Minto 81's

The Minto 81's are a senior hockey team based out of Palmerston, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Ontario Elite Hockey League after previously having played in the Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior Hockey League.
==Championships==
Palmerston won the WOAA Grand Championship in the 1957-58 season. The current Palmerston 81's have three WOAA Sr. "A" Championships, in 1998-99, 2005-06, and 2007-08, and they have a WOAA Sr. "AA" Championship, in 2002-03.
==2006-07 81's Season==
Palmerston, the defending Senior "A" Champions, had a very strong year, with a 17-7-0 record, good for fourth in the North Division.
The 81's would face the South Division champions, the Clinton Radars in the "AA" quarter-finals. After falling behind by losing the first game of the series, Palmerston would win two in a row in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead. Clinton would come back and win two in a row to put Palmerston behind 3-2, however in the sixth game, the 81's staved off elimination with a convincing 5-2 victory, forcing a seventh game in Clinton. The 81's would fall behind the Radars 3-0 after the first period and could never recover, losing 6-2 and being eliminated from the playoffs.
==2007-08 81's Season==
After starting the season off with a 7-2-1 record in their first 10 games, the 81's would slump, losing six of their next eight games, to sit with a 9-8-1 record, and push the team out of the "AA" playoff picture. Palmerston snapped out of their slump, and in their remaining eight games, they posted an impressive 7-0-1 record, and finish in fifth place in the North Division, and qualifying for the "A" playoffs.
The 81's opening opponent in the quarter-finals was the Monkton Wildcats, and Monkton surprised Palmerston with a 4-3 OT victory in the series opener, followed by a 2-1 win in the second game to take a 2-0 series lead. The 81's fought back, winning games three and four to tie the series, but the Wildcats put Palmerston on the brink of elimination with a 4-0 victory in the fifth game to take a 3-2 series lead. The 81's would once again fight back, hanging on for a 4-3 win in the sixth game, sending the series to a seventh and deciding game. Palmerston would complete the comeback, defeating Monkton 5-4, and advance to the "A" semi-finals.
Palmerston would face the defending "A" champions, the Durham Thundercats in the semi-finals, and the 81's would win a very wild opening game by a score of 9-7. Durham rebounded to tie the series up in the second game, however, Palmerston would dominate the Thundercats in the third game, winning 10-5, and taking a 2-1 series lead. Palmerston's offense stayed hot, defeating Durham 7-3 in the fourth game, and then defeating the Thundercats in the fifth game by a 7-4 score to win the series, advancing to the "A" finals.
The 81's next opponent would be the Lucknow Lancers, and after dropping the series opener by a 5-4 score, Palmerston would win the next two games by scores of 6-4 and 7-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. Lucknow evened the series with a 7-5 victory in the fourth game, however, Palmerston once again took the series lead with a solid 7-3 win in the fifth game. The 81's would hang on for a 3-2 win in the sixth game, winning the "A" championship for the second time in three seasons.
==2008-09 81's Season==
Palmerston would get off to a hot start to begin the regular season, winning their first seven games. The 81's would continue to play good hockey throughout the regular season, finishing off with a 14-4-2 record, earning 30 points, and fourth in the WOAA North Division.
Palmerston opened the playoffs against the Durham Thundercats, with the winner advancing to the "AA" quarter-finals. The 81's opened the series with a 9-2 victory, followed by a 6-2 win the second game to take a 2-0 series lead. The third game would be determined in overtime, as the scored was tied 4-4 after three periods of play, and it would be Palmerston earning the victory to take the 3-0 series lead. The fourth game would once again be tied 4-4 after regulation time, and the 81's would earn the series sweep, by scoring in the extra period and advance to the "AA" quarter-finals.
In the "AA" quarter-finals, the 81's faced off against the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks, where Saugeen Shores would take an early series lead by defeating Palmerston 5-3 in the series opener, followed by a 7-6 Winterhawks victory in the second game. Saugeen Shores would continue their winning ways in the third game, defeating the 81's 6-4 to take a 3-0 series lead. Palmerston would fight off elimination in the fourth game, defeating the Winterhawks 8-5, however, Saugeen Shores would end the 81's season in the fifth game with a 4-2 victory over Palmerston.
==2009-10 81's Season==
Palmerston would struggle during the 2009-10 season, as they finished with a record of 8-9-3, earning 19 points, and a seventh place finish in the North Division standings.
In the playoffs, the 81's faced off against the Shelburne Muskies in a best of five qualifying round. The Muskies easily defeated the 81's by a 6-3 score in the series opener, followed by a 5-2 Shelburne win in the second game. Palmerston kept the third game close, however, Shelburne completed the three game sweep with a 4-3 win, sending Palmerston to the "A" playoffs.
In the "A" quarter-finals, the 81's would face the Lucknow Lancers. Lucknow took the first game, winning a wild one by a score of 8-6. The Lancers then took the second game by a 7-3 score, followed by a 7-4 Lucknow win in the third game as the Lancers took a 3-0 series lead. Lucknow completed the sweep in the fourth game, blowing out Palmerston 9-3 to end the 81's season.
==2010-11 81's Season==
After a very disappointing 2009-10 season, the 81's improved a little bit during the season, as the club went 13-12-1 to finish above the .500 mark, earning 27 points, and finishing in fifth place in the North Division standings. In the summer of 2011, the team announced they were merging with the Drayton Icemen and expanding their territory with it. They are now called the Mapleton-Minto 81's.
==Season-by-Season record==
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Tie, OL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish 	Playoffs 	
1993-94	20 	7 	10 	3 	- 	-- 	-- 	17 	T-7th Sr. A 	 	
1994-95	24 	0 	23 	1 	- 	-- 	-- 	1 	13th Sr. A 	 	
1995-96	24 	9 	14 	1 	0 	104 	105 	19 	T-5th Sr. A 	Lost "AA" QF 	
1996-97	24 	13 	9 	1 	1 	146 	124 	28 	4th Sr. A 	Lost "AA" QF 	
1997-98	24 	10 	11 	3 	0 	104 	107 	23 	3rd Sr. A East 	 	
1998-99	22 	17 	3 	0 	2 	118 	70 	36 	1st Sr. A East 	Won "A" Championship 	
1999-00	25 	19 	5 	0 	1 	-- 	-- 	39 	2nd WOAA Sr 	"AA Finalists" 	
2000-01	24 	19 	5 	0 	0 	-- 	-- 	38 	3rd WOAA Sr 	 	
2001-02	24 	18 	4 	2 	0 	113 	88 	38 	2nd WOAA North 	 	
2002-03	25 	17 	7 	0 	1 	113 	80 	35 	3rd WOAA Sr 	"AA" Champions 	
2003-04	24 	13 	11 	0 	0 	104 	87 	26 	8th WOAA Sr 	 	
2004-05	25 	17 	6 	1 	1 	133 	76 	36 	6th WOAA Sr 	 	
2005-06	25 	15 	8 	- 	2 	114 	79 	32 	9th WOAA Sr 	"A" Champions 	
2006-07	24 	17 	7 	- 	0 	158 	86 	34 	4th WOAA North 	Lost "AA" QF 	
2007-08	26 	16 	8 	- 	2 	121 	92 	34 	5th WOAA North 	"A" Champions 	
2008-09	20 	14 	4 	- 	2 	139 	88 	30 	4th WOAA North 	Lost "AA" QF 	
2009-10	20 	8 	9 	- 	3 	101 	117 	19 	7th WOAA North 	Lost "A" QF 	
2010-11	26 	13 	12 	- 	1 	113 	106 	27 	5th WOAA North 	Lost Division Quarterfinals 	
2011-12	24 	11 	10 	- 	3 	96 	111 	25 	5th WOAA North 	Lost Division Quarterfinals 	
2012-13	24 	7 	15 	- 	2 	82 	132 	16 	7th North 	Lost Division Quarterfinals 	
2013-14	24 	20 	4 	- 	0 	147 	70 	40 	1st North 	Lost Final 	
2014-15	24 	17 	7 	- 	0 	108 	61 	34 	3rd North 	Lost "AA" Final 	
2015-16	24 	22 	2 	- 	0 	135 	51 	44 	1st North 	Lost "AA" Final 	
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	OL 	SL 	GF 	GA 	PTS 	Finish 	Playoffs 	
2016-17	19 	16 	3 	0 	0 	102 	59 	32 	2nd 	Lost "AA" Semifinals 	
2017-18	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	On Leave of Absence 	
2018-19	22 	12 	7 	2 	1 	109 	91 	27 	5th 	Lost "AA" Quarterfinals 	
2019-20	22 	13 	8 	0 	1 	98 	87 	27 	7th 	Semifinal series suspended tied 2-2 	
2020-21	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	12 	8 	4 	0 	0 	48 	31 	16 	3rd 	Lost "AA" Quarterfinals 	
2022-23	19 	14 	4 	1 	0 	85 	54 	29 	T-3rd 	Lost "AA" Quarterfinals 	
2023-24	20 	13 	6 	1 	97 	69 	27 	3rd 	Won "AA" Championship 	 	
More information will be added as more becomes available
==Related links==
*Palmerston, Ontario
*Western Ontario Athletic Association
*WOAA Senior Hockey League
==External links==
*WOAA Website
*WOAA Senior Hockey Website
*Palmerston 81's Website
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior Hockey League
Category:Established in 2011
Category:Ontario Elite Hockey League teams