Midland Flyers

Midland Flyers
City	Midland, Ontario [1]
League	Provincial Junior Hockey League
Conference	North
Division	Carruthers
Founded	1978 (1978)
Home arena	North Simcoe Sports & Recreation Centre
Colours	Black, Orange, and White
President	Dave Gillespie (2021)
General manager	Dave Gillespie
Head coach	Dave Gillespie (2024)
Franchise history
1978–1994 [2]	Midland Centennials [2]
1994–1999 [3]	Midland Flyers [3]
1999–2002 [4]	Midland Thunder [4]
2002–Present [1]	Midland Flyers [1]

The Midland Flyers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Midland, Ontario. ^[1] They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League and were former members of the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League. ^[5]

History

In 1985, the Centennials won the Georgian Bay championship and wheeled their way through to the Clarence Schmalz Cup final where their ran into the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League's Belle River Canadiens. The Canadiens took the All-Ontario final 4-games-to-1. ^[6]

In 1994, the Georgian Bay Junior C Hockey League merged with the Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League to create the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League. That same year, the Midland Centennials decided to change their name to the Midland Flyers. ^[3]

In 1999, the team chose to change its name to the Midland Thunder. ^[4] The team was very competitive. Despite not winning any league championships, the Thunder maintained a winning record and kept near the top of the league.

The 2002 seasons saw two things happen. In 2002, the Midland Thunder once again became the Midland Flyers. ^[1] Also, 2002 was the year where the franchise's winning ways seemed to have disappeared. In the five seasons since Midland became the Flyers, the team has not won ten games in one season.

The 2005-06 season saw the team bottom out with a completely winless season. The eighth seeded Flyers drew the wrath of the first seed Penetang Kings who swept the Flyers in their first of six rounds of playoffs to win the Clarence Schmalz Cup as All-Ontario Champions. ^[7]

The 2006-07 was a mild improvement, but barely enough to know that the Midland Flyers are in a healthy place. For the second year in a row, the Flyers drew the Penetang Kings in the first round of the playoffs which Kings beat the Flyers 4-games-to-none to win the league quarter-final. ^[7] Again, the Kings went on to win the league and another Clarence Schmalz Cup. ^[6]

2012–13 season

In the 2013 GMOJHL playoffs, the Flyers defeated the Caledon Golden Hawks in 5 games and the Stayner Siskins in 5 games to reach their first league final since 1986. Midland faces the five-time consecutive champion Alliston Hornets in the final.

Season-by-season standings

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	P	Results	Playoffs
1973-74	40	15	19	6	-	171	189	36	4th MOJBHL	Lost final
1974-75	40	21	11	8	-	193	161	50	3rd MOJBHL	Lost semi-final
1975-76	36	16	14	6	-	149	162	38	4th MOJBHL
1976-77	40	10	24	6	-	158	231	26	6th MOJBHL	DNQ
1977-78	Did Not Participate
1978-79	36	6	25	5	-	168	248	17	7th GBJCHL	DNQ
1979-80	30	0	29	1	-	--	--	1	7th GBJCHL	DNQ
1980-81	34	14	18	2	-	191	211	30	5th GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1981-82	40	13	24	3	-	--	--	29	7th GBJCHL	DNQ
1982-83	34	17	15	2	-	--	--	36	6th GBJCHL	Lost quarter-final
1983-84	32	14	10	8	-	--	--	36	3rd GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1984-85	32	19	11	2	-	215	164	40	3rd GBJCHL	Won League, lost CSC Final
1985-86	32	25	5	2	0	265	144	52	1st GBJCHL	Won League, lost CSC QF
1986-87	32	19	9	3	1	186	168	42	2nd GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1987-88	30	10	18	0	2	142	194	22	5th GBJCHL	Lost quarter-final
1988-89	36	25	9	0	2	221	137	52	2nd GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1989-90	36	24	10	1	1	181	121	50	3rd GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1990-91	30	4	24	1	1	100	188	10	6th GBJCHL	Lost quarter-final
1991-92	36	14	18	2	2	--	--	32	5th GBJCHL	Lost quarter-final
1992-93	35	13	17	2	3	--	--	31	4th GBJCHL	Lost quarter-final
1993-94	38	17	19	0	2	--	--	36	4th GBJCHL	Lost semi-final
1994-95	36	21	15	0	-	--	--	42	5th GMOHL
1995-96	43	15	26	2	-	164	209	32	8th GMOHL
1996-97	36	19	16	1	-	172	195	39	5th GMOHL
1997-98	36	18	15	3	-	185	177	39	4th GMOHL
1998-99	36	26	10	0	-	216	151	52	1st GMOHL
1999-00	36	20	14	2	-	201	160	42	4th GMOHL
2000-01	36	20	12	3	1	174	119	43	3rd GMOHL
2001-02	36	19	12	4	1	149	125	43	4th GMOHL
2002-03	36	7	27	1	1	146	230	16	8th GMOHL	Lost quarter-final
2003-04	36	4	27	3	2	107	245	13	8th GMOHL
2004-05	40	6	31	1	2	102	212	15	8th GMOHL
2005-06	42	0	37	1	4	93	269	5	8th GMOHL	Lost quarter-final
2006-07	41	3	35	1	2	91	237	9	7th GMOHL
2007-08	42	15	21	3	3	121	179	36	5th GMOHL
2008-09	42	6	31	-	5	96	215	17	7th GMOHL
2009-10	42	10	27	-	5	102	201	25	6th GMOHL	Lost quarter-final
2010-11	40	15	22	-	3	132	187	33	5th GMOHL
2011-12	40	16	22	-	2	144	167	34	6th GMOHL	Lost semi-final
2012-13	40	25	14	-	1	203	146	51	3rd GMOHL	Lost final
2013-14	39	5	29	-	5	111	233	15	10th GMOHL	Lost quarter-final
2014-15	40	11	24	-	5	131	194	27	10th GMOHL	DNQ
2015-16	40	19	16	5	-	152	148	43	3rd of 9 GMOHL	Lost quarters 1-4 (Kings)
2016-17	42	17	25	0	-	154	205	34	4th of 8-PJHL Carruthers Div	Won Div Quarters 4-2 (Otters) Lost div. semi-finals, 0-4 (Siskins)
2017-18	42	17	23	2	-	173	227	36	5th of 8-PJHL Carruthers Div	Lost Div Quarters 2-4 (Kings)
2018-19	42	17	20	2	3	141	184	39	7th of 8-PJHL Carruthers Div	Lost Div Quarters 2-4 (Golden Hawks)
2019-20	42	14	25	0	3	129	180	31	7th of 8-PJHL Carruthers Div	Lost Div Quarters 1-4 (Stayner Siskins)
2020-21	Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	30	8	21	0	1	74	195	17	7th of 8-PJHL Carruthers Div	Lost Div Quarters 0-4 (Terriers)
2022-23	40	8	27	4	1	122	195	21	9th of 9-PJHL Carruthers Div	Lost Div Quarters 1-4 (Hornets)
2023-24	42	3	37	2	0	68	264	8	9th of 9-PJHL Carruthers Div	Did Not Qualify for Post Season

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• 1973–1977 ^[8]
• 2000–2004 ^[9]
• 2004–Present ^[7]

2013 offseason

Midland Flyers announced that head coach Ed Garinger has resigned his current position with the Midland Flyers and has joined the Alliston Hornets as head coach. .Midland Flyers have hired Luke Dubbin as head coach along with Kyle Horzempa as assistant coach. Gerry Asselin will return as well as general manager and team president.

2014 offseason

Midland Flyers announced that head coach Luke Dubbin was stepping down and have hired Dave Steele as their new head coach. Dave was an assistant coach with the Waterloo Siskins of the Greater Ontario Junior (B) Hockey League the previous season. Waterloo had won their Midwestern Conference Championship (first in 20 years). Gerry Asselin is remaining as general manager and president.

Clarence Schmalz Cup appearances

1985: Belle River Canadiens defeated Midland Centennials 4-games-to-1 ^[6]

Notable alumni

• Sandy McCarthy ^[10]

References

1. Midland Flyers
2. Midland Centennials
3. Midland Flyers
4. MidlandThunder
5. GBMOJHL Teams | Georgian Bay Mid-Ontario Junior Hockey League | Junior C | Leagues | Ontario Hockey Association
6. Ontario Hockey Association 2006–2007 Constitution, Regulations and Rules of Competition by The Ontario Hockey Association (2006)
7. Home | Ontario Hockey Association
8. Owen Sound Sun Times Sports section, final standings
9. http://www.ohahockey.org/ Provided by GMO League statistician
10. Legends of Hockey – NHL Player Search – Player – Sandy McCarthy

External links

• Flyers' OHA Webpage