Villanova Knights

The Villanova Knights are a Tier II junior 'A' team based in North York, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The team is an affiliate of St. Thomas of Villanova College in King City, Ontario.
==History==
===Henry Carr===
The Villanova Knights lineage traces back to the Henry Carr Crusaders. Like the Toronto St. Michael's Majors and St. Michael's Buzzers, the Crusaders were a secondary school based Junior hockey team. The team's affiliation was with the Father Henry Carr Secondary School of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. In 1980 they took their high school team and joined the Metro Junior "B" Hockey League, where they played until 1991, even after the league left the Ontario Hockey Association in 1989. The team was famous for its first undefeated Metro season in 1983 (34-0-2), when they won the All-Ontario Jr. B Championship, the Sutherland Cup. After five rounds of playoffs, what it took to win the Sutherland Cup, the Crusaders had accumulated 54 wins, 2 losses, 2 ties, and 2 losses in overtime in 60 regulation games.
In 1991, when the Metro league declared itself Tier II Junior "A", they transferred the franchise to the Weston Dukes. Henry Carr still fields a team to this day, but again at the High School Hockey level.
===Thornhill===
In 1993 the Weston Dukes folded and their franchise was moved to Thornhill and became the Thornhill Islanders. In 1997 they were renamed the Thornhill Rattlers until 2004, when they again assumed the Thunderbirds name.
After playing in multiple leagues, for many years, even competing for the 2001 Royal Bank Cup. In Summer 2006, the players of the team started to get let go or traded for cash to any interested team. The team has been for sale for the better part of six months, but with no serious offers.
===Villanova College Knights===
In 2007 local businessman David Arsenault (Governor/Owner) along with St. Thomas of Villanova College revived the team bringing it back into the OPJHL under the Villanova College name.
The Villanova Knights were announced officially on May 15, 2007. The team will be in the same vein as the St. Michael's Buzzers or Henry Carr Crusaders, a Junior hockey team sponsored by a Catholic high school. The school is based in King City, Ontario, but the team will be playing their home games at York University's Canlan Ice Gardens.
The original Orangeville Flyers were disbanded by the league in spring 2011. On April 14, 2011, ten days after the Flyers folded, the OJHL and the Villanova Knights announced that they were moving to Orangeville under the name Orangeville Flyers.
==Season-by-season standings==
right|thumbnail|110px|Crusaders Logo
right|thumbnail|110px|Islanders Logo
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	GF 		GA 	P 	Results 	Playoffs 	
Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	Henry Carr Crusaders 	
1980-81 	42 	18 	19 	5 	- 	211 	208 	41 	8th Metro B 	 	
1981-82 	36 	24 	8 	4 	- 	209 	136 	52 	1st Metro B 	 	
1982-83 	36 	34 	0 	2 	- 	264 	113 	70 	1st Metro B 	Won League, Won SC 	
1983-84 	42 	26 	10 	6 	- 	280 	207 	58 	1st Metro B 	Won League 	
1984-85 	36 	25 	7 	4 	- 	184 	126 	54 	1st Metro B 	 	
1985-86 	37 	22 	10 	5 	- 	229 	164 	49 	4th Metro B 	Lost Semi-final 	
1986-87 	37 	28 	4 	5 	- 	256 	162 	61 	1st Metro B 	Won League 	
1987-88 	37 	23 	9 	5 	- 	214 	161 	51 	3rd Metro B 	Lost Semi-final 	
1988-89 	39 	16 	18 	5 	- 	184 	180 	37 	7th Metro B 	 	
1989-90 	44 	27 	9 	8 	- 	237 	137 	62 	2nd Metro B 	 	
1990-91 	44 	20 	16 	8 	- 	232 	193 	48 	6th Metro B 	 	
Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	Weston Dukes 	
1991-92 	44 	15 	26 	3 	- 	207 	230 	33 	9th Metro A 	 	
1992-93 	48 	15 	27 	6 	- 	203 	253 	36 	11th Metro A 	 	
Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	Thornhill Islanders 	
1993-94 	50 	30 	18 	2 	- 	253 	206 	62 	4th Metro A 	Lost Semi-final 	
1994-95 	50 	35 	14 	1 	- 	244 	151 	71 	2nd Metro A 	 	
Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	Thornhill Rattlers 	
1995-96 	52 	34 	15 	3 	- 	251 	172 	71 	3rd Metro A 	Lost Final 	
1996-97 	50 	29 	17 	4 	- 	279 	195 	62 	6th Metro A 	 	
1997-98 	50 	29 	18 	3 	- 	216 	172 	61 	5th Metro A 	 	
1998-99 	51 	23 	24 	3 	1 	230 	213 	50 	22nd OPJHL 	 	
1999-00 	49 	33 	9 	4 	3 	264 	170 	73 	4th OPJHL 	 	
2000-01 	49 	36 	8 	3 	2 	231 	148 	77 	3rd OPJHL 	Won League, Won DHC 	
2001-02 	49 	20 	21 	6 	2 	165 	183 	48 	19th OPJHL 	 	
2002-03 	49 	11 	34 	3 	1 	129 	240 	26 	30th OPJHL 	 	
2003-04 	49 	18 	26 	4 	1 	184 	219 	41 	27th OPJHL 	 	
Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	Thornhill Thunderbirds	
2004-05 	49 	16 	30 	1 	2 	143 	207 	35 	26th OPJHL 	 	
2005-06 	49 	23 	23 	3 	0 	203 	203 	49 	23rd OPJHL 	Lost Conf. QF 	
2006-07 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate 	Did Not Participate
Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	Villanova Knights 	
2007-08 	49 	6 	42 	- 	1 	124 	311 	13 	35th OPJHL 	 	
2008-09 	49 	6 	39 	- 	4 	119 	259 	16 	10th OJ-Phi 	 	
==Sutherland Cup appearances==
:1983: Henry Carr Crusaders defeated Stratford Cullitons 4-games-to-none
==Notable alumni==
*Bob Essensa
*Patrick Flatley
*Manny Legace
*Steve Moore
*Dominic Moore
*Jeff O'Neill
*Raffi Torres
*Mike York
==External links==
*Villanova Knights webpage
*Villanova College webpage
Category:Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League teams
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League
Category:Established in 1980