Owen Sound Greys The Owen Sound Greys were a series of Canadian junior ice hockey teams based in Owen Sound , Ontario , Canada . They play in the Mid - Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League . The original Greys , in their early years , won the 1924 and 1927 Memorial Cup s as Dominion Junior Hockey Champions . The Greys were controversially moved to Brampton , Ontario in the summer of 2012 after years of financial trouble . The Greys had survived in three different forms over the years . The Original Greys lasted from 1913 until 1977 , winning two Memorial Cups and folding in the ashes of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League . The Intermediate Greys lasted from 1978 until 1982 in an effort to obtain the Hardy Cup , they departed with the fall of the Major Intermediate A Hockey League . The final team was the Modern Greys , who began in 1973 as a Junior D club and worked its way up to winning the Ontario Junior A Hockey League Championship in 1987 . From 1987 until 2012 the Greys played in the Mid - Western League / Conference of OHA Junior B until being relocated to Brampton and ending 99 year era of Greys hockey in Owen Sound in 2012 . History . The Farm Team ( 1973 - 1983 ) . The Salvagemen had been formed in 1973 as a Junior C team . Initially they were members of the Northern Junior D Hockey League but were separated from that group come playoff time . Owen Sound endured a five - week layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of what were called the " Super C " playoffs . The " Super C " Champion would be awarded the George S . Dudley Trophy . The Salvagemen finally met the Woodstock Navy - Vets but were swept 4 - 0 . The next season saw the Salvagemen in a true Junior C group , the Central Junior C Hockey League . They finished sixth and last in the regular season , then began the Super C playoffs , which appear to have been established for teams with larger population bases . Owen Sound was in an eight - game round - robin with London and the Brantford Gunners ; the Salvagemen and the Gunners advanced . Owen Sound met Woodstock in the final once again but fared no better , falling in four straight . When the Junior B Greys jumped to Junior A , the Salvagemen took their place in the Mid - Ontario Junior B league but couldn ' t pick up where the Greys had left off . They finished sixth in 1975 - 76 and were swept by Orillia in the first playoff round . They placed fifth and out of the playoffs the next year . A name change to the Kings didn ' t help , as they again wound up fifth and on the sidelines in 1977 - 78 . The Mid - Ontario loop was wound down at this time and the Kings were placed in the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League . The other four teams ( Orillia , Barrie , the Oak Ridges Dynes and the Thornhill Thunderbirds ) went to the new Central league . The Owen Sound Kings changed names again in 1980 , becoming the Owen Sound Rutherford Mercurys , known simply as the Mercurys . This lasted until 1983 . The Greys Return ( 1983 - 1987 ) . The Mercurys organization merged with that of the Greys in 1983 , leaving one top - level hockey team in Owen Sound for the first time in 15 years ( see the Owen Sound Crescents ) . The new entity retained the name " Greys " and played two more seasons in the Midwestern league . The Greys made another move out of Junior B , stepping up to the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1985 . They affiliated with the Guelph Platers of the Ontario Hockey League and performed very well in their new surroundings , finishing in third place in their first season and topping the standings in their second . They also won the Frank L . Buckland Trophy as playoff champions in 1986 - 87 , their first title since 1974 - 75 , and advanced to the all - Ontario championship against the Nickel Centre Power Trains of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League . The OHA and NOJHL had been meeting annually since 1978 - 79 to determine the winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup and the provincial representative for the Centennial Cup national Tier II Junior A championship . Every year previously , the OHA champion had prevailed . But Nickel Centre ended the streak , upsetting the Greys 4 - 2 in a best - of - seven series . The OJHL folded after the season ; for the second time in a decade , Owen Sound was left hanging by the collapse of its Tier II Junior A league . This time , though , the Greys were able to return to the Junior B level . Back in " B " ( 1987 - 2012 ) . The team has remained in the Midwestern league ever since , by far its longest continuous