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Iroquois Falls Storm

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Iroquois Falls Storm
CityIroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada
LeagueNorthern Ontario Junior Hockey League
DivisionEast
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Home arenaJus Jordan Arena
ColoursBlack, gold, and white
     
Owner(s)Tom Nickolau
General managerPaul Gaudet
Head coachTyler Pracek
Websitehttps://ifstormjra.com/
Franchise history
2007–2014Elliot Lake Bobcats
2014–2023Cochrane Crunch
2023–presentIroquois Falls Storm
Championships
Playoff championships2 (2011, 2018)

The Iroquois Falls Storm are a Canadian Junior "A" Hockey team based out of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. They currently play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. The team was originally known as the Elliot Lake Bobcats in Elliot Lake, Ontario, until the 2014–15 season; [1] where they moved to Cochrane, Ontario as the Cochrane Crunch until their move to Iroquois Falls in 2023. The Storm are the third NOJHL franchise to be located in Iroquois Falls after the Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis/Abitibi Eskimos (1999-2015) and Iroquois Falls Eskis (2015-17).

History

[edit]

The expansion of the Bobcats made them the tenth team in the independent Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) and one of six 2007 expansion teams. The Bobcats were Elliot Lake's first Junior "A" team since the folding of the Elliot Lake Ice in 1999. On September 7, 2007, the Elliot Lake Bobcats played their first game, at home, against the Espanola Kings. The Bobcats also picked up their first win as they defeated the Kings 3–2.

On January 1, 2008, the Bobcats hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 9–2. This was the third game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMHL clubs. The Bobcats played against Kazakhstan's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 squad on January 8, 2009, in an international exhibition game. The Bobcats won the game 5–3.

In mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario, and its 500-seat outdoor arena would host a regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era.[citation needed] Elliot Lake won the game 8–2 in front of an estimated 400 fans.

On April 2, 2011, the Bobcats won the 2011 Russell Cup Championship over the South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 with an 8–5 victory. The Bobcats were down 3-games-to-1 in the series, but came back with three straight victories to win their first league title. The Bobcats are the first GMHL team that did not participate in the inaugural 2006–07 season to win the Russell Cup.

In 2011–12, the Bobcats finished fifth in the GMHL. The Bobcats played the Bobcaygeon Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Bucks 2-games-to-1. In the league quarter-final, their season ended losing 3-games-to-1 to the South Muskoka Shield.

In April 2012, the Elliot Lake Bobcats became members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, leaving the GMHL after five seasons, two regular season titles, and winning the 2011 championship.[2] On September 7, 2012, the Bobcats played their first game in the NOJHL. They played the North Bay Trappers and lost 8–0. On September 21, 2012 the Bobcats won their first NOJHL game 6–2 over the Blind River Beavers.

The Bobcats moved to Cochrane, Ontario, for the 2014–15 NOJHL season and became the Cochrane Crunch.[3] In April 2015, the Crunch qualified for the league finals by sweeping the Powassan Voodoos in four games to become East Division champions.

On March 1, 2018, the NOJHL announced that the Crunch would host the 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup, their first time hosting the Central Canadian Junior A championship tournament. On April 24, 2018, the Crunch defeated the Rayside-Balfour Canadians for the NOJHL championship and made their first appearance in a Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament. They finished without a win the round-robin portion of the 2018 tournament.

In August 2020, Ryan Leonard sold the Crunch to former Ontario Hockey League player Tom Nickolau.[4]

On April 29, 2023 the Crunch would apply for a potential relocation to Iroquois Falls. On May 9, 2023 the relocation of the Crunch would be approved by the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. With the Crunch relocating, the team would rebrand; changing the name from the Crunch to the Storm.[5] The main reason the Crunch moved was due to poor attendance over their final few seasons in Cochrane.[6]

