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Minor hockey

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Minor hockey is the organised youth ice hockey system of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and the surrounding Northwestern Ontario. It covers the age divisions from pee wee and bantam up to midget, run through local associations, and it appears in the records of the Thunder Bay area as far back as the 1940s.[1][2] Thunder Bay's minor hockey produced two national champions that are in the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame: the 1994–95 AAA Kings, and the 2010 Queens girls' team. Governing bodies in the region include Hockey Northwestern Ontario, a branch of Hockey Canada.

Associations and leagues

Before amalgamation, Fort William and Port Arthur each ran their own associations. Fred Page began refereeing for the Fort William Minor Hockey Association in the 1940s. He was on its executive from 1948 to 1954, serving as president for the last three of those years, and then spent ten years on the executive of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association, including a term as president from 1958 to 1962. From 1958 to 1972 he was a member of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.[1] Mike Kostick was also an executive member of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association.[3] The Port Arthur Minor Hockey Association is named in the profile of Gerry Cizmar, who led it in scoring and was its most valuable player in the 1960s, helping teams to city and league championships.[4] Port Arthur also had a Hilda’s Pee Wee hockey league, where Bill Salonen started his career,[5] and the Elks Pee Wee League in Westfort, where Art Chepil coached from 1951 to 1971 and guided the Bruins to league and district titles.[2] Henry Åkervall received the Port Arthur Minor Bantam Defenceman Award in 1950.[6] The later Grandview Recreation Hockey Association was run in the 1980s and 1990s by Peter Gallagher, who served as president, convener, official and coach.[7]

Coaches and volunteers

Many coaches of minor hockey were former players. Gary Veneruzzo coached at the minor, junior and university levels after finishing with the Thunder Bay Twins;[8] Nelson Pyatt coached in the minor system and ran hockey schools after returning from the NHL, and kept a backyard rink called Pyatt Gardens for his sons;[9] and Alex Irving led bantam and midget teams to provincial and national titles.[10] Bill Salonen coached minor league hockey after moving to Dryden,[5] and Marino Minoletti, who died in 2024, coached minor hockey in Thunder Bay and in Southern California for two decades.[11] Ken Nicolson reported on local minor hockey as a part-time broadcaster for CJLX Radio in the early 1960s.[12]

Elite programs

The city's AAA program, the Thunder Bay Kings, fed players to junior hockey. Taylor Pyatt played bantam AAA for the Kings in 1996–97 in the Hockey Northwestern Ontario league, and the team won the Kobe Cup as Ontario bantam champions in 1997; he was named the tournament's most valuable player.[13] Jamie Kompon played in the Thunder Bay minor system in the 1970s and 1980s and won a bronze medal in 1983 with the Andrews Midget AAA team at the Air Canada Cup.[14] Alex Irving's midget team also won bronze at the 1982–83 Air Canada Cup.[10] The 1994–95 AAA Kings, players aged 16 and 17, finished the regular season at 45–8–2. They beat the Kenora Rainy River Stars in the district playdowns and won the Western Canadian midget AAA playdowns, then won the national Air Canada Cup in Sherbrooke, Quebec, with a 4–3 final win over the Red Deer Chiefs. It was the first national midget title for a Northwestern Ontario team.[15] In 2010 the Thunder Bay Queens, a girls' midget AA team, won the provincial title in Mississauga and then the Esso Cup in Regina, beating the Notre Dame Hounds 4–3 in the final. They were the first women's hockey team from Northwestern Ontario to win a national title.[16]

Hall of Fame inductees and teams

The following inductees and teams of the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame have minor hockey in their profiles.

Teams

Inductees

  • Henry Akervall – Port Arthur Minor Bantam Defenceman Award, 1950.
  • Art Chepil – coach in the Elks Pee Wee League for two decades.
  • Gerry Cizmar – scoring leader and most valuable player of the Port Arthur Minor Hockey Association.
  • Peter Gallagher – president and coach in the Grandview Recreation Hockey Association.
  • Alex Irving – coach of bantam and midget teams.
  • Jamie Kompon – played Thunder Bay minor hockey and won 1983 Air Canada Cup bronze.
  • Mike Kostick – Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association executive.
  • Ken Nicolson – radio reporter on local minor hockey.
  • Fred Page – minor hockey referee and executive, later amateur hockey president.
  • Nelson Pyatt – minor hockey coach and instructor.
  • Taylor Pyatt – Thunder Bay Kings bantam AAA, 1997 Kobe Cup MVP.
  • Bill Salonen – started in Hilda’s Pee Wee league and later coached minor league hockey.
  • Gary Veneruzzo – coached minor hockey after his playing career.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fred Page", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/356b925d-6dab-4805-a559-97182e0a4776 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Art Chepil", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/506870ee-7586-407e-806d-fee0118034cb (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  3. ↑ "Mike 'Fosh' Kostick", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/47019c51-258e-4ee5-843f-fa9f6351efea (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  4. ↑ "Gerry Cizmar", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/c48d2f46-617c-4741-96a0-bb178831d542 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Bill Salonen", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/aa673e0d-b05a-48d6-bb90-8d5bb06b804f (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  6. ↑ "Henry 'Hank' Akervall", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/0dcfc528-9ccb-4528-bd79-975d3b71c802 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  7. ↑ "Peter Gallagher", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/f9a7df57-4ba9-49d6-bc29-ab5fb9c92ba3 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  8. ↑ "Gary Veneruzzo", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/08e7d67a-0573-4fc6-8488-9382c1d22fcd (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  9. ↑ "Nelson "Nellie" Pyatt", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/82e48a02-4b35-47e1-9f24-69a929a58a3f (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Alex 'Moe' Irving", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/85a72d4d-23a4-475a-8412-e128e19c5365 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  11. ↑ Obituary for Marino Minoletti, Jenkens Funeral Home, 2024-04-11, via arbormemorial.ca. Archived copy on datum.locker.
  12. ↑ "Ken 'Friar' Nicolson", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/97d91726-a863-4810-a82d-5fd764350f84 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  13. ↑ "Taylor Pyatt", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/86ce3332-48fe-4133-8e24-19de2525c8ee (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  14. ↑ "Jamie Kompon", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/ae3356d7-4123-4028-8c42-7796074a9023 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  15. ↑ "Thunder Bay AAA Kings Midget Hockey Team", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/5bc2161b-e98d-4281-a6cd-03838d993268 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
  16. ↑ "Thunder Bay Queens Midget AA Hockey Team", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/6527a534-df18-400f-ba06-4fdd22585d82 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
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