stretch in any one circuit , but have only had middling success . One of the most disappointing seasons was 1992 - 93 when the Greys put together a powerful lineup that finished second in the standings , the first time they had ever placed so high in the Midwest . They were led by league scoring champion Bob McAskill , who had 36 goals , 69 assists and 105 points , but failed to advance beyond the semifinal playoff round . It wasn ' t until 1995 - 96 that the Greys finally advanced to a final series . They finished a lowly sixth but eliminated the Kitchener Dutchmen in overtime of the seventh and deciding game of their semifinal series . They met the powerful Stratford Cullitons in the final and lost 4 - 1 . Owen Sound could not build on that success and it wasn ' t until 1999 - 2000 that the Greys returned to the playoff final . Coincidentally , it also marked the return of an Owen Sound player to the top of the league scoring parade , as Ryan Dudgeon put up 59 goals and 104 points to tie Mike Carter of the Cambridge Winterhawks . The Greys reeled off series wins over Kitchener and Stratford — marking the first time the Cullitons had been swept from the playoffs since 1983 — but fell short against Cambridge , losing 4 - 2 . The Winterhawks did not lose again that year , rolling to their first Sutherland Cup championship . This time the Greys were able to use a final appearance as a bit of a stepping stone . In 2000 - 01 they earned a first - place finish for the first time since 1987 and blew past the Guelph Dominators in the quarter - finals , earning a rematch with Cambridge . The Winterhawks had finished four places and 17 points behind the Greys . That didn ' t stop them from dumping Owen Sound 4 - 2 , a bitter disappointment for the favoured Greys . They had to wait five years for their next final appearance , which they earned in 2004 - 05 despite finishing fifth in the 10 - team league . Surprisingly , they were considered the favourite in the final as their opponents , the Listowel Cyclones , had only finished seventh , 12 points behind Owen Sound . Again , that didn ' t matter as Listowel rolled to a 4 - 2 series win and a berth in the Sutherland Cup final . In a sad coincidence , the sixth and final game had been played on March 28 , 2005 — the anniversary of the Greys ' two Memorial Cup wins . Since then , there ' s been little for Greys fans to cheer about . The team finished ninth out of 10 teams in 2005 - 06 and missed the Junior B playoffs for the first time since 1978 - 79 . It appears Owen Sound will be on the sidelines again this spring as the club is headed for a finish of ninth and last . Its record as of January 11 , 2007 was 3 - 27 - 2 - 1 . The Owen Sound Sun Times newspaper reported on January 11 , 2007 that leading scorer Greg Virgo has been traded to Cambridge and teammate Mark England has been sent to Stratford . General manager Kevin Emke said both players had reportedly asked to be dealt to playoff - bound clubs , requests that had caused friction in the dressing room . Team captain Sean Dinsmore was also on the way out , reportedly bound for the Collingwood Blues . Part - time in Port Elgin ( 2000 - 2006 ) . Sporting a good contingent of players from the Port Elgin area , the Greys decided to stage a handful of home games at the new Saugeen Shores Community Complex in that town during the 1999 - 2000 season . The games were very well attended , with average crowds of about 800 people , far more than were coming to games at the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound . Starting with the 2000 - 01 season , the Greys played half of their home games at " The Plex , " as the building is known . The team ' s name was also changed , first to the Owen Sound - Saugeen Greys in 2000 and then to the Owen Sound - Saugeen Shores Greys in 2001 . As the number of Port Elgin - based players dwindled , however , so did attendance . The Greys decided in 2006 to abandon Port Elgin and return to Owen Sound on a full - time basis . The name was also changed back to the traditional Owen Sound Greys . Since the Greys had such a rough time in the past seasons they decided to take a year off for the 2009 - 2010 season 2009 - 2010 Season . The Greys have folded their team for the 2009 - 2010 season , citing financial restructuring . 2010 - 11 Season . After a year hiatus , the Greys returned with a short bench and started the rebuilding process . Not much hope of a competitive season was ever tossed Owen Sound ' s way . But what makes the return a success isn ' t the season record — it was the lack of a mass exodus of players at the Christmas Break . Players bought into the rebuilding process and stuck it out which earned a tremendous amount of respect from around the league and left the Greys in a good position with a solid nucleus to build on for next season . 