Season-by-season standings

[edit]
Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts Result Playoffs
Elliot Lake Bobcats
2007–08 42 26 13 - 3 203 170 55 5th GMHL Lost semi-final
2008–09 43 31 8 - 4 276 119 66 4th GMHL Lost Division Final
2009–10 42 35 4 - 3 297 152 73 1st GMHL Lost semi-final
2010–11 42 38 2 - 2 320 144 78 1st GMHL Won League
2011–12 42 28 11 - 3 236 145 59 5th GMHL Lost quarter-final
2012–13 48 15 31 0 2 147 238 32 6th NOJHL Lost quarter-final
2013–14 56 26 24 0 6 200 203 58 5th NOJHL Lost quarter-final
Cochrane Crunch
2014–15 52 29 21 0 2 226 188 60 2nd of 5, East
5th of 9, NOJHL		 Won Div. Semifinals, 4–2 (Eskimos)
Won Div. Finals, 4–0 (Voodoos)
Lost League Finals, 1–4 (Thunderbirds)
2015–16 54 40 10 2 2 298 169 84 1st of 6, East
2nd of 12, NOJHL		 Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 (Rock)
Lost Div. Finals 1–4 (Gold Miners)
2016–17 56 38 13 4 1 257 175 81 2nd of 6, East
3rd of 12, NOJHL		 Lost div. semi-finals, 2–4 (Rock)
2017–18 56 36 17 1 2 233 165 75 2nd of 6, East
4th of 12, NOJHL		 Won Div. Semifinals, 4–1 (Gold Miners)
Won Div. Finals, 4–1 (Rock)
Won League Finals, 4–2 (Canadians)
2018–19 56 31 20 — 5 200 186 67 5th of 6, East
6th of 12, NOJHL		 Lost div. quarter-finals, 0–2 (Rock)
2019–20 56 26 25 — 5 166 189 57 4th of 6, East
8th of 12, NOJHL		 Won Div. Quarterfinals, 2–1 (Gold Miners)
Postseason cancelled
2020–21 21 4 15 — 2 55 122 10 3rd of 4, East
6th of 9, NOJHL		 No playoffs were held
2021–22 48 2 43 — 3 91 270 7 6th of 6, East
12th of 12, NOJHL		 Missed Playoffs
2022–23 58 7 49 — 2 99 327 16 6th of 6, East
12th of 12, NOJHL		 Missed Playoffs
Iroquois Falls Storm
2023–24 58 16 39 — 3 157 273 35 4th of 6, East
9th of 12, NOJHL		 Lost div. quarter-finals, 0–4 (Rock)

Playoffs

[edit]
  • 2008 Lost semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Nipissing Alouettes 4-games-to-1 in bye round
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Deseronto Storm 4-games-to-2 in quarter-final
Bradford Rattlers defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-none in semi-final
  • 2009 Lost Division Final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Minden Riverkings 3-games-to-none in division quarter-final
Received a bye through Division Semi-final
South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-1 in division final
  • 2010 Lost semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Algoma Avalanche 3-games-to-none in quarter-final
Deseronto Storm defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-2 in semi-final
  • 2011 Won League
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Powassan Dragons 3-games-to-none in quarter-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Toronto Canada Moose 4-games-to-none in semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 in final
  • 2012 Lost quarter-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Bobcaygeon Bucks 2-games-to-1 in bye round
South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 3-games-to-1 in quarter-final
  • 2013 Lost quarter-final
Sudbury Nickel Barons defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final
  • 2014 Lost quarter-final
Abitibi Eskimos defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final

Dudley Hewitt Cup

[edit]

Central Canada Jr. A Championships
NOJHL – OJHL – SIJHL – Host
Round-robin play with 2nd vs. 3rd in semifinal to advance against 1st in the finals.

Year Round-robin Record Standing Semifinal Gold medal game
2018 L, Thunder Bay North Stars (SIJHL), 0–4
L, Dryden Ice Dogs (Host/SIJHL), 0–3
L, Wellington Dukes (OJHL), 3–6		 0–3–0 4th of 4 did not advance
2019
Host		 W, Thunder Bay North Stars (SIJHL), 4–1
L, Oakville Blades (OJHL), 2–6
OTW, Hearst Lumberjacks (NOJHL), 5–4		 2–1–0 2nd of 4 L, Hearst Lumberjacks, 0–6 Did not advance

Retired numbers

[edit]
  • 22 – Dustin Cordeiro[7]
  • 74 – Connor Lovie[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "UPDATE: Cochrane goes Crunch | Timmins Press". Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  2. ^ "Elliot Lake poised to join NOJHL | Sports | Sault This Week". Archived from the original on 8 September 2012.
  3. ^ "UPDATE: Cochrane goes Crunch | Timmins Press". Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  4. ^ "Sault's Ryan Leonard sells Cochrane Crunch to former OHL playerSault This Week". 2020-08-25.
  5. ^ "New team preparing to 'Storm' the NOJHL; first prospect camp is set". My Timmins Now. 2023-05-15.
  6. ^ "Town loses Junior A team". cochrane times post. 2023-05-15.
  7. ^ "Crunch reach agreement with Cochrane; hire new coach". Kiss 99.3. April 28, 2017.
  8. ^ "Crunch honour Lovie, stop Rapids". Timmins The Daily Press. December 9, 2018.
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