Sarnia Bees

The Sarnia Bees were a Canadian junior hockey team based in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League

History
The Sarnia Bees joined the ranks of the current Western Junior "B" league in 1969. The Bees were an upstart team in direct competition with the historic Sarnia Legionnaires of the Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League. By mid-season, the Bees had stolen away most of the Legionnaires fan base and the team was forced to fold.

Over the next quarter century the Bees had some good teams but the club seldom lived up to the legend of the Sarnia Legionnaires.

After dominating the Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League during the 1970-71 season, the Bees elected to jump to the Legionnaires' old league, the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, but the adventure was not overly successful and the Bees returned to the WOJHL the next season. Their experience in Junior A seemingly fueled the Bees during the 1972-73 season as they won the WOJHL championship and went on to defeated the Metro Junior B Hockey League's Toronto Nationals 4-games-to-2 to win Sarnia's first Sutherland Cup since the Sarnia Legionnaires did it in 1968.

In 1983, the Bees were again WOJBHL champions and pushed all the way to the Sutherland Cup finals. In the final, they met the Metro Junior B Hockey League's St. Michael's Buzzers. After a long battle, the Buzzers finished off the Bees in game 7 to deny the franchise of its second Sutherland Cup.

In 1995, the Ontario Hockey League accepted the expansion of a new team known as the Sarnia Sting. To stay out of the shadow of the OHL team, the Bees changed their name to the Steeplejacks.

Sutherland Cup Appearances

 * 1973: Sarnia Bees defeated Toronto Nationals 4-games-to-2
 * 1982: St. Michael's Buzzers defeated Sarnia Bees 4-games-to-3

Notable alumni

 * Frank Beaton
 * Jerry Butler
 * Dino Ciccarelli
 * Mike Crombeen
 * Michael Dark
 * Scott Garland
 * Tony McKegney
 * Robbie Moore
 * Mike Murray
 * Bob Neely
 * Rumun Ndur
 * Kraig Nienhuis