MW | |
| 2011–12 | 51 | 10 | 33 | — | 8 | 148 | 223 | 28 | 8th GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Quarter-final |
| 2012–13 | 51 | 28 | 19 | — | 4 | 175 | 172 | 60 | 3rd GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Semi-final |
| 2013–14 | 49 | 36 | 8 | — | 5 | 180 | 103 | 77 | 1st GOJHL-MW | Lost Conf. Semi-final |
| 2014–15 | 49 | 34 | 11 | — | 4 | 201 | 157 | 72 | 2nd GOJHL-MW | Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (Cyclones) Lost Conf. Semis, 1–4 (Cullitons) |
| 2015–16 | 50 | 44 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 244 | 123 | 90 | 1st of 9-MW 1st of 26-GOJHL | Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (99ers) Lost Conf. Semis, 1–4 (Siskins) |
| 2016–17 | 50 | 30 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 196 | 155 | 65 | 3rd of 9-MW 9th of 27-GOJHL | Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (Cullitons) Lost Conf. Semis, 2–4 (Sugar Kings) |
| 2017–18 | 50 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 160 | 163 | 51 | 5th of 8-MW 15th of 26 GOJHL | Lost Conf. Quarters, 3-4 (Siskins) |

## Sutherland Cup appearances

    1965: Kitchener Greenshirts defeated Etobicoke Indians 4-games-to-2
    1967: Kitchener Greenshirts defeated Dixie Beehives 4-games-to-2
    1992: Kitchener Dutchmen defeated Milton Merchants 4-games-to-1
    1993: Barrie Colts defeated Kitchener Dutchmen 4-games-to-none

## George S. Dudley Trophy Super "C" appearances

    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

## Notable alumni

* Chris Ahrens
* Jerry Byers
* Jonathan Cheechoo
* Dave Cressman
* Jack Egers
* Mike Hoffman
* Jim Krulicki
* Gary Kurt
* Don Maloney
* Joe McDonnell
* Rich Peverley
* Mike Robitaille
* Mark Scheifele
* Dan Seguin
* Scott Stevens
* Walt Tkaczuk
* Scott Walker
* Bennett Wolf