Saugeen Shores Winterhawks

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks are a senior hockey team based out of Saugeen Shores, Ontario, Canada. They began playing in the 2007-08 season.

2007-08 Winterhawks Season
The Winterhawks won their first ever game, defeating the Georgian Bay River Rats by a 12-1 score on the road. Saugeen Shores hosted its first ever home game on October 12, when the Shelburne Muskies made a visit, and came out on top with a score of 6-0. The Winterhawks would continue their hot streak, winning their first nine games, before losing their first game in team history, a 5-3 loss to the Elora Rocks. The Winterhawks would continue their winning ways throughout the season, ending up with a 23-3-0 record, first place in the North Division, and a spot in the "AA" playoffs.

The Winterhawks would face the Exeter Mohawks for their first ever playoff series, and the team would win their first playoff game, holding off the Mohawks for a 4-3 victory. Exeter would take the second game in overtime to even the series up, but the Winterhawks would take control of the series, easily defeating the Mohawks by a 6-2 score in the third game, followed by a 5-3 victory in the fourth game. Saugeen Shores would close out the series in the fifth game, winning 5-4, and advance to the "AA" semi-finals.

Saugeen Shores would face the Elora Rocks, the defending "AA" champions in the semi-finals. Elora would take the opening game in overtime, but the Winterhawks stormed back to win the next two games by scores of 5-4 and 7-4 to take a 2-1 series lead. Elora fought back to tie the series up again in the fourth game, then the Rocks would put Saugeen Shores on the brink of elimination with a 6-5 victory in the fifth game. Elora would end the Winterhawks season with an overtime goal in the sixth game, as they won the series 4-2.

2008-09 Winterhawks Season
Saugeen Shores would once again have a very impressive regular season, as they would have the best record in the North Division for the second consecutive season, as they finished the season with a 16-3-1 record, earning 33 points.

The Winterhawks opened the post-season against the Drayton Icemen, in a best of seven series with the winner advancing to the "AA" playoffs. Saugeen Shores opened the series with a blowout victory, defeating Drayton 9-3, and then kept their foot on the gas petal in the second game, winning 7-3 to take a 2-0 series lead. The Winterhawks would have their best game in the third game, defeating the Icemen 10-3, followed by a 7-3 win in the fourth game to sweep Drayton. Saugeen Shores opponent in the "AA" quarter-finals was the Palmerston 81's. Saugeen Shores won the series, 4 games-to-1.

The Winterhawks then faced the Shelburne Muskies in the "AA" Semi-Finals. After racing out to a 3-0 series lead, the Winterhawks allowed the Muskies back into the series with three straight losses, which forced a seventh and deciding game in the series. The Winterhawks won the final game by a score of 3-2 with the overtime winner scored by Ryan Dudgeon.

Saugeen Shores then defeated the Tavistock Royals for the WOAA Sr. "AA" championship, winning the title in just their second year of existence.

Season-by-Season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Tie, OL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against