Kirkland Lake Gold Miners

Kirkland Lake Gold Miners

City	Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
League	Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
Division	East
Founded	2003
Home arena	Joe Mavrinac Community Complex
Colours	Blue, Light Blue, Yellow, and White
General manager	Marc Lafleur
Head coach	Marc Lafleur
Affiliates	Oshawa Generals Kirkland Lake 87's
Franchise history
2003–2005	Manitoulin Wild
2005–2011	Manitoulin Islanders
2011–2012	Kirkland Lake Blue Devils
2012–Present	Kirkland Lake Gold Miners

The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

History

Manitoulin

Manitoulin Islanders' Logo

Founded in 2003 as the Manitoulin Wild, the franchise changed its name to the Manitoulin Islanders in 2005. They were eventually taken over by former NHLer Reggie Leach and the team started to split its time between Little Current, Ontario and the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve's Arena. Win totals dwindleed, debts added up, and by 2011 the team was set to move from the Island.

Kirkland Lake

After eight years on Manitoulin Island, the team had to either move or fold.^[1] In mid-May 2011, the NOJHL conditionally approved the move of the Manitoulin Islanders to Kirkland Lake, Ontario to become the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils.^[2] In their final four seasons in Little Current, the Islanders managed 17 wins in 200 games played.

The Blue Devils moniker was a long used traditional team name in Kirkland Lake, the most notable team to use the name was the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils who defeated the Calgary Stampeders 3-games-to-none to win the 1940 Allan Cup.

On September 9, 2011, the Blue Devils played their inaugural home game and regulation game in their history. The Blue Devils dropped a 9-2 decision to the North Bay Trappers. On October 12, 2011, the Blue Devils won their first game since relocation 3-2 in a shootout against the Sudbury Cubs. Two nights later, the Blue Devils scored their first ever home win, 5-4 in a shootout, against the Blind River Beavers.

On January 12, 2012, team owner, Robert Kasner, announced that he was folding the club mid-season.^[3] The folding of the team happened right after Kasner was suspended by the league for six months for multiple roster violations.^[4] Soon after the folding, the league announced that a new ownership group was to be brought in to run the team and keep hockey going in Kirkland Lake. The new ownership renamed the team to the Gold Miners.^[5] The Gold Miners won their first-ever NOJHL championship just 2 and a half years into the league as they defeated the Soo Thunderbirds. The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners traveled down to the Wellington, Ontario to participate in the Dudley Hewitt Cup where the Gold Miners failed to record a win and returned home disappointed. In 2014–15, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and the Soo Thunderbirds were fighting for first place all season, but Kirkland Lake finished 2nd and the Powassan Voodoos took the playoff series against Kirkland Lake.

The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners were awarded hosting duties for the 2016 Dudley Hewitt Cup in the spring of 2015.

Season-by-season results

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts	Results	Playoffs
Manitoulin Wild
2003–04	48	15	32	0	1	179	245	31	6th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2004–05	48	14	30	1	3	164	266	32	6th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
Manitoulin Islanders
2005–06	48	8	36	3	1	114	229	20	7th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2006–07	48	11	30	0	7	138	232	29	7th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2007–08	50	2	47	—	1	109	311	6	6th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2008–09	50	7	40	—	3	141	322	17	8th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2009–10	50	4	45	—	1	131	359	9	8th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
2010–11	50	4	46	—	0	133	347	8	8th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinal
Kirkland Lake Blue Devils
2011–12	50	9	39	—	2	138	288	20	6th NOJHL	Lost Quarterfinals, 0-4 vs. Sudbury Cubs
Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
2012–13	48	25	18	2	3	173	145	55	4th NOJHL	Won Quarterfinals, 4-0 vs. Blind River Beavers Lost Semifinals, 1-4 vs. North Bay Trappers
2013–14	56	43	7	1	5	234	118	92	2nd NOJHL	Won Quarterfinals, 4-0 vs. North Bay Trappers Won Semifinals, 4-1 vs. Elliott Lake Bobcats Won League Finals, 4-2 vs. Soo Thunderbirds NOJHL CHAMPIONS
2014–15	52	38	10	2	2	264	131	80	1st of 5, East 2nd of 9, NOJHL	Lost Div. Semifinals, 2-4 vs. Powassan Voodoos
2015–16	54	39	12	1	2	247	135	81	3rd of 6, East 4th of 12, NOJHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 4-2 vs. Powassan Voodoos Won Div. Finals, 4-1 vs. Cochrane Crunch Lost League Finals, 0-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds Dudley Hewitt Cup as HOSTS

Dudley Hewitt Cup

Central Canada Championships
Winners of the NOJHL, OJHL, SIJHL, and 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
2014	L, Wellington Dukes (OJHL/Host) 1-4 L, Toronto Lakeshore Patriots (OJHL) 1-4 L, Fort Frances Lakers (SIJHL) 3-6	0-3-0	4th of 4	Did not qualify
2016	W, Fort Frances Lakers 8-5 L, Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL) 1-5 L, Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) 2-3	1-2-0	3rd of 4	L, Soo Thunderbirds 1-4

References

External links

KL Gold Miners Webpage

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League

Current Teams

Former Teams

History

IJBHL
NOJHA

NOHA Junior A
Seasons

NOJHA	1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72

NOJHL	1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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