2011 - 12 Season . After a much better season performance - wise , it was announced that the Greys franchise had been awarded to David Arseneaut , the team ' s major sponsor , by the OHA despite the team being community owned . On April 25 , 2012 , the OHA announced its approval of Arseneault ' s plan to relocate the team to Brampton , Ontario . This ends the long tradition of OHA Junior hockey in Owen Sound one season shy of what would be its centennial . The Original Franchise . History . The Greys had gone through numerous incarnations and leagues in the nearly 100 years since they were founded , although their initial history was cut short due to World War I . The team reformed after the end of the war and immediately came to prominence , winning the local playoff title in 1920 and thumping the Toronto champion 14 - 0 . A year later , the Greys advanced to the Northern Hockey League playoff final . Many early members of the team had attended Victoria Public School in Owen Sound , where principal Henry Kelso ( for whom the city ' s Kelso Beach was named ) had established a very strong school hockey program . Two of those Victoria graduates were forward Melville " Butch " Keeling , who later went on to star with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League , and goaltender Hedley Smith . In the fall of 1923 they earned places in the Greys lineup ; soon they and their team would also earn a permanent place in the history of Canadian hockey . Memorial Cup glory . Keeling and Smith were joined by four other Owen Sound boys , including another soon - to - be NHLer named Edward " Teddy " Graham . Two others who later made the NHL , team captain James " Dutch " Cain and future Hockey Hall of Fame r Ralph " Cooney " Weiland , were among the three imports on the nine - player squad . The 1923 - 24 season began in December and would end less than four months later with the Greys crowned " Dominion Junior Hockey Champions , " winners of what was then called the OHA Memorial Cup . Owen Sound first captured the J . Ross Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey Association titlists by defeating the Kitchener Greenshirts 12 - 7 in a two - game , total - goals series . That followed earlier playoff series wins over Collingwood , Midland and Toronto Varsity in which the Greys were not seriously challenged . Owen Sound ' s next hurdles were single - game playoffs against North Bay of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association and Montreal Westmount . The club was then pitted against the Kenora Thistles in the Eastern Canadian final , a two - game , total - goals series won 15 - 12 by the Greys . The Greys had journeyed to Winnipeg for the first game against the Thistles ( Game 2 was in Kenora ) and they returned to the Manitoba capital to face the Calgary Canadians in the two - game , total - goals national final . Keeling and Weiland each scored twice and Fred Elliott scored once in the first game , won 5 - 3 by Owen Sound . Weiland and Elliott both scored again two days later , on March 28 , 1924 , but the real hero was 16 - year - old netminder Hedley Smith . Calgary peppered him with 23 third - period shots but he stopped every one of them and held Calgary to a 2 - 2 tie . The Greys won the series 7 - 5 and , with it , the Dominion title . At the time , the wire service provided the only method of transmitting the results back to Owen Sound . Bulletins were posted outside the office of the city ' s newspaper , which estimated that more than 5 , 000 fans were there during the last game . It ' s believed that about 8 , 000 people turned out to welcome the champions home four days later , a remarkable number considering Owen Sound ' s population was only about 12 , 000 at the time . The Greys went 22 - 2 - 2 during that magical season , scoring 204 goals and allowing only 69 . Weiland led the club with a whopping 68 goals in 26 games while Keeling added an incredible 37 goals and 46 points in 15 playoff games , which may very well be a Canadian junior hockey record . A repeat was not to be , as Owen Sound fell to Toronto Aura Lee in the 1925 OHA final . The Greys also lost the next year to Queen ' s University , although both Toronto and Queen ' s fell in their respective national final series . It remained to the Greys to bring the Memorial Cup back to Ontario ; in 1927 they reclaimed it as well as the OHA , all - Ontario and Eastern Canadian crowns . Their opponents included the Newmarket Redmen , who fell 7 - 3 in a two - game , total - goals series to decide the OHA title . That set up a best - of - three national final in Toronto against the Port Arthur West End club . The Game 1 hero was Martin Lauder , a native of nearby Durham , Ontario and a future NHLer who scored a natural hat trick as Owen Sound won 5 - 4 . Game 2 was tied 2 - 2 after regulation time , which was followed by a 10 - minute , non - sudden death overtime . The Greys outscored Port Arthur 3 - 1 in the extra frame , won the game 5 - 3 and became the first team to win the Memorial Cup a second time . It happened on March 28 , 1927 — the third anniversary of the 1924 championship . Hedley Smith , who never went on to pro hockey , was the only holdover from that first title and thus became the first double Memorial Cup winner . The OHA divided junior hockey into separate Junior A and Junior B ranks in 1933 . The Greys were placed in Junior B , where they spent the next 42 years . Artifacts from the 1924 championship have surfaced in recent years . Cufflinks presented to Cooney Weiland are part of a junior hockey exhibit at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto . A gold watch given to Greys captain Dutch Cain on the team ' s return to Owen Sound is currently being auctioned online . The watch , which reportedly still keeps perfect time , is inscribed " Presented to L . J . Cain By The City of Owen Sound April 2nd 1924 . " The outer case has crossed hockey sticks and a puck , with " Dominion Champions " inscribed above and " Junior Hockey " below . The Junior B years ( 1933 - 1975 ) . The Greys served as the farm team for the Owen Sound Trappers , who competed in the OHA ' s Intermediate A league in the late 1930s and early 1940s . This coincided with the team ' s next notable championship run , which went all the way to the OHA Junior B Sutherland Cup final in 1940 . Owen Sound ' s opponent was the Waterloo Siskins , who won the best - of - five series 3 - 1 and claimed the first of their 11 OHA titles . It was 21 years before the Greys again made it as far in the playoffs . In 1960 - 61 , they finished first in the Central Junior B Hockey League and rolled to the championship by defeating the Hamilton Bees and the Siskins , avenging the 1940 loss . Owen Sound then eliminated the St . Marys Lincolns in a semifinal series but ran out of gas in the Sutherland Cup final against the St . Michael ' s Buzzers , losing in four straight games . To this day , the Greys have never made it back to the Sutherland Cup final . The Greys were part of the Central Junior B league throughout the 1960s . They failed to make the playoffs between 1966 and 1968 but turned things around and finished first in 1969 - 70 . They lost a semifinal playoff series to the Collingwood Blues , who went on to win the final over the Guelph CMC ' s , and thus began a great hockey rivalry that lasted into the 1980s and spanned four different leagues . Owen Sound and Collingwood met up again in the Central league final in 1971 and the Blues , having already disposed of the Preston Raiders in a semifinal series , again prevailed . The Greys finished first for the second straight year and beat the Kitchener Ranger B ' s 4 - 3 in the other semifinal before falling to Collingwood in five games . In 1971 - 72 , the Greys and Blues were placed in the new Mid - Ontario Junior B Hockey League , along with the Orillia Travelways , the Barrie Colts , the Newmarket Redmen and the Bolton Bruins . Orillia finished first in schedule play but once again Owen Sound and Collingwood met in the championship round and once again the Blues came out on top , winning 4 - 3 . The 1972 - 73 season saw the Greys finish in second place but they swept the league playoffs , knocking off the Midland Flyers in four straight games and finally getting past Collingwood , also in the minimum four games . This Greys team featured future NHL er Jim Roberts . Owen Sound then beat the Burlington Mohawks of the Central league 4 - 2 and advanced to the OHA semifinals against the Toronto Nationals . The Metro Junior B Hockey League champions won a hard - fought series 4 - 3 . Owen Sound ' s best season in this stretch was 1973 - 74 . The team finished first , just ahead of Collingwood , but a fifth straight playoff meeting between the rivals was not in store . The Greys instead dumped Barrie 4 - 1 and Midland 4 - 1 to claim their second straight Mid - Ontario league title , then needed six games to get past the Elmira Sugar Kings of the Southwestern Junior B Hockey League . Owen Sound was back in the Sutherland Cup semifinals against the Metro league champs but once again lost out in the