Yarmouth Mariners

Yarmouth Mariners
City Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
League Maritime Junior Hockey League
Division Eastlink
Founded 1976 (Cole Harbour Colts)
Home arena Mariners Centre
Colours

Navy, Gold, Aluminum Silver and White

                   
Owner(s) Mitch Bonnar
General manager Laurie Barron
Head coach Laurie Barron
Franchise history
1976-1997 Cole Harbour Colts
1997-2000 East Hants Penguins
2000-2002 Dartmouth DQ Blizzard
2002-Present Yarmouth Mariners

The Yarmouth Mariners are a Junior "A" team based out of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. They play in the Maritime Junior Hockey League. All home games are played out of the 1750 seat Mariners Centre. The season usually runs from mid-September to early March every year.

History

It may surprise some to know that the Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners has a history that goes all the way back to 1976. Of course, the team wasn’t the Mariners back then and the team was not located anywhere near Yarmouth or the Mariners Centre. Nonetheless, the franchise that would eventually become the Mariners saw its first year of action in 76’ as the Cole Harbour Colts. The team would remain as the Colts until 1997, where the club would turn hands and become none other than the East Hants Penguins. In 2000, the Penguins were purchased by Paul Currie, moved to Dartmouth and named the Dartmouth DQ Blizzard.

Currie ran the franchise for two seasons in Dartmouth. Although the club fared reasonably well in the standings, attendance was poor and sponsorship support was thin as the team competed heavily with Major Junior and University hockey for attention. Currie quickly made a decision to relocate the team.

Although it was not the only location considered, Yarmouth quickly became the front-runner and in 2002 Currie secured league approval and moved his team to Southwestern Nova Scotia where they would become the Yarmouth MotorMart Mariners. In their first season, the team managed to place third in the Bent and enjoyed immense fan and community support.

The 2003/2004 season was a memorable one for the team. The Mariners had a strong club and managed to plow through the playoffs with scoring from the likes of Jason Hedges, Steve Yetman, Grant Kenney, Matt Oxtoby and Justin d’Entremont. It was an exciting time for the team and their fans. However, the Mariners faced a very well coached Campbellton Tigers in the league final. Yarmouth split the first two games at home with the Tigers, but lost two in Campbellton. Returning to Yarmouth, the Mariners surrendered the championship to Campbellton. But even with the loss, fans stayed loyal and were delighted with the hockey they were treated to over that great season.

2004/2005 was the year Yarmouth hosted the Fred Page Cup. The Mariners dominated that season, ending up with 38 wins and just 14 losses, good for first overall in the league. The plan? Take a league title and carry the momentum into the Fred Page Cup. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. In a strange turn of events, the Mariners were hit by a number of injuries at the worst time. In the first round of the playoffs, star goalie Matt Anthony was ousted from play with a knee injury. Soon after, his backup, Matt Bracegirdle would injure his groin. Losing both goalies, coupled with other injuries to key forwards, would prove too difficult to overcome as the Mariners fell to a strong Truro Bearcats in round two. Truro would go on to take the league title that season from defending Champions the Campbellton Tigers.

Logo from 1997-2000

With a month to rest, heal and re-organize Yarmouth was ready for the Fred Page Cup. After defeating the Hawsbury Hawks in their first game, Yarmouth went 3-0 in round-robin play much to the delight of their fans. A key component to the three wins was the return of both Matt Anthony and Matt Bracegirdle. But in the Championship game, Yarmouth came up short one goal and the Hawks would leave town with the Fred Page Cup.

In 2005-2006, long-time Assistant Coach Laurie Barron would take on the Head Coaching duties. Many key veterans had moved on from the previous year and the Mariners would find that they were to face a stronger Bent division than in previous seasons. Although the club had plenty of highs during the year, they would finish in 5th place, resulting in a 3-game mini-series with Truro. The Mariners managed to edge the Bearcats and move on, but fell to Amherst in the next round.

During the 2006-2007 season, the Mariners had a dismal season, mired in last place in the MJAHL's Bent Division basement. Paul Currie stepped down from the head coach/GM position in January, but continued behind the scenes work until the team was turned over in April.Finally, On April 3, 2007 the sale of the Mariners to East Hants Penguins (NSJHL) owner Jack Ross was completed and a new era of Mariners hockey would begin.

