Norwich Merchants

Norwich Merchants
City	Norwich, Ontario
League	Provincial Junior Hockey League
Conference	Central
Division	Pat Doherty
Founded	1968 (1968)
Home arena	Nor-Del Arena
Colours	Red, Black, and White
General manager	Steve Aichmayr
Head coach	Keli Corpse
Website	norwichjrcmerchants.com

The Norwich Merchants are a junior hockey team based in Norwich, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.

History

Founded in 1968, the Merchants won the Southern Counties Junior D Hockey League championship the next season, then went on to win the OHA Cup as provincial champions by defeating the Haliburton Huskies of the Central League.

In 1980, the Merchants were promoted to Junior C and joined the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League. In 1986, the Merchants were Niagara League champions. They went on to defeat the Bradford Blues of the Mid-Ontario Junior Hockey League to win the Clarence Schmalz Cup as OHA Junior C champions. In 1987, they were again Niagara League champions. They again made it to the provincial final, but this time lost to the Lakefield Chiefs of the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League.

In November 2011, the Merchants were sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association for the overpayment of a former player during his time with the team. Although the team claimed the money was for education purposes, the OHA fined the team $25,000, suspended three board members for the rest of the season and three additional seasons, their 2011-12 roster was frozen for the rest of the season, and they were barred from signing imports for three following seasons. ^[1] The Merchants appealed the decision to the Ontario Hockey Federation. The OHF overturned the roster freeze and import restrictions saying that it was not within the OHA's constitution to wield those powers. Both sides then appealed to Hockey Canada who sided with neither party, which left the fine and suspensions in place. ^[2]

After thirty-three years as members of the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey Association realigned and the Merchants ended up in the new Midwestern Junior C Hockey League. Three years later the eight Southern Ontario junior "C" hockey leagues amalgamated into one league, the Provincial Junior Hockey League. This means that they are now competing in the Pat Doherty Division of the Central Conference.

