The Smiths Falls Bears are a Junior A ice hockey team based in Smiths Falls. The Bears compete in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) as a member of the Robinson Division. The team has been in existence since 1961, making them the oldest active team in the league.
The Bears are one of the "Original Four" CCHL teams, along with the Pembroke Lumber Kings, Brockville Braves and Nepean Raiders. They have won four Bogart Cup championships between 1964 and 1975, won the Fred Page Cup twice in a row in 1974 and 1975. The Bears have also made it to the Bogart Cup Finals eight times in franchise history, with their last appearance in 2023–24 against the eventual champion Navan Grads.
The first facility to host the Bears was the original Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre, the league's former oldest arena, built in 1948. Following the demolition of the old facility in 2010, the team now plays its home games at the new Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre, which is located right in front of the Smiths Falls VIA Rail station.
History
The origins of the Smiths Falls Bears trace back to when the Ottawa-Hull District Junior Hockey League (now Central Canada Hockey League) was formed in 1961 under the direction of the Montreal Canadiens. The Bears are one of the oldest franchises in Canadian Junior A hockey, despite a 9-year leave of absence from 1976 to 1985. From 2000 to 2002, the team was known as the Lanark Thunder and played in of Perth, Ontario before the franchise was suspended. As a result, the Smiths Falls Bears were re-admitted to the league as an expansion team for the 2002–03 season and held an expansion draft.
The Bears' inaugural season saw members wear maroon and white - identical colours of the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears. In 1985, the Bears returned to the league wearing the colours black, gold, and white - identical to the Pittsburgh Penguins uniforms in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, the Bears went back to their original colours of maroon and white, but with grey. In 1998, the Bears changed their colours to teal and black, which being such a departure from earlier styles, confused CJHL supporters around the league.
The Bears won their first Art Bogart Cup in history in 1965. The Bears won back-to-back CJHL championships in 1974 and 1975. In 1976, the Bears took a leave of absence from the league, returning in 1985.
In February 2000, a dressing room fire at the Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre destroyed almost all of the team's equipment. The equipment was replaced through donations and charities and Bears were able to finish the 1999-00 season. The following summer, the Bears announced their relocation to nearby Lanark, Ontario. Assuming the name of the Lanark Thunder, the owner promised to draw attendance at the Perth Community Arena for the 2000–01 season. While the inaugural season of the Thunder drew satisfactory attendance, it dropped dramatically during the following season and nearly being unable to participate in the playoffs at the conclusion of the 2001–02 season and having to give up their playoff spot to the second-last team (Brockville). The Thunder played the Nepean Raiders in the first round and lost the series 4 games to 0. Immediately afterwards, the team was suspended allowing the original franchise to be re-admitted as an expansion team.
The Bears missed the playoffs in their first three years returning from Lanark. In December 2004, a new head coach Bill Bowker was assigned to turn the team around. The Bears had won just a single game before January 2005, which resulted in heavy criticism by fans and media alike. But the coaching change paid off as the Bears made the playoffs for the next four years. Their best post-Lanark Thunder season was 2007–08, when the Bears appeared in the CJHL finals after knocking off the Brockville Braves in 6 games to compete against the Pembroke Lumber Kings. The Lumber Kings won the finals in five games. In July 2008, three Bears players were chosen in the NHL Draft. Mike Bergin by the Dallas Stars, Nicholas Tremblay by the Boston Bruins, and Mark Borowiecki by the Ottawa Senators. They became the first trio of players from the same CJHL club to be chosen in the NHL Draft. Borowiecki left Clarkson University after the 2010–11 season as he signed a 2-year minor league contract with the Senators' minor league affiliate Binghamton Senators.
On February 27, 2010, Smiths Falls played their final game at the old Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre. During the off-season, the arena was torn down and replaced with a new one on exactly the same premises. After the 2010–11 season the Bears released their longtime head coach and manager Bill Bowker. Bowker was replaced with Ottawa 67's former assistant coach (and assistant coach of the Bears during the 2010–11 season) Mark Grady.
During the 2013–14 playoffs, the Smiths Falls Bears made it to the Bogart Cup Finals but have lost in five games against fierce rival Carleton Place Canadians. The Bears attracted 8,773 fans in eight playoff home games for an average of 1,097 per game, including two capacity crowds of over 1,500 people during Game 2 and 4 of the 2014 Bogart Cup Finals.[1]
In the 2023–24 season, the Bears qualified to the playoffs and made it all the way to the Bogart Cup Finals, but have lost in six games against the eventual champion Navan Grads. During the Bogart Cup Finals, the team has averaged 1,100 fans in three home games.[2]
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
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