| Toronto Nationals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City: | Vaughan, Ontario |
| League: | Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League |
| Operated: | 1972-1977 |
| Home Arena: | Vaughan Arena |
| Colors: | Red, Black, and White |
| Franchise history | |
| 1972-1974: | Vaughan Nationals |
| 1974-1977: | Toronto Nationals |
| Previous franchise history | |
| 1970-1976: | Toronto Nationals Jr. B |
| 1976-1980: | Seneca Nationals |
The Toronto Nationals are a pair of defunct Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey teams from Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. They were a part of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League and the Metro Junior B Hockey League.
Jr. A Nationals[]
In 1975, the Nationals won their one and only Junior "A" league title. They went on to the Ontario Hockey Association Championship and met the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League Champion Guelph CMC's. Guelph came out on top 4-games-to-2. The Nationals folded in 1977.
Season-by-Season Results[]
| Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | P | Results | Playoffs | |
| Vaughan Nats | ||||||||||
| 1972-73 | 44 | 29 | 9 | 6 | 270 | 189 | 64 | 1st OPJHL | ||
| 1973-74 | 44 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 215 | 123 | 59 | 2nd OPJHL | ||
| Toronto Nats | ||||||||||
| 1974-75 | 44 | 23 | 15 | 6 | 235 | 202 | 52 | 3rd OPJHL | Won League | |
| 1975-76 | 44 | 16 | 18 | 10 | 198 | 180 | 42 | 7th OPJHL | ||
| 1976-77 | 44 | 19 | 22 | 3 | 220 | 250 | 41 | 8th OPJHL | ||
Jr. B Nationals[]
In the early 1970s, the Toronto Nationals also had an entry in the Metro Junior B Hockey League who were 1973 Metro Champions and runners up for the Sutherland Cup All-Ontario title. The 1975-76 season saw a 14-year-old Wayne Gretzky challenge the wishes of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and sign with the Toronto Nationals. Barely 16-years-old, Gretzky had played two seasons with the Nationals and scored 63 goals for 132 points in just 60 games. The Nationals won the 1977 Metro championship, led by the young Gretzky with 75 points in just 23 playoff games. The next season he signed with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, a quick stop before going professional and starting what is considered by many hockey enthusiasts as the greatest career in hockey history.
Season-by-Season Results[]
| Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | P | Results | Playoffs | |
| Toronto Nats | ||||||||||
| 1970-71 | 43 | 25 | 14 | 4 | 201 | 174 | 54 | 4th Metro B | ||
| 1971-72 | 44 | 21 | 17 | 6 | 205 | 172 | 48 | 2nd Metro B | ||
| 1972-73 | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 151 | 197 | 46 | 2nd Metro B | Won League | |
| 1973-74 | 44 | 9 | 30 | 5 | 154 | 256 | 23 | 10th Metro B | ||
| 1974-75 | 38 | 4 | 33 | 1 | 119 | 258 | 9 | 14th Metro B | ||
| 1975-76 | 36 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 180 | 190 | 34 | 8th Metro B | ||
| Seneca Nats | ||||||||||
| 1976-77 | 36 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 183 | 181 | 39 | 3rd Metro B | Won League | |
| 1977-78 | 36 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 175 | 179 | 40 | 5th Metro B | ||
| 1978-79 | 44 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 273 | 262 | 54 | 6th Metro B | ||
| 1979-80 | 41 | 18 | 19 | 4 | 261 | 294 | 40 | 8th Metro B | ||
Sutherland Cup Appearances[]
- 1973: Sarnia Bees defeated Toronto Nationals 4-games-to-2
Notable Jr. B Alumni[]
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Toronto Nationals (junior). 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). |