- Rockland Nationals
The Rockland Nationals are a Canadian Junior
ice hockey team from Rockland,Ontario ,Canada . They are a part of theEastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League .History
The original Nationals were founded in 1973 to replace the Hull Festivals who had just left the
Central Junior A Hockey League for theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League . In just three season the Nationals, coached byBryan Murray , won the league, theDudley Hewitt Cup as Central Canadian champions, and theCentennial Cup 1976 National Championship. Unfortunately for them, in those days the teams played sets of best-of-seven series to determine the national champion. Many successful Tier II clubs like theRed Deer Rustlers , theGuelph Platers , and theVernon Vipers franchises were well rooted in their communities when they were victorious, with warchests of cash from major sponsors and massive fan support awaiting long playoff runs. The Nationals were in their infantile stage as an organization and found themselves not only national champions but financially bankrupt from months of travel across the county. They survived one more season on life support funds from the CJHL before packing it in for the 1977-78 season. The fall of the Nationals convinced the CJHL to petition theCanadian Amateur Hockey Association to consider alternate, cheaper, playdown methods to determine regional and national champions. The CAHA answered back a few seasons later with the formation ofround robin championship tournaments. To this date, the Rockland Nationals are the only team in CJHL history to have won a Tier II Junior "A" National title.A decade later the Nationals were reborn. In 1987, the Nationals entered the
Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League and won the league title in their first season back in action. In recent years, the Nationals have been pushing to re-enter the CJHL, but with no results so far.Centennial Cup 1976 In only their third season, the Nationals were league champions. They moved on to take on the
Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League andOntario Hockey Association championGuelph Platers . The series went the distance, but the Nationals pulled out a 4-games-to-3 series win.The Nationals then took on the
Lac-Megantic Royals , the champions of the Quebec Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The Nationals defeated them 4-games-to-1 to get to the Eastern Canadian Championship.In the Eastern Canadian championship, the Nationals drew the
Island Junior Hockey League 's Charlottetown Islanders. The Nationals overpowered the Islanders and crushed them 4-games-to-none. In the final, the Nationals came to play theAlberta Junior Hockey League ,Doyle Cup , andAbbott Cup ChampionSpruce Grove Mets . The Mets were floored by the Nationals in the first two games, losing 9-4 and 7-1 respectively. In Game 3, the Mets pulled close in a 5-3 loss and then took game four 4-3. Game 5 saw the National regain their early series form and crush the Mets 7-3 to win their first and only National title 4-games-to-1.Their landmark victory, led by coach
Bryan Murray , was the first and so far only time a team from theCentral Junior A Hockey League has won the Junior A National Championship. The cost of the venture left the team in financial turmoil and led to them folding a year later.eason-by-Season Record
"Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against"
External links
* [http://hometeamsonline.com/visit/?u=NATIONALS&sport=hockey&t=c Nationals Homepage]
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