Orangeville Crushers

The Orangeville Crushers were a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey team from Orangeville, Ontario. They played in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Midwestern Junior B Hockey League, and Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League.
==History==
Founded in 1975, the Stonecrushers sat out the 1978-79 season. The owners of the team opted to attempt to field a team in the Georgian Bay Intermediate A Hockey League by the name of the Orangeville Cougars. The Cougars only won twice in all of 1978-79 and the Stonecrushers were brought back for 1979-80.
The team originated in the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League, after one season in the league it became the Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League. In the late 80's and early 90's, the Crushers played in the Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League and won two straight league championships. They won the Clarence Schmalz Cup in 1990 as All-Ontario Champions. In the Clarence Schmalz Cup Finals, the Crushers came back from a 3-0 deficit in games to defeat the Belle River Canadiens of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League 4-3. The 1991 Clarence Schmalz Cup Final pitted the Crushers against a bound and determined Hanover Barons of the Western Junior C Hockey League. The Crushers again went down 3-0 in games and again forced a seventh and deciding contest but came out on the losing end, dropping the final game and the series 4-3.
In the mid-90's, the Crushers were accepted into the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League and stayed there until 2006. Orangeville had been accepted to play in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League for the start of the 2006-07 Season. A vote was concocted by the OPJHL teams, where the Crushers were voted in by a 33-3 vote. The Crushers would play out of the North Division. The team's head coach for the beginning of 2006-07 would be Steve Chelios, brother of National Hockey League great Chris Chelios . Chelios was let go in late October. The President of the team is another former NHLer, Dale Hawerchuk.
===Junior A===
The Crushers' first Junior "A" game took place on September 15, 2006 against Vaughan Vipers in Orangeville. The game resulted in a 6-3 loss. The Crushers' first ever Junior "A" goal was scored by Trevor Branning at 1:17 into the first period. Anthony Ferrante started the game in net.
The Crushers' first ever Junior "A" win was against the Stouffville Spirit on September 28, 2006 in Stouffville, Ontario. The final score was 3-2, with goaltender Michael Hutchinson picking up the win in net. Hutchinson stopped 35 of 37 shots, as the Crushers were badly outshot. Hutchinson also held the Spirit scoreless for the first 48:13 of the game, coming within less than 12 minutes of the shutout. The Crushers' Wil Munson of Corona, California scored the eventual game winner.
The Crushers finished the season one point out of the final playoff spot. With three games to go in the season, Orangeville either had to win or tie to clinch a spot or the Buffalo Jr. Sabres had to tie or lose—neither happened.
Team owner and National Hockey League Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk took over as head coach. In 2010, the changed its name to the Flyers.
On April 3, 2011, despite three consecutive .500 or more seasons, the franchise ceased operations. A week later, the owner of the Villanova Knights announced that he was moving the Knights to Orangeville and renaming them the "Orangeville Flyers".
==Season-by-Season results==
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	GF 		GA 	P 	Results 	Playoffs 	
1975-76	32 	10 	11 	11 	- 	156 	145 	31 	5th CJCHL 	Lost "C" Semi-final 	
1976-77	30 	15 	15 	0 	- 	176 	187 	30 	5th CJCHL 	Lost "C" Semi-final 	
1977-78	32 	13 	12 	7 	- 	155 	152 	33 	4th MOJCHL 	Lost Semi-final 	
1978-79	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
1979-80	39 	12 	27 	0 	- 	201 	253 	24 	5th MOJCHL 	DNQ 	
1980-81	36 	15 	21 	0 	- 	182 	188 	30 	4th MOJCHL 	Lost Final 	
1981-82	40 	7 	32 	1 	- 	190 	311 	15 	6th MOJCHL 	DNQ 	
1982-83	36 	20 	15 	1 	- 	201 	162 	41 	3rd MOJCHL 	Lost Final 	
1983-84	34 	26 	6 	2 	- 	232 	132 	54 	1st MOJCHL 	Lost Semi-final 	
1984-85	36 	20 	16 	0 	- 	254 	174 	40 	5th MOJCHL 	Lost Final 	
1985-86	34 	17 	16 	1 	- 	235 	196 	35 	4th MOJCHL 	 	
1986-87	34 	21 	13 	0 	- 	246 	161 	42 	3rd MOJCHL 	Lost Semi-final 	
1987-88	36 	32 	4 	0 	- 	297 	148 	64 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League, Lost CSC QF 	
1988-89	36 	32 	4 	0 	- 	366 	121 	64 	1st MOJCHL 	Lost Final 	
1989-90	35 	30 	5 	0 	- 	294 	138 	60 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League, Won CSC 	
1990-91	34 	31 	3 	0 	- 	265 	101 	62 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League, Lost CSC Final	
1991-92	34 	25 	7 	2 	- 	205 	124 	52 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League, Lost CSC QF 	
1992-93	38 	23 	13 	2 	0 	193 	160 	48 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League 	
1993-94	40 	35 	5 	0 	- 	303 	126 	70 	1st MOJCHL 	Won League, Lost CSC QF 	
1994-95	48 	26 	19 	3 	- 	190 	168 	55 	5th MWJBHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	
1995-96	48 	29 	17 	2 	- 	219 	171 	60 	4th MWJBHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	
1996-97	48 	17 	25 	6 	- 	162 	189 	40 	7th MWJBHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	
1997-98	48 	29 	18 	1 	- 	202 	152 	59 	5th MWJBHL 	Lost Semi-final 	
1998-99	48 	24 	21 	3 	- 	214 	203 	51 	5th MWJBHL 	Lost Semi-final 	
1999-00	48 	17 	29 	2 	- 	169 	215 	36 	7th MWJBHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	
2000-01	48 	8 	40 	0 	- 	159 	299 	16 	10th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2001-02	48 	8 	38 	2 	- 	131 	280 	18 	9th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2002-03	48 	3 	44 	1 	0 	101 	351 	7 	10th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2003-04	48 	2 	44 	0 	2 	84 	282 	6 	10th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2004-05	48 	4 	43 	1 	0 	89 	346 	9 	10th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2005-06	48 	5 	42 	1 	- 	104 	303 	11 	10th MWJBHL 	DNQ 	
2006-07	49 	9 	36 	3 	1 	131 	213 	22 	7th OPJHL-N 	DNQ 	
2007-08	49 	17 	29 	- 	3 	138 	197 	37 	6th OPJHL-N 	Lost Division QF 	
2008-09	49 	33 	15 	- 	1 	212 	159 	67 	4th OJHL-P 	Lost Division F 	
2009-10	50 	29 	16 	- 	5 	215 	184 	63 	4th CCHL-W 	Lost Preliminary 	
2010-11	50 	24 	24 	- 	2 	173 	176 	50 	5th OJHL-N 	Lost Round of 16 	
==Clarence Schmalz Cup Appearances==
:1990: Orangeville Crushers defeated Belle River Canadiens 4-games-to-3
:1991: Hanover Barons defeated Orangeville Crushers 4-games-to-3
==Notable alumni==	
*Darryl Bootland
*Chris Neil
*Gary Sabourin
==External links==
*Orangeville Crushers Official Site
Category:Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League teams
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams