Charlottetown Abbies


The Charlottetown Abbies is the name of several ice hockey teams that have been based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; the most recent iteration was a Tier II Junior "A" team who played in the IJHL and the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. Their home rink from 2003 to 2008 was the MacLauchlan Arena on the campus of UPEI. Before then, it was the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

History

The earliest version of the team, which also called itself "the Charlottetown Abegweit", was inducted into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame in 1973 for playing the entire 1921-22 and 1922-23 seasons with only one lost game, but disbanded in 1924. Another iteration of "the Charlottetown Abbies" was active in 1934.
In 1972, the Charlottetown Abbies were a Midget Hockey program with little competition. They applied for entry into the Island [Junior Hockey League (1973–1991)|Island Junior Hockey League] in 1972. The IJHL turned down their application on the basis that they were too weak for Junior B competition. The Abbies, undeterred, applied for entry into the Southeast [New Brunswick Junior B Hockey League] instead. The New Brunswick league allowed the Abbies to join and after a slow start the Abbies ended up finishing second in the regular season and winning the league playoffs. To win the playoffs, the Abbies defeated the Bouctouche Seals 3-games-to-none in the semi-final and then defeated the Memramcook Legionnaires 3-games-to-none in the League Final. The Abbies then failed to qualify for the 5-team New Brunswick provincial championship round robin because they lost the Southeast New Brunswick qualifier to the independent Moncton Flyers 2-games-to-none. In 1973, the IJHL was promoted to Junior A and the Abbies were granted expansion into the league.
The Abbies were an institution in Junior hockey in Charlottetown for several decades. In the 70s the Island Junior Hockey League boasted two Charlottetown teams, the Generals who played in the old Charlottetown Forum, and the Abbies who were based at the Simmons Sports Centre. The league also included at one time or another the Kings County Kings, Summerside Crystals, West Prince Bluefins, North River North Stars, and the Sherwood-Parkdale Metros. Eventually the two Charlottetown teams merged, maintaining the Abbies moniker. As costs became prohibitive for an Island wide league at the Junior A level in the late 80s, teams in the league folded. Eventually, in 1991 the Abbies and the Summerside Western Capitals left to join teams in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
In May 2008, it was announced that the Abbies' management had applied for a year's leave of absence from the Maritime Junior Hockey League, citing financial problems. The team almost relocated to Lewiston, Maine when the Lewiston Maineiacs tried to relocate to Boisbriand, Quebec.
In May 2009, the commissioner of the MHL stated in a newspaper interview that the Abbies would not operate again. On June 4, 2009, CBC reported the folding of the Abbies franchise. The end of the Charlottetown Abbies meant that, for the first time since 1972, the City of Charlottetown did not have a Junior A team.

Logos

The Abbies have had many versions of the same logo until the 2007–08 season when they switched to their current script logo.
Main logo
2000–2003		Main logo
2003–2006		Main Logo
2006–2007

National playdowns

1978
1985
1987
1990
1991
1999
'2003'''''

Notable alumni

Colonels/Generals

The Charlottetown Generals were members of the Island Junior Hockey League in the 1970s. They folded in the summer of 1977 after winning multiple league championships. The Generals folded due to financial trouble. The full name of the team was the Charlottetown Colonel Grays from their founding up until 1976 as they were affiliated with Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown.

National playdowns

1974
1975
1976
'1977'''''

Notable alumni

Islanders

The Charlottetown Islanders were founded in 1968 to represent the province of Prince Edward Island in the Memorial Cup playoffs. From 1968 until 1971, the Islanders played in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. In 1970, Major Junior A and Tier II Junior A were created from the Junior A classification and the Islanders and their league found themselves in the Tier II level playing for the Centennial Cup. Their first year of Tier II saw them go deep and win the Eastern Canadian Championship in six games over the Detroit Jr. Red Wings of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, but lose the inaugural 1971 Centennial Cup 4-games-to-2 to the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Red Deer Rustlers. In 1971, the MJAHL folded and the Islanders opted to play an independent schedule in instead of joining the neighbouring Junior A leagues in New Brunswick or Newfoundland. For the 1971–72 season, the Islanders did not play a game until March 1972, playing a two-game exhibition series against the Hamilton Red Wings of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and then jumping directly into National Playdowns as PEI's only representative. In the playoffs, the Islanders dropped the Moncton Hawks of the New Brunswick Junior Hockey League 4-games-to-1 to advance to the Eastern Centennial Cup Final. In the final, they faced the Guelph CMC's of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League and were swept in four games. The Islanders were disbanded prior to the start of the 1972–73 season.

National playdowns

1970
1971
'1972'''''

Notable alumni