Hearst Lumberjacks

The Hearst Lumberjacks are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Hearst, Ontario, Canada, under new ownership for the 2017–18 season. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). As the Powassan Hawks, the team won two Dudley Hewitt Cups (1992 and 1993).
==History==
In 2002, the year after the Ontario Hockey League's North Bay Centennials moved to Saginaw, Michigan, North Bay bought the Sturgeon Falls Lynx. The team was known as the North Bay Skyhawks from 2002 to 2009. In the summer of 2009, the team was renamed the Trappers in the memory of the NOJHA's North Bay Trappers (1962–1982).
===Sturgeon Falls Lynx===
The Powassan Hawks relocated to Sturgeon Falls, Ontario to be known as the Sturgeon Falls Lynx for the 1994–95 season. The Lynx were sponsored and affiliated by the North Bay Centennials. This meant, most of their equipment was from the Centennials. The Lynx were the third-best team in the NOJHL, behind the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats and Parry Sound Shamrocks. Sturgeon Falls managed to make the finals in 1996 and 1997, but lost out to Rayside-Balfour on both occasions. In 1999, the Lynx were the considered the second-best team in the NOJHL after the departure of Parry Sound to the OPJHL. Despite the impressive 1999–00 second-place finish, the Lynx were no match for the unbeaten Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats in the league finals. In 2000–01 and 2001–02, the Sturgeon Falls Lynx finished fourth both seasons.
===North Bay Skyhawks===
Shortly after the North Bay Centennials moved to Saginaw, Michigan, the Sturgeon Falls Lynx immediately left the Sturgeon Falls Arena and took up tenancy at the bigger North Bay Memorial Gardens in the summer of 2002 and became the North Bay Skyhawks. The Skyhawks became immediately dominant, and won three consecutive NOJHL championships from 2003 to 2005. The Skyhawks played host to the 2004 Dudley Hewitt Cup, finishing second. The Skyhawks franchise appeared in the league finals five times from 2003 to 2009.
===North Bay Trappers===
The North Bay Skyhawks re-branded to the North Bay Trappers for the 2009–10 season. The team's performance did not vary from the Skyhawks, but would not appear in the league finals again until 2012. A year later, the Trappers would win their first league title since 2009 and played host to the 2013 Dudley Hewitt Cup, finishing fourth. As a result of an Ontario Hockey League franchise returning to North Bay, the tournament was almost allocated a second time. The tournament was originally awarded to Sudbury, but backed out. A deal was reached with the city where the renovations would commence at the end of the Dudley Hewitt Cup final. The Trappers had moved across the city to the West Ferris Arena, which was smaller and had under 500 seating capacity. The 2013–14 season marked the last for an NOJHL franchise in North Bay, as a large of majority of the interest was going towards the North Bay Battalion. Owner David Beauchamp was still being bankrolled by former owner Tim Clayden to meet team expenses, after he sold the Trappers and owned the Espanola Rivermen. With the lack of financial means, community support and sponsors, the Trappers ended up leaving North Bay at the end of the season and played their final games in Mattawa. Beauchamp claims the City of North Bay expelled the Trappers, but the city denied this.
===Mattawa Blackhawks===
In March 2014, the team announced it was relocating to Mattawa, Ontario to become the Mattawa Blackhawks.http://www.hockeynewsnorth.com/nojhl/trappers-setting-up-in-mattawa/ Owner David Beauchamp was removed by the league in the fall over unpaid ice fees, and the team was in the hands of new ownership (TPA Sports) from Toronto to continue operations. Because of a small arena, the team's existence was questionable, despite tremendous fan support throughout the season. The Blackhawks finished second-to-last, and lost a best-of-three series to the Powassan Voodoos.
===Iroquois Falls Eskis===
In March 2015, the Abitibi Eskimos were relocating to Timmins and the Mattawa Blackhawks took advantage and relocated to Iroquois Falls to become the second-incarnation of the Eskimos, calling themselves the Iroquois Falls Eskimos. However, over the summer the team name was altered to the "Eskis" to pay homage to the Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis, who were members of the league from 1999 to 2002. The new team did not adopt the former Jr. Eskis' colours of blue and white, and instead went with the Abitibi Eskimos colours of black, gold, and white.
Despite having the third best attendance in the league the team was sold. 
