Newfoundland and Labrador



Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province in Canada. Its population is about 510,000 and its capital is St. John's.

It was an independent nation until it joined Canada in 1949.

The Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador) did not join the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (Hockey Canada) until 1966. This was the first time teams from the province were eligible to compete for Canadian National championships.

Start of Hockey in Newfoundland
In, 1892 the banks in Newfoundland had crashed. This brought in Canadian Banks to help bail out the country. As part of this outside presence, hockey started to take hold in St. John's as it was the financial capital, political capital and main port. The Reid Newfoundland Company started to work on a trans-island railroad, marking the spread of the game out of St. John's to places like Corner Brook, Grand Falls, Buchans. The teams around St. John's would soon have a place to call home when the Prince's Rink opened in 1999. Teams would start to travel around the island and through the Maritimes to play other teams.

CAHA membership
The NAHA was formed in December of 1935 to organize senior hockey in Newfoundland.

During the 1949 Annual General Meeting, the team from Buchans was denied permission to add players from Kirkland Lake, Ontario and the the Grand Falls team was denied being able to add former NHL player Gordie Drillon. Out of this decision the introduction of "imports" began in Newfoundland.

In 1950 the CAHA and the NAHA had corresponded about the NAHA joining the CAHA. By 1951 the matter was rejected by the CAHA.

Out of the negotiations the NAHA looked at affiliating with the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association. The hope was for the NAHA to associate with the MAHA but not lose its' autonomy. The NAHA loosely affiliated with the MAHA to the point where MAHA officials were used for the Herder Trophy finals in 1954 and 1955.

It would not be until 1966 that the CAHA membership would become a reality.

Operating Leagues

 * St. John's Junior Hockey League (Junior B)
 * Newfoundland West Coast Senior Hockey League (Senior)
 * Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (2018-

Past Leagues

 * St. John's Senior Hockey League (1899-1971)
 * St. John's Intercollegiate Hockey League (1900-1962)
 * St. John's Mercantile League (ca. 1905-?)
 * Grand Falls Senior Hockey League (1912-1966)
 * Corner Brook Hockey League (1925-?)
 * Bell Island League (1927-?)
 * Buchans Hockey League (1929-?)
 * Bishop's Falls Hockey League (ca. 1930-?)
 * Conception Bay Hockey League (1931-1940)
 * St. John's Intermediate Hockey League (1933-?)
 * St. John's Junior Hockey League (1933-1940; reformed 1955)
 * St. John's Junior Intercollegiate Hockey League (1938-?)
 * Gander Senior Hockey League (1946-?)
 * Conception Bay North Hockey League (1948-1959)
 * Grand Falls Junior Hockey League (1949-?)
 * Conception Bay Intermediate Hockey League (1958-1959)
 * St. John's Junior High School Hockey League
 * Bay Roberts Hockey League (1947-?)
 * Conception Bay South Hockey League
 * St. Bon's Athletic Association Series
 * Glovertown, Gambo and Area Hockey League
 * Notre Dame Intertown Hockey League
 * Deer Lake Intermediate League
 * Newfoundland Junior Hockey League (1953-1971?)
 * Avalon East Senior Hockey League (1967-2017)
 * Central Beothuck Intermediate Hockey League (1977-1994)
 * Central-West Junior Hockey League (Junior B) (2004-2013)
 * Newfoundland Junior A Hockey League (1971-1976)
 * Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (1963-1989)
 * Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (2011-2014)
 * East Coast Senior Hockey League (2017-2018)
 * Central/West Senior Hockey League (2014-2018)

People of Note

 * Don Johnson
 * Michael Ryder
 * Daniel Cleary

Provincial Championship
Both of these championships were national championships until 1949.


 * Herder Memorial Trophy (Senior A Championship) (1935-Present)
 * Evening Telegram Trophy (Senior B Championship) (1954-1959)
 * Veitch Memorial Trophy (Junior Championship)

City Championship

 * Boyle Trophy (St. John's city senior championship) (1904-1971)

National (Canadian) Championships
The following teams have won Canadian National Championships.

Allan Cup
The Corner Brook Royals won tournament as host and the Clarenville Caribous also hosted the tournament in 2015.
 * 1985 Corner Brook Royals
 * 1986 Corner Brook Royals
 * 2011 Clarenville Caribous
 * 2017 Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts

Memorial Cup
No teams participated in Memorial Cup playdowns from 1968 to 1970 which was the period between when the province would have been eligible to compete in the period between the NAHA joining the CAHA and when the junior hockey was changed to include the Major Junior level. The only team eligible for the Memorial Cup since then would have been the St. John's Fog Devils who played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for three seasons from 2005 to 2008.

Professional Teams

 * St. John's Maple Leafs (American Hockey League, 1991-2005)
 * St. John's IceCaps (American Hockey League, 2011-2017)
 * Newfoundland Growlers (ECHL, 2018-Present)