Notre Dame Hounds

The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior B Hockey League, but the team folded after the 2005–06 Season. The team plays their homes games in Duncan McNeill Arena, which has a seating capacity of 1,200. The team colours are red and white. The Notre Dame Hounds is the name of the hockey team of the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame. The school is a residential high school in the village of Wilcox in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada.

This school is very well known for the large number of NHL players that have attended it. It won the 1987-88 Centennial Cup which is the Canadian junior A championship. Throughout the years Notre Dame has entered teams at various levels. The school itself was founded by Father Athol Murray in 1927.

History
The Hounds first came to the SJHL in 1970. The team only kept afloat until 1976, when, after a dismal season, they left the SJHL. Not much is known about the franchise between 1976 and 1987. It is known that they operated as a Midget "AAA" Minor Hockey team until 1987 and lost the final of the Canadian Midget Championship, the Air Canada Cup, to the Quebec seed in the tournament. In 1987, the Hounds came straight into Tier II Junior "A" from Midget hockey and took the league by storm. The team came out of the regular season with a series of tight victories, but enough of them to earn them a birth in the playoffs. The Hounds, operating well as a unit which had stayed mostly intact for 3 seasons, found little trouble winning the SJHL Championship. Their only real competition was the Yorkton Terriers who took them to Game 6. The Hounds moved on to the Anavet Cup to face the Winnipeg South Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Hounds easily swept the series in 4 games. They then moved on to face the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the Abbott Cup. At first, the Hounds were out matched. They went down early, being led in the series 3-games-to-1. They stormed back in Game 5 to win 7-2 and then won Game 6. In Game 7 with a 3-2 lead, future National Hockey League (NHL) player Curtis Joseph took control and closed the door. The Game 7 victory earned the team a birth into the Centennial Cup. In the first game, the Hounds played the Halifax Lions of the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League, defeating them 6-5. In the second game, they played the Thunder Bay Flyers of the United States Hockey League, the result was a 9-7 win. The next game was a nail-biter. The Hounds took on the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Junior A Hockey League and lost in triple overtime by a score of 4-3. The Semi-final placed them again against the Lumber Kings, but this time they were ready to win and took in 7-3. This set up a Final between the Hounds and the Lions. After 2 periods, the Hounds found themselves down 2-1. They tied it up early, and then late in the game, on a feeder from future NHL player Rod Brind'Amour, future gold medal winning hero of the 1990 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships Dwayne Norris scored the game winner. Brind'Amour won awards for being the Top Scorer, Most Valuable Player, and Top Centre, while another future NHL player, Joby Messier, won Top Defenseman.

Perhaps the team's best known contribution to the NHL is the Toronto Maple Leafs Hound Line of the 1985–86 season, when Gary Leeman, Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnall played on the same forward line.

From the 1987–88 Championship team, 19 player graduated to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Hockey Program, and some, like Rod Brind'Amour, Curtis Joseph, Joby Messier, Dwayne Norris, Jason Herter, and Scott Pellerin, made it all the way to the National Hockey League.

Since 1995, the Hounds have only failed to make the SJHL playoffs three times, but have yet to win their second league title.

Playoffs

 * 1971 DNQ
 * 1972 Lost Quarter-final
 * Saskatoon Olympics defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 1973 DNQ
 * 1974 DNQ
 * 1975 DNQ
 * 1976 DNQ


 * 1988 Won League, Won Anavet Cup, Won Abbott Cup, Won 1988 Centennial Cup
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings 4-games-to-none
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Nipawin Hawks 4-games-to-none
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Yorkton Terriers 4-games-to-2 SJHL CHAMPIONS
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Winnipeg South Blues (MJHL) 4-games-to-none ANAVET CUP CHAMPIONS
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Calgary Canucks (AJHL) 4-games-to-3 ABBOTT CUP CHAMPIONS
 * Second in 1988 Centennial Cup round robin (2-1)
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJHL) 7-3 in semi-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Halifax Lions (MVJHL) 3-2 in final CENTENNIAL CUP CHAMPIONS


 * 1989 Lost Semi-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Minot Americans 4-games-to-2
 * Nipawin Hawks defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-2


 * 1990 DNQ
 * 1991 Lost Quarter-final
 * Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 1992 DNQ
 * 1993 DNQ
 * 1994 Lost Quarter-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Estevan Bruins 3-games-to-1
 * Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 1995 DNQ
 * 1996 Lost Quarter-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings 2-games-to-1
 * Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 1997 Lost Quarter-final
 * Lebret Eagles defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-2


 * 1998 Lost Quarter-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Melville Millionaires 2-games-to-1
 * Lebret Eagles defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-2


 * 1999 Lost Semi-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Yorkton Terriers 4-games-to-3
 * Estevan Bruins defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2000 Lost Quarter-final
 * First in round robin (3-1) vs. Melville Millionaires and La Ronge Ice Wolves
 * Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-2


 * 2001 Lost Quarter-final
 * Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 2002 Lost Semi-final
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings 4-games-to-2
 * Humboldt Broncos defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2003 Lost Quarter-final
 * Melville Millionaires defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-2


 * 2004 Lost Quarter-final
 * Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2005 Lost Quarter-final
 * Second in round robin (1-3) vs. Yorkton Terriers and Estevan Bruins
 * Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 2006 Lost Semi-final
 * First in round robin (2-1-1) vs. Yorkton Terriers and Melville Millionaires
 * Notre Dame Hounds defeated Melville Millionaires 4-games-to-none
 * Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 2007 Lost Preliminary
 * Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2008 DNQ
 * 2009 DNQ
 * 2010 Lost Quarter-final
 * Kindersley Klippers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 2011 DNQ
 * 2012
 * Preliminary Round Estevan Bruins defeated Notre Dame Hounds 3-games-to-none


 * 2013
 * Quarter Finals Melville Millionaires defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-3


 * 2014
 * Preliminary Round Notre Dame Hounds defeated Nipawin Hawks 3-games-to-1
 * Quarter Finals Yorkton Terriers (Junior)|Yorkton Terriers]] defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2015
 * Quarterfinals Notre Dame Hounds defeated Nipawin Hawks 4-games-to-1
 * Semifinals Notre Dame Hounds defeated Kindersley Klippers 4-games-to-2
 * Final Melfort Mustangs defeated defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-none


 * 2016
 * Wild Card Kindersley Klippers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 3-games-to-1


 * 2017
 * Quarterfinals Flin Flon Bombers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 4-games-to-1


 * 2018
 * Wild Card Flin Flon Bombers defeated Notre Dame Hounds 2-games-to-1


 * 2019
 * Wild Card Yorkton Terriers (Junior)|Yorkton Terriers]] defeated Notre Dame Hounds 2-games-to-1

Notable alumni

 * Rod Brind'Amour
 * Wendel Clark
 * Scott Daniels
 * Jason Herter
 * Curtis Joseph
 * Joby Messier
 * Mitch Messier
 * Scott Munroe
 * Tyler Myers
 * Dwayne Norris
 * Scott Pellerin
 * Teddy Purcell
 * Jaden Schwartz
 * Brad Richards
 * Curtis McElhinney