The playoffs for the 2019-20 season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the team not being able to play a single game.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1968-69	30	15	14	1	-	170	145	31	4th SCJDHL
1969-70	30	15	14	1	-	157	127	31	4th SCJDHL	Won League, Won OHA Cup
1970-71	30	18	10	2	-	160	138	38	2nd SCJDHL
1971-72	28	12	13	3	-	129	120	27	4th SCJDHL
1972-73	30	18	10	2	-	200	147	38	3rd SCJDHL
1973-74	28	14	14	0	-	163	162	28	4th SCJDHL
1974-75	30	15	15	0	-	172	159	30	3rd SCJDHL
1975-76	35	21	13	1	-	--	--	43	4th SCJDHL
1976-77	28	15	12	1	-	--	--	31	3rd SCJDHL
1977-78	35	9	22	4	-	155	226	22	7th SJDHL
1978-79	32	12	20	0	-	157	189	22	8th SJDHL
1979-80	34	18	15	1	-	204	186	37	4th SJDHL
1980-81	32	15	13	4	-	--	--	34	4th NJC-W
1981-82	32	26	5	1	-	--	--	53	1st NJC-W
1982-83	36	24	8	4	-	--	--	52	2nd NJC-W
1983-84	30	21	7	2	-	--	--	44	1st NJC-W
1984-85	32	28	4	0	-	230	101	56	1st SWJCHL
1985-86	36	24	6	6	-	--	--	54	2nd NJC-W	Won League, Won CSC
1986-87	34	20	10	4	-	--	--	44	1st NJC-W	Won League, Lost CSC Final
1987-88	36	27	5	4	-	--	--	58	1st NJC-W
1988-89	35	13	21	1	-	--	--	27	6th NJC-W
1989-90	36	25	7	4	-	--	--	54	1st NJC-W
1990-91	34	20	12	2	-	--	--	42	3rd NJC-W
1991-92	35	16	14	5	-	190	165	37	4th NJC-W
1992-93	36	12	19	5	-	195	244	29	5th NJC-W
1993-94	36	13	15	8	-	145	145	34	4th NJC-W
1994-95	36	21	11	4	-	198	135	46	3rd NJC-W
1995-96	40	25	12	3	-	222	151	53	2nd NJC-W
1996-97	40	23	14	2	1	202	153	49	3rd NJC-W
1997-98	40	26	13	1	0	232	160	53	2nd NJC-W	Won Division, Lost Final
1998-99	35	24	10	-	1	--	--	49	2nd NJC-W	Lost Div. Final
1999-00	36	23	10	-	3	--	--	49	2nd NJC-W	Won Division, Lost Final
2000-01	36	24	9	1	2	--	--	51	1st NJC-W	Won Division, Lost Final
2001-02	36	19	13	2	2	--	--	42	2nd NJC-W	Lost Div. Final
2002-03	36	23	10	1	2	150	117	49	3rd NJCHL	Won Division, Lost Final
2003-04	36	25	6	1	4	160	96	55	2nd NJCHL	Lost Div. Final
2004-05	36	18	13	2	3	136	126	41	4th NJCHL	Lost Div. Final
2005-06	36	27	6	2	1	185	118	57	3rd NJCHL	Lost Div. Final
2006-07	36	24	9	2	1	183	120	51	3rd NJCHL	Won Division, Lost Final
2007-08	36	22	11	1	2	158	88	47	3rd NJCHL	Won Division, Lost Final
2008-09	36	24	7	-	5	168	105	53	2nd NJCHL	Won League, Lost CSC SF
2009-10	36	27	7	-	2	162	93	56	2nd NJCHL	Lost Final
2010-11	36	32	2	-	2	187	83	66	1st NJCHL	Lost Final
2011-12	36	24	9	-	3	144	101	51	4th NJCHL	Lost Div. Final
2012-13	38	29	7	-	2	164	80	60	2nd NJC-W	Lost Div. Final
2013-14	40	27	11	-	2	170	115	56	4th MWJCHL	Won Quarters, 4-3 (Applejacks) Lost Semi's, 0-4 (Mounties)
2014-15	40	24	15	1	-	145	120	49	3rd MWJCHL	Won Quarters, 4-2 (Bulldogs) Won Semi's, 4-3 (Firebirds) lost League Finals, 0-4 (Centennials)
2015-16	40	15	23	2	-	129	161	32	7th of 9 MWJCHL	Lost Quarters, 0-4 (Firebirds)
2016-17	40	22	18	0	-	181	153	44	5th of 9, PJHL Dougherty Div	Won Div Quarters, 4-1 (Firebirds) Lost Div. Semifinals, 0-4 (Centennials)
2017-18	40	17	18	3	2	176	150	39	6th of 9, PJHL Dougherty Div	Lost Div Quarters, 1-4 (Navy-Vets)
2018-19	40	21	16	0	3	176	138	45	5th of 9, PJHL Dougherty Div	Lost Div Quarters, 2-4 (Mounties)
2019-20	40	21	17	2	0	208	141	44	5th of 9, PJHL Dougherty Div	Lost Div Quarters, 1-4 (Centennials)
2020-21	Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	36	10	19	4	3	114	116	27	5th of 7, PJHL Dougherty Div	Lost Div Quarters, 1-4 (Firebirds)
2022-23	42	29	12	1	0	190	122	59	3rd of 7, PJHL Dougherty Div	Won Div Quarters, 4-1 (Mounties) Lost Div Semis 1-4 (Applejacks)
2023-24	42	19	17	5	1	141	144	44	4th of 7, PJHL Dougherty Div	Won Div Quarters, 4-3 (Applejacks) tbd Div. Semifinals, 0-0 (Navy-Vets)

Clarence Schmalz Cup Final appearances

1986: Norwich Merchants defeated Bradford Blues 4-games-to-3

1987: Lakefield Chiefs defeated Norwich Merchants 4-games-to-2

References

1. "Hockey team fined". 24 November 2011.
2. "Hockey Canada rejects both sides' appeals in Norwich Merchants Jr. C hockey scandal | Your online newspaper for New Hamburg, Ontario". Archived from the original on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-01-29.

External links

• Norwich Merchants