Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts
The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are a senior ice hockey team based in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Central West Senior Hockey League.
Since it was formed in 1966, the Cataracts hockey club has been awarded the Herder Memorial Trophy eight times as all-Newfoundland senior hockey champions, including three consecutive championships from 2014 to 2016, and were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy on six occasions for finishing first overall in the NSHL regular season. The Cataracts won the senior ice hockey championship of Canada in 2017, winning the club's first Allan Cup.
The Cataracts play their home games at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium, formerly known as the Grand Falls Stadium until March 22, 1991.
History
Plans to form a new Grand Falls senior hockey team to re-enter the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League started at the conclusion of the Central Hockey League's 1965-66 season. A group of ex-Andcos and league executive members, together with a group of volunteers that later formed the Cataracts Booster Club, raised the necessary funds to start a new senior team and pay off the debts remaining of the Andcos hockey club. The Andcos was the previous papertown entry that folded at the end of the 1964–65 season. The start-up group included former Andcos Leo Murphy, Walt Davis, Al Dwyer Jr. and Jim Temple, who all would play many games with the new club.In July & August 1966 the Central Hockey League sponsored an island-wide contest to pick a new team name. The name Cataracts was selected by a Central Hockey League Committee from a list of popular entries.
The Cataracts joined the NSHL for the 1966–67 season as the sixth team. The Grand Falls Recreation Commission hired Winnipeg native and twelve-year NHL veteran Nick Mickoski as the coach for the town's senior and junior hockey programs. Mickoski would be the Cataracts' first head coach. At the end of the 1967-68 regular season, after their second year, the Cataracts finished in first place and were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy. Mickoski coached the Cataracts for the club's first three seasons before returning to Winnipeg in 1969.
In September 1970 the Cataracts hired 33-year old Jean-Guy Morissette. The Causapscal, Quebec native, who played in one NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens in 1963, was then ranked by many as the top amateur goalie in Canada. Morissette backstopped the Cataracts for two seasons, playing in 68 of 72 regular season games, and was the league's top goaltender in 1972. Jean-Guy helped the Cataracts win their first Herders in 1971 and 1972.
Joe Byrne coached the Cataracts to back-to-back all-Newfoundland senior hockey championship titles in 1981 and 1982. In 1983 the Cats were looking for a three-peat but lost in the finals to the Stephenville Jets in the seventh and deciding game.
The Cataracts did not join the Newfoundland Senior Hockey league in 1983–84 due to significant debts at the conclusion of the previous season. The Grand Falls Sportstop Cataracts joined the Central Beothuck Intermediate Senior Hockey League for the 1983-84 season, winning the league championship in a seven-game final series.
The Cataracts re-joined the NSHL for the 1984–85 season to make it a four-team league. The league permitted teams to hire seven paid "imports" including a goaltender and up to six skaters. This created a very competitive league but the Cataracts once again ended the season with a significant deficit, leading to the decision to drop out of the league the following season. The Cataracts would not have a team in a local or provincial league for the next seven seasons.
In 1992 a six-member committee was formed, spearheaded by Mike Browne, to raise money and bring back the Cataracts to senior hockey. In the fall of 1992 the Cataracts entered the Central Beothuck Senior Hockey League to make it a six-team league. The CBSHL had no import players but financial problems were still present in the league.
From 2011 through 2014 the Cataracts were part of the re-formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. Following a first-place league finish at the end of the 2010–2011 season, the Cataracts defeated the Conception Bay North Cee Bee Stars 4–games-to-0 in the Herder final to win the hockey club's first provincial senior hockey championship since 1982. The club was denied a repeat in 2012, losing the Herder final to the Clarenville Caribous in five games.
In game six of the 2014 Herder final, Cataracts' import and league scoring champion Rob Hennigar scored a power play goal in sudden death overtime to win the series four-games-to-two to capture the Herder Memorial Trophy.
The following year Cataracts repeated as all-Newfoundland champions after import player Cam Fergus scored the series-winning winner in overtime to sweep the 2015 Herder final in four games.
In 2016, in a new Herder championship format, the Cataracts completed the Herder three-peat following a sweep of the St. John's Caps who were the Avalon East Senior Hockey League champions.
The Cataracts won their first Allan Cup on April 15, 2017 in Bouctouche, NB after defeating the Lacombe Generals 7–4 in the final.
