WITH the start of the 2019-20 hockey season rapidly approaching, it will be a year to remember and celebrate significant milestones that a foursome of clubs from the Lakehead achieved by winning the Allan Cup Canadian senior championship back in the day.
It’s closing in on nearly a century ago, 95 years in fact, that the Port Arthur Seniors hoisted the first of a record 10 Allan Cups won by teams from the city as they defeated the University of Toronto in 1925.
It also marked the opening end of back-to-back national crowns that the Port Arthur side won.
This will also be 45 years since the vaunted Thunder Bay Twins claimed their first of five Allan Cup championships after finishing off the Barrie Flyers in front of a jam-packed Fort William Gardens crowd in 1975.
A decade later and soon to be 35 years since, the Twins arguably had the most exciting finish in senior hockey history.
After falling behind three games to none to the Cornerbrook Royals in a best-of-seven affair played entirely in Newfoundland, the Twins proceeded to storm back to win the next four games to shock their hosts and claim Allan Cup triumph No. 2.
Then almost 15 years back the upstart Thunder Bay Bombers, dropped their first two contests at the 2005 Allan Cup held in Lloydminster, Sask., then went unbeaten the rest of the way to become the first and only community in Canada to reach double digits in national senior championships.
OHL SIGNINGS: It was announced last week that two local products had signed standard player agreements, including education packages, with a pair of Ontario Hockey League clubs.
First off, goaltender Christian Cicigoi has signed on with the North Bay Battalion.
The 18-year-old netminder spent the past two seasons playing Jr. A with the Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League where he posted an overall regular season record of 40-13-1-2.
He was drafted by North Bay in the sixth round, 103rd overall, in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection from the Thunder Bay minor midget Kings.
Meanwhile, Nicholas DeGrazia inked a deal with Sudbury Wolves after being a first-round selection in the spring in the OHL’s under-18 draft.
He was earlier named to the North American Prospects Hockey League All-NAPHL team for his efforts with the major midget Kings program where he helped lead his squad to their first-ever Dixon Cup NAPHL championship.
He was also named Most Sportsmanlike Player for his efforts during the TELUS Cup Canadian Midget Championship held in Thunder Bay this past April.
DeGrazia, who turns 17 in December, registered 29 points in a combined 25 NAPHL outings last season as he scored 15 times and dished out 14 assists helping lead Thunder Bay to the title.
WIN & LOSS: The three area players competing in the first round of the Champions League European club team hockey tournament saw their respective clubs post a win and a loss last week.
Skating for Swedish side Skellefteå AIK, Tom Pyatt picked up a pair of assists as his side beat SC Bern from Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout before falling 2-1 to Grenoble from France.
Travis Oleksuk, a member of the Graz 99ers of Austria, who were making their Champions League debut, had no points, but was a plus-2 as his team stunned defending champion Frolunda of Sweden on the road 6-5 in a shootout.
He then set-up a goal in a 4-3 defeat, also in extra shots, to the Cardiff Devils.
You also had Kevin Raine of Dryden who plays for the Belfast Giants.
The defenceman was held pointless with his club going 1-0-1 to start off competition.