| Brampton Steelheads | |
 | |
| City | Brampton, Ontario |
|---|---|
| League | Ontario Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Central |
| Operated | 2024–present |
| Home arena | CAA Centre |
| Colors | Blue, white, silver |
| General manager | James Richmond |
| Head coach | James Richmond [1] |
| Affiliate(s) | Mississauga Chargers |
Website mississaugasteelheads.com | |
| Franchise history | |
| 1996–2007 | Toronto St. Michael's Majors |
| 2007–2012 | Mississauga St. Michael's Majors |
| 2012–2024 | Mississauga Steelheads |
| 2024-Present | Brampton Steelheads |
The Brampton Steelheads are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The Steelheads are set to play their games at the CAA Centre in Brampton, starting with the 2024-25 OHL Season.
History[]
The OHL originated in Mississauga with the Mississauga IceDogs. The IceDogs played in Mississauga from 1998 to 2007 being purchased by Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk in 2006. Following the 2006-2007 season, Melnyk sold the Icedogs who moved to St Catherines to become the Niagara IceDogs. At the same time Melynk moved the Toronto St. Michael's Majors to Mississauga to become the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The Majors played in Mississauga from 2007-2012, also hosting the 2011 Memorial Cup. Following the 2012 season Melnyk sold the Majors franchise to Elliott Kerr of Mississauga's Landmark Sport Group.[2] As a part of the sale, the Majors identity was returned to St. Michael's College, allowing the team to move forward under the fan-selected "Steelheads" moniker.[3]
The Steelheads struggled in their first season in 2012–13 finishing last in the OHL Central Division and 8th overall in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Belleville Bulls in 6 games in the first round. Before the 2013–14 the Steelheads drafted 15 year old Sean Day. Day had applied for and been granted Exceptional Player Status to be able to be drafted into the OHL at 15 years old. In the 2013–14 season the Steelheads again finished last in the OHL Central Division and 8th in the Eastern Conference, this time being swept by the number one ranked Oshawa Generals in four games in the first round of the 2014 OHL Playoffs. In 2014–15 the Steelheads finished in 4th in the Central Division ahead of the Sudbury Wolves but missed the 2015 OHL Playoffs finishing five points back. In 2015–16 thanks to strong performances by a trio of top 2016 NHL Draft picks (Alexander Nylander, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian) the Steelheads finished above .500 for the first time and ended the season in 7th in the Eastern Conference standings, (4th in their division). Again though the Steelheads would fall in the 1st Round losing to the Barrie Colts in 7 games.
2016–17 was the best season currently in Mississauga Steelheads history. Backed by continued strong performances by Bastian and McLeod as well as a breakout 44 goal season from 2017 1st Round Draft Pick Owen Tippett, the Steelheads won their first Central Division Title. Entering the 2017 OHL Playoffs in the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference the Steelheads defeated the Ottawa 67's in 6 games in the 1st Round before defeating the Oshawa Generals in 5 games in the 2nd Round. In the Eastern Conference Finals the Steelheads swept the Peterborough Petes in 4 games to win their first Bobby Orr Trophy in franchise history. The Steelheads would fall in the J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals in 5 games to the Erie Otters.
In 2017–18 Mississauga returned to the bottom of the Eastern Conference ending the season in 7th place, (4th in the Central Division). The Barrie Colts once again defeated the Steelheads in the 1st Round of the Playoffs, this time in 6 games. In 2018–19 Mississauga was the best team of a weak bottom half of the OHL Eastern Conference finishing in 5th place but 20 points back of Sudbury in 4th. In the playoffs the Wolves easily swept Mississauga in 4 games. The 2019–20 OHL season was cancelled before completion of the regular season, the J. Ross Robertson Cup or the 2020 Memorial Cup in Kelowna. At the time of cancellation the Steelheads sat in 6th place in the OHL Eastern Conference with a record of 27-29-4-1 but 17 points up on 9th place, which would have guaranteed the Steelheads a 7th playoff appearance in 8 seasons.