seventh and deciding game , falling this time to the Bramalea Blues . That didn ' t mean Owen Sound was necessarily out of the picture , though . Bramalea and the Hamilton Red Wings of the Niagara District faced off for the Ontario championship and the Blues won the first game , but the contest was marred by a donnybrook that involved players , officials and fans and resulted in 14 police officers being called to the arena . The Blues immediately forfeited the series and incoming OHA president Cliffe Phillips decided to allow the Greys to return to action and take Bramalea ' s place in the final against Hamilton . Phillips soon found that his notion was not a popular one and he dropped it at once ; the Greys missed out on a trip to the OHA final after a 13 - year absence and the Sutherland Cup was awarded to the Red Wings as Ontario champs . The Greys wrapped up their third straight Mid - Ontario crown in 1974 - 75 , beating first - place Collingwood 4 - 1 in the final . But the road ended in the OHA quarter - finals , where the Waterloo Siskins swept Owen Sound to the side . Bramalea , back in the mix a year after its forfeit , went on to win the Sutherland Cup . More than 30 years later , the Greys are still searching for their next Junior B league championship . Tier II and Intermediate ( 1975 - 1982 ) . The club spent the next two years in the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League , but they were disappointing seasons . Owen Sound finished fifth and out of the playoffs in 1975 - 76 , then placed fourth and last in 1976 - 77 . All four teams advanced to the post - season that year but the Greys didn ' t last long , brushed aside in four straight games by the Guelph Platers . When the SOJAHL folded in 1977 , the Greys were left high and dry . They couldn ' t return to the Mid - Ontario Junior B league , as they had been replaced by another Owen Sound team which was called Owen Sound Grey - Bruce Salvage , popularly known as the Salvagemen . They took a one - year leave of absence , then returned to the ice in 1978 - 79 as a founding member of the new Georgian Bay Intermediate A Hockey League . They again failed to recapture their previous glory , never finishing higher than third place and advancing to the playoff final only once . The Greys went on another hiatus in 1982 , one year before the league itself disappeared . Affiliations . Since the Ontario Hockey League moved into Owen Sound in 1989 , the Greys have enjoyed an almost continuous affiliation with the big club ( originally the Owen Sound Platers , now known as the Owen Sound Attack ) . A disagreement in 1999 led the Platers to cancel the arrangement and affiliate instead with the OPJHL ' s ill - fated Durham Huskies . Although that ended after one season and the Platers again latched on to the Greys , there was enough animosity between the Greys and Huskies to fuel two heated exhibition games one week apart prior to the 2000 - 01 season . Owen Sound won 5 - 1 in the first game and 5 - 0 in the second game , which was marred by a line brawl toward the end . The Greys had another affiliation with the Kincardine Bulldogs of the Western Junior C Hockey League . This affiliation ended when the Greys took a leave of absence in 2009 . In 2010 it was announced that the Greys would return as affiliates to the Villanova Knights of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Fergus Devils of the Georgian Mid - Ontario Junior C Hockey League . Getting back to hometown roots for the 2011 season , the Greys announced their affiliation with the Hanover Barons of the Western Ontario Junior C Hockey League In Memory . The Greys have recently mourned the deaths of their two longest - serving club presidents . Carl Fairman . Mr . Fairman was with the Greys for 25 years , the last 20 as president , until his death on January 12 , 2004 at age 68 . Fundraising was his strong point and he was a regular and tireless fixture at the club ' s weekly bingo games . Howard Hindman . Mr . Hindman died on January 10 , 2007 at age 90 . A prominent city businessman , sportsman and benefactor who served at various times as chair of the local hospital board , school board and police board and as honorary chair of the hospital foundation , he still found time for heavy involvement with numerous sporting organizations , including the Greys . Mr . Hindman held the post of team president and / or manager continuously between 1946 and 1986 . A team jersey with his name on it was presented to him at a home game approximately four months before his death . NHL alumni . Numerous members of the Owen Sound Greys have gone on to play in the National Hockey League .