Following the sale of the team, the new organization quickly began to demonstrate its eagerness to return to winning form and its dedication to bringing quality Junior A Hockey back to Yarmouth and its loyal fans and sponsors. The new Mariners quickly unveiled a brand new logo and jersey and announced, to the surprise and extreme delight of many, that NHL legend Steve Kasper would take on the job of Head Coach with the very popular Laurie Barron as his Assistant. But they didn’t stop there. Over the spring and summer months, General Manager Jack Ross made numerous player movements, determined to bring in high-caliber players and instill a new belief that Yarmouth will again find itself at the top of Junior A hockey, not just in the Maritimes, but across Canada.[1]

During the 2007-2008 season, the Mariners had many name players on the squad, which led to a very strong team. At the trading deadline in January, the Mariners only got stronger by acquiring league-leading scorer Itan Chavira, a pick-up which paid tremendous dividends for them. On February 24, 2008, with a 6-3 victory over the Halifax Wolverines on home ice, the Mariners clinched 1st overall in the MJAHL, and completed their worst-to-first turnaround in one season. In the opening round of the playoffs, the Mariners defeated the rival Amherst Ramblers 4 games to 1. In round 2, the Mariners defeated the Weeks Crushers, who hosted the 2008 Fred Page Cup, 4 games to 1, to win the Bent Division Championship. On a roll, the Mariners faced stiff opposition in the Championship Finals versus the Woodstock Slammers. After a huge 4-0 win on home ice April 15, the Mariners traveled to Woodstock for Game 6 on April 17, defeating them 3-1 and winning the series 4 games to 2, in the process clinching the Mariners first MJAHL Championship, the Kent Cup. At the 2008 Fred Page Cup, two losses on consecutive nights to eventual Champion Weeks Crushers ended the season for the club, its most successful to date.

In the 2014-15 MHL season the Mariners drew the largest average attendance.

Season-by-season record

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1976-77 33 20 12 1 - 160 127 41 3rd MVJHL
1977-78 36 23 10 3 - 197 129 49 2nd MVJHL Won League
1978-79 34 22 9 3 - 225 143 47 2nd MVJHL
1979-80 Statistics Not Available
1980-81 40 28 8 4 - 291 178 60 2nd MVJHL Won League
1981-82 40 25 10 5 - 243 170 55 1st MVJHL
1982-83 39 26 9 4 - -- -- 56 1st MVJHL
1983-84 40 25 11 4 - 328 242 54 2nd MVJHL
1984-85 40 31 5 4 - 244 162 66 1st MVJHL Won League
1985-86 40 32 6 2 - 289 146 66 1st MVJHL Won League
1986-87 40 8 24 8 - 175 274 24 5th MVJHL
1987-88 40 12 20 8 - 192 238 32 6th MVJHL
1988-89 37 4 33 0 - 139 344 8 6th MVJHL
1989-90 39 5 30 4 - 159 308 14 6th MVJHL
1990-91 39 6 26 7 - 150 253 19 6th MVJHL
1991-92 46 12 29 5 - 210 285 29 7th MJAHL
1992-93 48 11 29 4 4 183 294 30 7th MJAHL
1993-94 48 20 24 2 2 220 246 44 5th MJAHL
1994-95 48 18 26 4 0 187 230 40 6th MJAHL
1995-96 54 28 25 0 1 212 217 57 6th MJAHL
1996-97 56 35 18 3 0 265 207 73 3rd MJAHL
1997-98 52 21 26 4 1 192 218 47 6th MJAHL
1998-99 48 10 36 2 - 163 264 24 8th MJAHL
1999-00 52 8 34 9 1 134 240 26 8th MJAHL
2000-01 52 20 23 3 6 193 226 49 7th MJAHL
2001-02 52 27 23 2 0 171 190 56 5th MJAHL
2002-03 52 24 22 1 5 251 246 54 5th MJAHL
2003-04 52 37 12 2 1 277 169 77 1st MJAHL
2004-05 56 38 14 4 0 263 151 80 1st MJAHL Lost Semi-final
2005-06 56 28 23 0 5 204 221 62 8th MJAHL Lost Quarter-final
2006-07 58 17 35 0 6 209 306 40 10th MJAHL DNQ
2007-08 58 42 12 - 4 266 167 88 1st MJAHL Won League
2008-09 54 29 19 - 6 207 185 64 7th MJAHL
2009-10 50 19 27 - 4 136 183 42 9th MJAHL DNQ
2010-11 52 28 22 - 2 199 189 58 6th MHL Lost Semi-final
2011-12 52 35 14 - 3 219 136 73 2nd MHL Lost Finals
2012-13 52 37 10 - 5 215 139 79 3rd MHL Lost Quarter Finals
2013-14 52 31 18 - 3 192 183 65 5th MHL Lost Mini-Series
2014-15 48 29 15 - 4 223 170 62 4th MHL Lost Quarter-Final
2015-16 48 13 15 - 0 141 222 26 6th in Eastlink South, 11th in MHL did not qualify

Franchise records

These are franchise records held by previous team rosters. Figures are updated after each completed MHL regular season.

Team Records for a single season
StatisticTotalSeason
Most Points88 2007-08
Most Wins422007-08
Most Goals For3281983-84
Least Goals For1341999-00
Least Goals Against1271976-77
Most Goals Against3441988-89

Sources

  1. ↑ Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners

See also

External links

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