After a two-year absence from the all-Newfoundland final, the Cats won the Central West championship in 2019 and then defeated the East Coast champions in five games in a best-of-seven series to win the town's 15th Herder.
Crest and sweater design
The primary colours for the Cataracts' jerseys are the traditional green, white and red of the previous Grand Falls senior all-star hockey teams.The first sweaters worn by the Cataracts hockey team in the fall of 1966 had a new crest designed by Len Sullivan that included the island of Newfoundland, a wheel and a hub containing a picture of trees and a falls. The wheel and hub symbolized Grand Falls as the hub of Newfoundland. The new crest contained the Cataracts three primary colours. The island in the background and the spokes of the wheel were green. The lettering on the wheel was red and the crest background was white.
In 1979 the Cataracts displayed new jerseys with a re-designed crest.
Since 2002 the Cataracts have adopted home and away jerseys of the National Hockey league's Minnesota Wild.
Season-by-season record
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''Table key
| Term or abbreviation | Definition |
| NSHL | Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (1962-1989) or Newfoundland Senior Hockey League |
| NSHL-C | Newfoundland Senior Hockey League |
| CBIHL | Central Beothuck Intermediate Hockey League |
| WCSHL | West Coast Senior Hockey League |
| CWSHL | Central West Senior Hockey League |
| GP | Number of games played |
| W | Number of wins |
| L | Number of losses |
| T | Number of ties |
| OTL | Number of losses in overtime |
| Finish | Final position in division or league standings |
| GF | Goals for |
| GA | Goals against |
| PTS | Number of points |
| — | Does not apply |
| DNQ | Did not qualify |
| n/a | Not applicable |
Players and personnel
Current roster
''For the current team roster see the ''Team captains
- Leo Murphy, 1967–69, 1970-71
- Al Dwyer, 1969-70, 1973-74
- Jim Beckman, 1971–73
- Harold Stanley, 1975–76
- Roger Grimes, 1977-78
- Tony Grimes, 1978-79
- Roger Elliott, 1980–81
- Gene Faulkner, 1981–82, 1984–85
- Wayne Little, 1992–93
- Brian Grouchy, 2002–03
- Brad Lewis, 2006–13
- Mike Brent, 2013–19, 2023–24
- Cody Drover, 2024–25
Head coaches
- Nick Mickoski, 1966–69
- Len "Comet" Haley, 1969
- Jim Beckman, 1969–70
- Marc Pichette, 1970–73
- Leo Murphy, 1973-76
- Roger Grimes, 1976-77
- Joe Grimes, 1977–78
- Al Dwyer, 1978–79
- Joe Byrne, 1979-1980, 1980-1981, 1981-1982
- Cecil Thomas, 1982–83
- Gord Gallant, 1982–83, 1984–85
- Alex Faulkner, Tony Grimes, 1984-1985
- Steve Croucher, 1992-93
- Mike Browne, John McSween 2002-2003
- Robert Goulding 2003-2004
- Robert Goulding, Barry Manual 2004-2005
- Tony Walsh, Barry Manual 2005-2006
- Barry Manual, 2006–2007, 2007-2008
- Walt Lewis, 2008–09
- Paul Glavine, 2009–10
- Brian Casey, 2010–11, 2011–2012
- Shane Lukinchuk, 2012–2015
- Tom Coolen, 2015–2016, 2016-2017
- Pat Yetman, 2017-2018, 2018-2019
- Paul Whelan, 2023–24, 2024–25
Team awards
Team MVP
- Leo Murphy, 1968
- Fred Janes, 1969
- Keith Boone, 1982
- Tyler Whitehead, 2011
- Cam Fergus, 2016
- Jordan Maher, 2024
Gus Bartlett Memorial Award
- Gene Faulkner, 1982
Playoffs MVP team award
- Mark Locken, 1981
The Mary Beson-Louise Walsh Memorial Trophy
- George Penney, 1981
- Tony Walsh, 1982
The Coffin Cup
- Cody Drover, 2025
James "Bucky" Hannaford Jr. Award
- Tony Cuomo, 1982
- Mike Brent, 2011
- Sam Hounsell, 2013
- Nicklas Lindstrom, 2016
- Nicklas Lindstrom, 2017
- Neil Oake, 2025
The Cohen's Cup
- Andre Gill, 2012–13
- Andre Gill, 2013–14
- Cam Fergus, 2014–15
- Mike Brent, 2015–16
- Danny Wicks, 2016–17
- Danny Wicks, 2017–18
- A.J. Whiffen, 2018–19
Local league trophies and awards
Regional league team awards
- First place in the West Coast Senior Hockey League: 2011
- First place in the Central West Senior Hockey League: 2016
- CWSHL championship: 2015, 2016
Local league individual awards
League MVP- Cam Fergus, 2016
- Collin Circelli, 2017
- Cam Fergus, 2016
- Jordan Maher, 2024
- Cody Drover, 2025
- Chad Earle, 2011
- Cam Fergus, 2016
- Brian Casey, 2011
- Tom Coolen, 2016
- Tom Coolen, 2017
- Paul Whelan, 2024
- A.J. Whiffen, 2016
- Bryan Gillis, 2017
- A.J. Whiffen, 2019
- Luke Gallant, 2016
- Nick Lindstrom, 2019
- Chad Earle, 2011
- Ethan Simms, 2024
- Cody Drover, 2024
- Jordan Maher, 2025
Provincial League Trophies and Awards
HNL">Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador">HNL team awards
- Nine all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships : 1971, 1972, 1981, 1982, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019
- Awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy four times for the best regular season record in the provincial senior league: 1968, 1972, 1981, 2011, 2013, 2014
HNL individual awards
S. E Tuma Memorial Trophy- Charlie Greene, 1975
- Gene Faulkner, 1976
- Dennis Goulding, 1977
- Bruce Campbell, 1982
- Ron Hennigar, 2014
- Jason Stone, 2006
- A.J. Whiffen, 2013
- Ron Hennigar, 2014
- Cam Fergus, 2016
- Terry French, 1969
- Don Howse, 1972
- Brandon Nicholas, 2008
- Chad Earle, 2011
- Al Dwyer Jr., 1974, 1975
- Dan Flynn, 1981
- Bruce Campbell, 1982
- Troy Thompson, 2006
- Andre Gill, 2010
- Danny Wicks, 2018
- Danny Wicks, 2019
- Cody Drover, 2024
- Fred Janes, 1968, 1969
- Jean-Guy Morissette, 1972
- Rocky Martin, 1973
- Terry John, 1976
- Eddie Davis, 1982
- Mark Yetman, 2012
- A.J. Whiffen, 2013
- A.J. Whiffen, 2014
- A.J. Whiffen, 2016
- A.J. Whiffen, 2019
- Rodi Short, 2014
- Luke Gallant, 2016
- Shane Lukinchuk, 2014
- Tom Coolen, 2016
- A.J. Whiffen, 2014
- Cam Fergus, 2015
- Luke Gallant, 2016
Honoured members
''Note: ''Retired/honoured numbers
- #7 Al Dwyer Jr.
- #12 Jim Temple
- #8 Gene Faulkner
- #55 Martin Lapointe
- #16 Clar Goulding
- # Wayne Faulkner
- # James "Bucky" Hannaford
- # Cec Thomas
- #18 Terry Ryan Sr.
- #25 Don Howse
- #5 Terry French
- #20 Tony White
- #27 Brian Casey
Honoured Builders
- Walter Davis
- Stan Coffin
NL Hockey Hall of Fame
The following people associated with the Cataracts have been inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame.''
- Alex Faulkner
- Joe Byrne
- Allan Dwyer Jr.
- Walt Davis
- Leo Murphy
- Harold Stanley
- Don Howse
- Jim Temple
- Gene Faulkner
- Harry Katrynuk
- Clarence Goulding
- Allan Bargery
- Wayne Faulkner
- Cecil Thomas
- Bob Molloy
- Brian Casey
Broadcasting
Grand Falls radio station CKCM was the main broadcaster of Cataracts' games from the 1960s to 1990s. Originally owned by The Colonial Broadcasting System Ltd., CKCM was an affiliate of VOCM (AM) and had its first broadcast in July 1962. The station stopped all local programming in September 2016.Since 2011, George Scott has hosted a live webcast of Cataracts' games in the regular season and all playoff games.
| Years | Play-by-play | Colour commentators |
| 1960s | John Murphy, Bruce MacDonald | |
| 1970s | John Murphy, Bruce MacDonald, Terry Hart | - |
| 1980s | Roger Barnett, Terry Hart, Glenn Davis | |
| 1990s | Roger Barnett, Terry Hart | |
| 2011 to present | George Scott | Robert "Watsie" Goulding, Barry Manual |