===Hearst Lumberjacks===
In April 2017, the NOJHL announced that the Eskis' franchise has been transferred to Hearst, Ontario. A new local ownership group led by Jonathan Blier acquired the team from Allan Donnan. The team will play out of the Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
==Season-by-season results==
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Results 	Playoffs
Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's 	Haileybury 54's
1988–89 	41 	6 	32 	3 	— 	173 	313 	15 	4th NOJHL 	
1989–90 	40 	4 	34 	2 	— 	138 	337 	10 	6th NOJHL 	
Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport 	Powassan Passport
1990–91 	40 	21 	12 	7 	— 	212 	175 	49 	2nd NOJHL 	
Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks 	Powassan Hawks
1991–92 	48 	33 	14 	1 	— 	318 	164 	67 	3rd NOJHL 	Won League
1992–93 	48 	35 	12 	1 	— 	370 	202 	71 	2nd NOJHL 	Won League
1993–94 	40 	33 	6 	1 	— 	273 	118 	67 	1st NOJHL 	Won League
Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx 	Sturgeon Falls Lynx
1994–95 	48 	33 	12 	3 	— 	237 	136 	69 	3rd NOJHL 	
1995–96 	44 	29 	12 	3 	— 	192 	129 	61 	2nd NOJHL 	Lost Final
1996–97 	40 	28 	11 	1 	— 	203 	157 	57 	2nd NOJHL 	Lost Final
1997–98 	40 	22 	15 	3 	— 	202 	176 	47 	2nd NOJHL 	
1998–99 	40 	19 	18 	3 	— 	167 	168 	41 	4th NOJHL 	
1999–00 	40 	30 	9 	1 	— 	236 	131 	61 	2nd NOJHL 	Lost Final
2000–01 	40 	21 	17 	1 	1 	156 	166 	44 	4th NOJHL 	
2001–02 	42 	19 	18 	0 	5 	188 	197 	43 	4th NOJHL 	
North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks 	North Bay Skyhawks
2002–03 	48 	39 	7 	2 	- 	277 	111 	80 	1st NOJHL 	Won League
2003–04 	48 	34 	7 	4 	3 	233 	110 	75 	1st NOJHL 	Won League
2004–05 	48 	31 	11 	3 	3 	196 	122 	68 	1st NOJHL 	Won League
2005–06 	48 	30 	18 	0 	0 	166 	141 	60 	3rd NOJHL 	Lost Final
2006–07 	48 	23 	24 	0 	1 	164 	169 	47 	6th NOJHL 	Lost Semi-final
2007–08 	50 	31 	14 	— 	5 	191 	152 	91 	3rd NOJHL 	
2008–09 	50 	41 	6 	— 	3 	251 	151 	85 	1st NOJHL 	Lost Final
North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers 	North Bay Trappers
2009–10 	50 	34 	14 	- 	2 	227 	161 	70 	2nd NOJHL 	Lost Quarter-final
2010–11 	50 	22 	23 	- 	5 	183 	189 	49 	6th NOJHL 	Lost Quarter-final
2011–12 	50 	29 	21 	- 	0 	215 	187 	58 	5th NOJHL 	Lost Final
2012–13 	48 	34 	7 	3 	4 	215 	120 	75 	1st NOJHL 	Won League
2013–14 	56 	15 	35 	0 	6 	154 	238 	36 	7th NOJHL 	Lost Quarter-final
Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks 	Mattawa Blackhawks
2014–15 	52 	13 	35 	0 	4 	163 	300 	30 	5th East 	Lost Div. Play-in series, 0–2 vs. Powassan Voodoos
Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis	Iroquois Falls Eskis 	Iroquois Falls Eskis
2015–16 	54 	15 	39 	0 	0 	163 	310 	30 	5th East 	Lost Div. Play-in series, 0–2 vs. Timmins Rock
2016–17 	56 	16 	36 	4 	0 	203 	282 	36 	5th East 	Lost Div. Play-in series, 1–2 vs. Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks 	Hearst Lumberjacks
2017–18 	56 	23 	30 	2 	1 	215 	226 	46 	4th of 6, East9th of 12, NOJHL 	Lost Div. Play-in series, 1–2 vs. Timmins Rock
2018-19 	56 	33 	16 	6 	1 	210 	159 	73 	1st East 	Won DSF 4-3 (Rock)Won DF 4-0 (Voodoos)Won league final 4-3 Soo ThunderbirdsLost DHC Final
2019-20 	56 	31 	18 	3 	4 	202 	177 	69 	3rd East 	Trailing Div. Semifinal 1-0 vs Timmins Rock when playoffs are cancelled
2020–21 	12 	7 	5 	— 	0 	47 	41 	14 	Withdrew from season due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Withdrew from season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22 	48 	35 	11 	2 	0 	217 	139 	72 	2nd of 6, East3rd of 12, NOJHL 	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–2 vs. Powassan VoodoosWon Div. Finals, 4–3 vs. Timmins RockLost League Finals, 3-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2022–23 	58 	43 	13 	2 	0 	277 	155 	88 	2nd of 6, East4th of 12, NOJHL 	Lost Div. Semifinals, 2-4 vs. Powassan Voodoos
2023–24 	58 	36 	16 	4 	2 	244 	184 	78 	2nd of 6, East5th of 12, NOJHL 	Lost Div. Semifinals, 1-4 vs. Powassan Voodoos
==Notable alumni==
*Alex Auld (Sturgeon Falls Lynx)
== References ==
==External links==
*Lumberjack Web Page
*Eskis Webpage
*NOJHL League
Category:Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League teams