Cornwall Royals

Cornwall Royals
City:	Cornwall, Ontario
League:	QMJHL (1969–81) OHL (1981–92)
Operated:	1969 (1969) to 1992
Home Arena:	Cornwall Civic Complex
Colours:	Blue, white and red
Franchise history
1969–92:	Cornwall Royals
1992–94:	Newmarket Royals
1994–present:	Sarnia Sting

The Cornwall Royals were a junior team.

They started out in the early 1960's as a local junior B team. They won the Ottawa District title in 1961-62 and 1962-63.

The Royals then joined the Ottawa-Hull & District Junior League in 1963. This league became the Central Junior A Hockey League the next year. Cornwall won the league title in 1965-66, 1966-67, and 1967-68.

With three league titles under their belt, the Royals looked for new worlds to conquer, They tried to get into the Ontario Hockey Association's junior A league in 1968 but were turned down. Instead they joined the Metropolitan Montreal Junior League. This league became part of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1969.

The Royals played in that league from 1969-70 through 1980-81. They won three Memorial Cups in that time, including a very rare back-to-back cups in 1980 & 1981.

They transferred to the Ontario Hockey League in 1981 as part of the rationalization of the junior leagues - a team played in its own provincial league. The move was not a financial success. The Royals had depended on a fan base from nearby areas of Quebec that had left the team when it switched leagues. They were moved to Newmarket in 1992.

Coaches

Orval Tessier guided the Cornwall Royals to the Memorial Cup championship in 1972. Doug Carpenter coached the 1980 Royals, and Bob Kilger in 1981.

Marc Crawford was a former Cornwall Royals player who come back to coach. He would win the Stanley Cup coaching the Colorado Avalanche. He also coached the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings, and is currently the head coach of the Dallas Stars.

List of Coaches

(Multiple years in parentheses)

1981–82 Bob Kilger 1982–83 *multiple coaches 1983–84 Melina Perez 1984–85 Mickie James

1985–86 Tony Zappia 1986–89 Orval Tessier (3) 1989–91 Marc Crawford (2) 1991–92 John Lovell

*1982–83 coaches Bob Kilger, Bill Murphy, Gord Woods, Jocelyn Guevremont

Players

The Cornwall Royals graduated 55 players to the National Hockey League. From these alumni, 31 played for the Royals in the QMJHL, and 29 played for the Royals in the OHL, and 5 played for the Royals in both leagues.

CHL awards

CHL Player of the Year 1980–1981 Dale Hawerchuk CHL Defenceman of the Year 1989–1990 John Slaney

CHL Scholastic Player of the Year 1991–1992 Nathan LaFayette

QMJHL awards

Michel Brière Commemorative Trophy (Most Valuable Player) 1973–74 Gary MacGregor 1974–75 Mario Viens 1980–81 Dale Hawerchuk Guy Lafleur Trophy (Playoffs MVP) 1979–80 Dale Hawerchuk Jean Béliveau Trophy (Top Scorer) 1980–81 Dale Hawerchuk Instructors Trophy (Rookie of the Year) 1970–71 Bob Murphy 1971–72 Bob Murray 1979–80 Dale Hawerchuk

Emile Bouchard Trophy (Defenseman of the Year) 1980–81 Fred Boimistruck Jacques Plante Commemorative Trophy (Best Goals Against Average) 1971–72 Richard Brodeur 1975–76 Tim Bernhardt 1976–77 Tim Bernhardt 1977–78 Tim Bernhardt Mike Bossy Trophy (Best Professional Prospect) 1980–81 Dale Hawerchuk Frank J. Selke Commemorative Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player) 1971–72 Gerry Teeple 1973–74 Gary MacGregor

OHL awards

Red Tilson Trophy OHL Most valuable player. 1982–1983 Doug Gilmour 1985–1986 Ray Sheppard Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy OHL Top Point Scorer. 1982–1983 Doug Gilmour 1985–1986 Ray Sheppard Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy OHL Top Scoring Right Winger. 1982–1983 Ian MacInnis 1985–1986 Ray Sheppard 1989–1990 Owen Nolan

Max Kaminsky Trophy Most Outstanding Defenceman. 1989–1990 John Slaney OHL Goaltender of the Year Voted best goaltender in the OHL. 1987–1988 Rick Tabaracci Emms Family Award Rookie of the year. 1988–1989 Owen Nolan Bobby Smith Trophy Scholastic player of the year. 1990–1991 Nathan LaFayette 1991–1992 Nathan LaFayette

Hockey Hall of Fame members

Two alumni of the Cornwall Royals have been enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The first was New York Islanders goalie Billy Smith. Smith was the inaugural goalie for the Royals in the QMJHL during the 1969–70 season. After this season he was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings.

Dale Hawerchuk is the second inductee. He led the Royals to two Memorial Cup championships in 1980 and 1981. He was drafted first overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft

NHL alumni

QMJHL (1969–1981)

Jeff Allan Dave Allison Scott Arniel Fred Arthur Reid Bailey Tim Bernhardt Fred Boimistruck Richard Brodeur

Eric Calder Alain Chevrier Bob Crawford Lou Crawford Marc Crawford Dan Daoust Jeff Eatough Dan Frawley

Danny Geoffrion Doug Gilmour Dale Hawerchuk Blair MacDonald John Markell Corrado Micalef Bob Murray Graeme Nicolson

Rick Paterson Ron Scott Al Sims Billy Smith Ron Smith John Wensink Rod Willard

OHL (1981–1992)

Scott Arniel Bobby Babcock Eric Calder Jason Cirone Larry Courville Craig Duncanson Jeff Eatough Dan Frawley

Doug Gilmour Jim Kyte Nathan LaFayette Alan Letang Guy Leveque Steve Maltais Owen Nolan

Mike Prokopec Rob Ray Joe Reekie Ken Sabourin Mathieu Schneider Ray Sheppard John Slaney

Mike Stapleton Jeremy Stevenson Rick Tabaracci Tom Thornbury Mike Tomlak Ryan Vandenbussche Michael Ware

Season-by-Season Results

• 1961-62 Won Ottawa District Junior B Title & Lost Ottawa District Junior Final
• 1962-63 Won Ottawa District Junior B Title & Lost Ottawa District Junior Final

Central Junior A Hockey League (1963-68)

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing	Playoffs
1963-64	32	16	14	2	34	-	-	4th	Lost Semi Final
1964-65	36	20	13	3	43	177	110	3rd	Lost Final
1965-66	36	26	8	2	54	271	138	1st	Won Final, Lost East Quarter Final
1966-67	50	38	7	5	81	337	162	1st	Won Final, Lost East Semi Final
1967-68	39	15	18	6	36	186	189	3rd	Won Final, Lost East Semi Final

Metropolitan Montreal Junior League (1968-69)

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing	Playoffs
1968-69	48	18	27	3	39	-	-	5th	Lost Quarter Final

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (1969-81)

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing	Playoffs
1969-70	56	24	31	1	49	223	255	2nd West	Lost Quarter Final
1970-71	62	22	40	0	44	260	326	10th	out of playoffs
1971-72	62	47	13	2	96	361	182	1st	Won Final, Won Memorial Cup
1972-73	64	43	19	2	88	365	253	2nd	Lost Quarter Final
1973-74	70	46	22	2	94	438	328	1st West	Lost Quarter Final
1974-75	72	36	24	12	84	322	296	3rd West	Lost Quarter Final
1975-76	72	39	24	9	87	349	270	2nd West	Lost Semi Final
1976-77	72	38	24	10	86	345	281	2nd Lebel	Lost Semi Final
1977-78	72	46	18	8	100	404	258	1st Lebel	Lost Semi Final
1978-79	72	29	36	7	65	361	397	3rd Lebel	Lost Quarter Final
1979-80	72	41	25	6	88	388	333	1st Lebel	Won Final, Won Memorial Cup
1980-81	72	44	26	2	90	403	311	1st Lebel	Won Final, Won Memorial Cup

Ontario Hockey League (1981-92)

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing	Playoffs
1981-82	68	28	35	5	61	303	327	6th Leyden	Lost 1st Round
1982-83	70	36	33	1	73	370	335	5th Leyden	Lost Quarter Final
1983-84	70	33	37	0	66	348	375	6th Leyden	Lost 1st Round
1984-85	66	34	30	2	70	355	344	4th Leyden	Lost Quarter Final
1985-86	66	28	36	2	58	307	356	5th Leyden	Lost 1st Round
1986-87	66	23	40	3	49	261	369	6th Leyden	Lost 1st Round
1987-88	66	35	24	7	77	333	255	3rd Leyden	Lost Quarter Final
1988-89	66	31	30	5	67	350	308	4th Leyden	Lost Semi Final
1989-90	66	24	38	4	52	309	361	6th Leyden	Lost 1st Round
1990-91	66	23	42	1	47	281	335	7th Leyden	out of playoffs
1991-92	66	38	22	6	82	328	289	3rd Leyden	Lost 1st Round