St. James Canadians


The St. James Canadians were a Canadian junior hockey team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League until 2003, folding officially in 2004. The Canadians played out of the St. James Civic Centre, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the Winnipeg Braves, they won the 1959 Memorial Cup as National Junior Hockey champions.

History

Winnipeg Braves

The Winnipeg Braves were founded in 1956 and affiliated with the Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) of the Western Hockey League. The Braves played regular season games at Winnipeg's Olympic Rink and won 2 Turnbull Cup Championships as Manitoba Junior Champions.
The 1958-59, Braves won the Abbott Cup as Western Canadian Junior ‘A’ Champions, and were the last team from Winnipeg to win the Memorial Cup as National Champions. Under the leadership of manager Bill Addison and coach Bill Allum, the Braves defeated the Peterborough Petes coached by 25-year-old Scotty Bowman. In the championship series, the Petes won the first game 5-4, and the Braves came back to win four straight games 5-2, 5-2, 5-3 and 6-2. The final game of the series was played in Brandon, Manitoba due to the Shrine Circus appearing at Winnipeg Arena. The team included future NHL'ers Ted Green and Ernie Wakely.
Roster: Pat Angers, Don Atamanchuk, Al Baty, Gary Bergman, Ernie Bradawaski, Rene Brunel, Ted Green, Howie Hughes, Allan Ingimundson, Ken King, Ted Knight, Jerry Kruk, Laurie Langrell, Wayne Larkin, Al LeBlanc, Bob Leiter, Doug Monro, Zenon Moroz, Lew Mueller, John Rodger, Paul Sexsmith, John Sutherland, Bob Wales, Wayne Winstone, Ernie Wakely, J. D. Perrin Jr., Bill Addison, Bill Allum, Jim Drury.
The Memorial Cup Championship team was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003, and inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in the team category.
Prior to the 1966-67 season, the team moved to St. James and changed its name to the St. James Braves.

St. James Canadians

During the summer of 1967, a community-minded sports group purchased the St. James Braves from Ben Hatskin. The team relocated to the brand new St. James Civic Centre, where they played as the St. James Canadians.
The Canadians won the Turnbull Cup three times throughout their 35 years in the MJHL. They played until the end of the 2002-03 season. The team took a one-year leave of absence from the MJHL in 2003-04 before ceasing operations.

St. James Canucks

The St. James Junior Canucks joined the league in 1978-1979 to help complement the St. James Junior Canadians of the MJHL. The team moved to the Civic Centre and had a dressing room built on the home side of the rink and occupied that until the St. James Canadians folded and the Canucks, with the blessing of Diane Woods, president of the Canadians, took over the dressing room the Canucks call home today.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

Playoffs

  • 1971 Lost semi-final
  • 1972 Lost semi-final
  • 1973 Lost semi-final
  • 1974 Lost quarter-final
  • 1975 Lost semi-final
  • 1976 Lost semi-final
  • 1977 Lost quarter-final
  • 1978 Lost quarter-final
  • 1979 Lost quarter-final
  • 1980 Lost semi-final
  • 1981 Lost semi-final
  • 1982 Lost quarter-final
  • 1983 Lost quarter-final
  • 1984 Lost quarter-final
  • 1985 Lost semi-final
  • 1986 Lost semi-final
  • 1987 Lost quarter-final
  • 1988 Lost semi-final
  • 1989 Lost quarter-final
  • 1990 Lost semi-final
  • 1991 Lost semi-final
  • 1992 Lost final, Hosted and Eliminated in 1992 Centennial Cup round robin
  • 1993 Lost quarter-final
  • 1994 Lost semi-final
  • 1995 Lost quarter-final
  • 1996 Won League, lost Anavet Cup
  • 1997 Won League, lost Anavet Cup
  • 1998 Lost final
  • 1999 Lost quarter-final
  • 2000 Lost quarter-final
  • 2001 DNQ
  • 2002 Lost semi-final
  • 2003 ''DNQ''