In January 2024, the Steelheads proposed to relocate to Brampton for at least the 2024-25 season, pending approval from the OHL. The relocation was approved by the OHL in June 2024, with the franchise retaining the Steelheads name.
Uniforms and mascot[]
The primary logo for the Steelheads displays a Steelhead trout below the word Mississauga with a maple leaf after it. The Steelheads colours are blue & white. The secondary logo features the Port Credit lighthouse within an M, representing the city landmark.
The Steelheads' blue and white uniforms bear a striking resemblance to those of the nearby Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL; their home sweaters are white with blue striping and collars, while their road sweaters are blue with white striping and collars.
The team mascot is named Sauga. The name was created during a fan contest during the summer of 2012, when the organization asked its fans to create a name for the new Steelheads mascot.[4]
Championships[]
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Division titles
Conference titles
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Season-by-season results[]
Season-by-season results[]
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | Pct | GF | GA | Finish | ||
| 2012–13 | 68 | 26 | 34 | 0 | 8 | 60 | 0.441 | 179 | 221 | 5th, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Belleville Bulls, 2–4 |
| 2013–14 | 68 | 24 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 0.397 | 167 | 267 | 5th, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Oshawa Generals, 0–4 |
| 2014–15 | 68 | 25 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 0.390 | 178 | 265 | 4th, Central | Did not qualify |
| 2015–16 | 68 | 33 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 71 | 0.522 | 215 | 229 | 4th, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Barrie Colts, 3–4 |
| 2016–17 | 68 | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 81 | 0.596 | 240 | 219 | 1st, Central | Won in conference quarterfinals vs. Ottawa 67's, 4–2 Won in conference semifinals vs. Oshawa Generals, 4–1 Won in conference finals vs. Peterborough Petes, 4–0 Lost in OHL Finals vs. Erie Otters, 1–4 |
| 2017–18 | 68 | 33 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 69 | 0.507 | 251 | 250 | 4th, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Barrie Colts, 2–4 |
| 2018–19 | 68 | 32 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 71 | 0.522 | 239 | 250 | 3rd, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Sudbury Wolves, 0–4 |
| 2019–20 | 61 | 27 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 59 | 0.484 | 223 | 227 | 3rd, Central | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2020–21 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
| ||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 68 | 37 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 82 | 0.603 | 229 | 189 | 2nd, Central | Won in conference quarterfinals vs. Barrie Colts, 4–2 Lost in conference semifinals vs. Hamilton Bulldogs, 0–4 |
| 2022–23 | 68 | 31 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 68 | 0.500 | 226 | 258 | 4th, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. North Bay Battalion, 2–4 |
| 2023–24 | 68 | 38 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 84 | 0.618 | 248 | 212 | 2nd, Central | Lost in conference quarterfinals vs. Sudbury Wolves, 1–4 |
Coaches[]
- 2012–2016: James Boyd
- 2016–present: James Richmond
Captains[]
- 2012–13 – Stuart Percy
- 2013–14 – Brett Foy
- 2014–15 – Bryson Cianfrone
- 2015–16 – Joshua Burnside
- 2016–17 – Michael McLeod
- 2017–18 – Michael McLeod, Nicolas Hague
- 2018–19 – Cole Carter
- 2019–20 – Liam Ham
- 2020–21 – none
- 2021–23 – Ethan Del Maestro
- 2023–present – Chas Sharpe
NHL alumni[]
List of Steelheads alumni to play in the National Hockey League (NHL):
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
| Mississauga Steelheads | |
|---|---|
| Based in Mississauga, Ontario - Founded in 2012 - Member of the Ontario Hockey League | |
| The Franchise | Mississauga Steelheads - History - Records - Players - Staff |
| Arenas | Hershey Centre |
| Conference Championships | 2016–17 |
| Division Championships | 2016–17 |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Brampton Steelheads. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |