Mississauga St. Michael's Majors

Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
City	Mississauga, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	Central
Operated	2007–2012
Home arena	Hershey Centre
Colours	Light blue, navy blue and white
General manager	James Boyd
Head coach	James Boyd
Affiliate(s)	Mississauga Chargers
Website www.stmichaelsmajors.com
Franchise history
1906–62	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
1996–2007	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
2007–2012	Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
2012-present	Mississauga Steelheads

The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The team was originally known as the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, whose hockey program was founded and operated by St. Michael's College School in 1906. The current franchise was revived in 1996, and was relocated to Mississauga in 2007 after spending 10 years in Toronto.^[1]

History

St. Michael's revived its hockey program for the 1997–98 season in the Ontario Hockey League. The recent version of the Majors played for 10 seasons, until being relocated as the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.

Originally owned by St. Michael's College School, the team was owned by Eugene Melnyk, who is the current owner of the Ottawa Senators and former CEO of Biovail Corporation. Melnyk pursued several deals to get a new arena for his team, but none came to fruition. One of Melnyk's foiled plans included purchasing Maple Leaf Gardens.

On July 12, 2006, Eugene Melnyk bought the Mississauga IceDogs. After the 2006–07 season, Melnyk sold the IceDogs to Bill Burke, and moved the Majors to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. [1] [2] The IceDogs, in turn, moved to Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario and are now known as the Niagara IceDogs.[3]

Although the team struggled at the box office early, they have steadily increased their attendance in three seasons at the Hershey Centre. That promises to continue improving with the news that in the 2010-11 season, the Majors hosted the 2011 Memorial Cup.

On May 14, 2012 the Majors were officially sold to Mississauga businessman Elliot Kerr. The franchise will be re-branded with a new name and logo, both which will announced in the upcoming weeks, while the old name and its associated logos will be returning to the St. Michael's College School. It was announced that the team will be called the Steelheads with the new logo debuting later on.

Coaches

Dave Cameron returned to the Majors organization after a stint in the AHL. Cameron previously coached with the club in Toronto from 2000 to 2004. Cameron would later leave to take on an assistant coach position with the Ottawa Senators due to his success in the OHL.

James Boyd, the associate GM/coach was promoted to be Cameron's replacement.

• 2007–11 Dave Cameron
• 2011-present James Boyd

Players

Retired Jerseys

The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors have retired four numbers

• 3 - Red Kelly
• 5 - Ted Lindsay
• 9 - Dave Keon
• 12 - Dick Duff

Current roster

As of January 15, 2012

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	NHL Draft	Birthplace
30		Spencer Martin	L	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Oakville, Ontario
34		Brandon Maxwell	L	Trade SAR in Jan. 2012	Undrafted	Cambridge, Ontario

Defencemen
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	NHL Draft	TBirthplace
2		Dylan DeMelo	R	2009 OHL Draft	SJS 2011	London, Ontario
4		Trevor Carrick	R	2010 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2012	Stouffville, Ontario
6		Eric Diodati	L	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Niagara Falls, Ontario
7		Alex Cord	R	2008 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario
15		David Corrente	L	Trade OSH in Jan. 2009	Undrafted	Mississauga, Ontario
20		Jacob Graves	R	2011 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Barrie, Ontario
28		Stuart Percy	L	2009 OHL draft	TOR 2011	Oakville, Ontario
29		Ryan Duhaime	L	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Stittsville, Ontario

Forwards
Number		Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	NHL Draft	Place of birth
13		Sergey Kuptsov	R	RW	2011 CHL Import Draft	Eligible in 2013	Ekaterinburg, Russia
14		Spenser Cobbold	R	LW	2010 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Stittsville, Ontario
16		Kristoff Kontos	L	C	Trade SBY in Jan. 2012	Eligible in 2012	Penetang, Ontario
17		Justin Rasmussen	R	C	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Georgetown, Ontario
18		Jamie Wise	L	LW	Trade PBO in Nov. 2010	Undrafted	Stouffville, Ontario
21		Scott Teskey	L	RW	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Etobicoke, Ontario
22		Doug Harvey	R	LW	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Kars, Ontario
23		Devante Smith-Pelly	R	LW	2008 OHL Draft	ANA 2010	Georgetown, Ontario
24		Grant Syrette	R	LW	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Garden River, Ontario
25		Riley Brace	L	LW	2008 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Woodlawn, Ontario
26		Brett Foy	R	C	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Niagara Falls, Ontario
27		Mika Partanen	L	LW	2010 CHL Import Draft	Undrafted	Helsinki, Finland
37		Andres Kopstals	R	C	Undrafted	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Legend: OL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Playoffs

• 2007–08 – Lost to Niagara IceDogs 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
• 2008–09 – Defeated Barrie Colts 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals.
  Lost to Brampton Battalion 4 games to 2 in conference semi-finals.
• 2009-10 - Defeated Peterborough Petes 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
  Defeated Ottawa 67's 4 games to 3 in conference semi-finals.
  Lost to Barrie Colts 4 games to 1 in conference finals.
• 2010-11 - Defeated Belleville Bulls 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
  Defeated Sudbury Wolves 4 games to 0 in conference semi-finals.
  Defeated Niagara IceDogs 4 games to 1 in conference finals.
  Lost to Owen Sound Attack 4 games to 3 in OHL finals.
  Finished Memorial Cup round-robin in second place.
  Defeated Kootenay Ice 3-1 in semi-final game.
  Lost to Saint John Sea Dogs 3-1 in final game.
• 2011–12 – Lost to Barrie Colts 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.

Uniforms and logos

The primary logo for the Majors displays "St. Michael's" written in script, with a Majors underscore written in light blue. The Majors colours are light blue, navy blue & white. The Majors hockey uniforms feature a different logo, a large letter "M" on the front, with the school crest (inset right) on the upper left chest, and the St. Michael's cloverleaf patch on the shoulders.

Home uniforms have a white background, navy blue shoulders and arms, with light blue trim. Road uniforms have a light blue background, with navy blue shoulders, and white trim. The Majors have also used a third jersey with a stylized "M" on the front, and without the navy blue shoulders.

To celebrate the Majors 10th season back in the league, the team launched a new 3rd jersey with the shoulder cloverleaf logo on the front. The jersey is also baby blue in colour. After the move, the Majors' logo was changed slightly to a more modernized look, and new jerseys were unveiled.

Arena

The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors play home games at the Hershey Centre in northeast Mississauga, near the junction of Highway 401 & Highway 403. The Hershey Centre hosted the OHL All-Star Game in 2000. The arena also hosted the 2011 Memorial Cup from May 19-29.

• Capacity = 5,420
• Ice Size = 200' x 85'
• St. Michael's Majors - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

See also

• St. Michael's College School
• University of St. Michael's College
• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

References

External links

• St. Michael's Majors Official web site
• St. Michael's College School Official web site
• Ontario Hockey League Official web site
• Canadian Hockey League Official web site
• Majors Boosters Official Booster Club