Mississauga Steelheads

Mississauga Steelheads
City	Mississauga, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	Central
Operated	2012–Present
Home arena	Hershey Centre
Colours	Blue, white, silver
General manager	James Boyd
Head coach	James Boyd
Affiliate(s)	Mississauga Chargers
Website www.mississaugasteelheads.com
Franchise history
1906–62	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
1996–2007	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
2007–2012	Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
2012-present	Mississauga Steelheads

The Mississauga Steelheads are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The team was originally known as the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, whose hockey program was founded and operated by St. Michael's College School in 1906. The current franchise was revived in 1996, and was relocated to Mississauga in 2007 after spending 10 years in Toronto. The team was known as the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors from 2007-2012, until owner Eugene Melnyk sold the team, to Elliott Kerr, a local businessman.

History

St. Michael's revived its hockey program for the 1997–98 season in the Ontario Hockey League. The recent version of the Majors played for 10 seasons, until being relocated as the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.

Originally owned by St. Michael's College School, the team was owned by Eugene Melnyk, who is the current owner of the Ottawa Senators and former CEO of Biovail Corporation. Melnyk pursued several deals to get a new arena for his team, but none came to fruition. One of Melnyk's foiled plans included purchasing Maple Leaf Gardens.

On July 12, 2006, Eugene Melnyk bought the Mississauga IceDogs. After the 2006–07 season, Melnyk sold the IceDogs to Bill Burke, and moved the Majors to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. [1] [2] The IceDogs, in turn, moved to Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario and are now known as the Niagara IceDogs.[3]

Although the team struggled at the box office early, they have steadily increased their attendance in three seasons at the Hershey Centre. The Majors hosted the 2011 Memorial Cup.

On May 14, 2012 the Majors were officially sold to Mississauga businessman Elliott Kerr. Consequently, the franchise was renamed the Mississauga Steelheads along with a new look and logo, while the old name and its associated logos will be returning to the St. Michael's College School.

Coaches

• 2012–present James Boyd

Players

Retired Jerseys

The Mississauga franchise has retired four numbers. All of these players were associated with the 1906-1962 Toronto St. Michael Majors.

• 3 - Red Kelly
• 5 - Ted Lindsay
• 9 - Dave Keon
• 12 - Dick Duff

Current roster

As of December 14, 2012

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	NHL Draft	Birthplace
30		Spencer Martin	L	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Oakville, Ontario
32		Tyson Teichmann	L	Trade LDN Aug. 2012	Undrafted	Belleville, Ontario

Defencemen
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	NHL Draft	TBirthplace
2		Dylan DeMelo "A"	R	2009 OHL Draft	SJS 2011	London, Ontario
4		Trevor Carrick	R	2010 OHL Draft	CAR 2012	Stouffville, Ontario
6		Eric Diodati	L	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Niagara Falls, Ontario
7		Alex Cord "A"	R	2008 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario
8		Thomas Welsh	L		Eligible in 2013	Hamilton, Ontario
20		Jacob Graves	R	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Barrie, Ontario
27		Nick Zottl	L	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Sarnia, Ontario
28		Stuart Percy "C"	L	2009 OHL draft	TOR 2011	Oakville, Ontario
29		Ryan Duhaime	L	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Stittsville, Ontario

Forwards
Number		Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	NHL Draft	Place of birth
10		Andrew Goldberg	L	RW	2010 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Toronto, Ontario
13		Bobby MacIntyre	L	LW	2012 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2014	Whitby, Ontario
14		Spenser Cobbold	L	LW	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Stittsville, Ontario
15		Josh Burnside	L	LW	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Brampton, Ontario
16		Kristoff Kontos	L	C	Trade SBY Jan. 2012	Undrafted	Penetanguishene, Ontario
18		Sam Babintsev	L	RW	2012 CHL Import Draft	Eligible in 2013	Moscow, Russia
19		Scott Teskey	L	RW	2011 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2013	Etobicoke, Ontario
21		Damian Bourne	L	LW	2012 OHL Draft	Eligible in 2014	Oakville, Ontario
23		Dylan Smoskowitz	R	C	Trade BAR Oct. 2012	Undrafted	Richmond Hill, Ontario
24		Grant Syrette	L	LW	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Garden River, Ontario
25		Riley Brace "A"	L	LW	2008 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Woodlawn, Ontario
26		Brett Foy	L	C	2009 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Niagara Falls, Ontario
37		Andres Kopstals	L	C	2010 OHL Draft	Undrafted	Toronto, Ontario
'		Craig Hottot	R	RW	Trade SAR Dec. 2012	Undrafted	Sombra, Ontario

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SL	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
2012–13	68	26	34	-	0	8	60	0.441	179	221	5th Central

Uniforms and logos

Former logo of the Mississauga St Michael's Majors

The primary logo for the Steelheads displays a Steelhead trout above the word Steelheads with a maple leaf within the A. Below this is "Mississauga". The Steelheads colours are blue & white. The secondary logo features the Port Credit lighthouse within an M, representing the city landmark.

Home uniforms are white with blue striping and collars. Road uniforms are blue with white striping and collars. Goalie Spencer Martin's mask was created by a 6 year old Steelheads fan.

Mascot

The team mascot is named Sauga. The name was created during a fan contest during the summer of 2012, when the organization asked its fans to create a name for the new Steelheads mascot.

Arena

The Mississauga Steelheads play home games at the Hershey Centre in northeast Mississauga, near the junction of Highway 401 & Highway 403. The Hershey Centre hosted the OHL All-Star Game in 2000. The arena also hosted the 2011 Memorial Cup from May 19–29.

• Capacity = 5 400
• Ice Size = 200' x 85'

See also

• St. Michael's College School
• University of St. Michael's College
• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

External links

• Mississauga Steelheads Official web site
• Mississauga Steelheads Facebook Official Facebook Page
• Mississauga Steelheads Twitter Official Twitter Account
• Ontario Hockey League Official web site
• Canadian Hockey League Official web site