Peterborough Petes

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History of the Petes

The Petes were born when the Kitchener Canucks relocated to Peterborough after the 1955-56 season. They would also become a sponsored junior team for the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL. The Petes played their first game on October 1, 1956, and won their first game on November 6, 1956.

The Petes have won the OHL Championship nine times, second-most in OHL history and the most in the postwar period. They won the Memorial Cup once, in 1979.

The team was sponsored by Toronto-Peterborough Transport (TPT), a trucking firm from 1956 to 1966. The legendary Scotty Bowman was brought in to coach by the Montreal Canadiens organization from the Ottawa Junior Canadiens, and led the team to a second place finish in 1959. Peterborough defeated the Barrie Flyers, Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, and Toronto St. Michael's Majors in the playoffs to win their first OHA championship. Bowman and the TPT Petes went on to reach the Memorial Cup for the first time that year but fell to the Winnipeg Braves. The TPT Petes claimed their first Hamilton Spectator Trophy during the 1965-66 season, but were eliminated from the playoffs.

The team became known as the Peterborough Petes Hockey Club in 1966-67, which was also the beginning of Roger Neilson's tenure as coach. The Petes would continue to wear the TPT logo on their sweaters until 1974-75, when their colours were changed to maroon and white and a new "Petes" logo was adopted.

Neilson led his team to seven consecutive winning seasons from 1968 to 1975, also finishing first overall in 1970-71, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1972, and were runners-up in 1973 and 1974. In the 1972 Memorial Cup, the Petes lost a close 2-1 game in the finals to the Cornwall Royals.

Neilson was promoted for the 1976-77 season, coaching the Dallas Black Hawks in the former Central Hockey League.

The Peterborough Petes won three consecutive OHL championships in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Gary Green coached the first two championships followed up by Mike Keenan in 1980. The Petes won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy two consecutive times in 1979 and 1980. Peterborough's success also continued into the Memorial Cup, reaching the championship game all three years, and winning the national junior title in 1979.

Many future NHL stars played for Petes in these three years. Those of note are: Keith Acton, Bob Atwell, Keith Crowder, Ken Ellacott, Dave Fenyves, Tom Fergus, Larry Floyd, Mark Kirton, Rick LaFerriere, Steve Larmer, Larry Murphy, Mark Reeds, Stuart Smith, Steve Smith, Tim Trimper and Jim Wiemer.

Dick Todd started with the Petes as a trainer in the 1970s and was there through their three Memorial Cups. As a coach he would lead the team to two more Memorial Cup tournaments in 1989 in Saskatoon, and 1993 in Sault Ste. Marie. During Todd's time coaching, the Petes won 6 division titles and had the best overall winning percentage in the OHL. Todd was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year in 1987-88.

The Peterborough Petes celebrated their 40th anniversary in 1996. The Petes won the J. Ross Robertson Cup defeating the Guelph Storm in the finals, then and also played at home while hosting the Memorial Cup tournament in 1996. The club achieved a 100% sellout each tournament game, and lost in the final that year to the Granby Prédateurs.

The 2005-06 season is the 50th anniversary of the Peterborough Petes founding. They are the oldest continuously operating franchise in the Ontario Hockey League (the rival Oshawa Generals date to 1937 but were inactive from 1953-62). The Petes celebrated their 50th anniversary in grand style, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup on May 11, 2006 in a four game sweep of the London Knights. Peterborough travelled to Moncton, New Brunswick to play in the 2006 Memorial Cup, losing the third place tiebreaker game to the Vancouver Giants.