Hamilton Tiger Cubs

Hamilton Tiger Cubs
City	Hamilton, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey Association
Operated	1953 (1953)-60
Home arena	Barton Street Arena
Franchise history
1946-53	Windsor Spitfires
1953-60	Hamilton Tiger Cubs
1960-74	Hamilton Red Wings
1974-76	Hamilton Fincups
1976-77	St. Catharines Fincups
1977-78	Hamilton Fincups
1978-84	Brantford Alexanders
1984-88	Hamilton Steelhawks
1988-96	Niagara Falls Thunder
1996-Present	Erie Otters

The Hamilton Tiger Cubs were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1953 to 1960. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario.

History

The Hamilton juniors which they were called initially in the early part of 1953. At the time Hamilton had the historic senior OHA team still called the "tigers" in the city but sadly the popularity of the team was fading due to mismanagement and the city of Hamilton being more attracted to younger hockey prospects vs senior players.

The franchise was partnered with the Detroit Red wings from day one just as the previous season when the juniors were in Windsor. During this time when the local newspaper covered hockey, The paper specifically called the OHA/OHL the "cubs" and that was adopted by mid season vs the "juniors". The Tiger Cubs played from 1953 to 1960, after which the team was finally renamed to the Red Wings as they wanted to emphasize the Detroit connection and increase ticket sales .

The best season for the Tiger Cubs was 1958. The team reached the OHA finals for the J. Ross Robertson Cup. They were defeated by the Toronto Marlboros 4 wins to 1, with 1 tie game.

There were also previous OHA Jr. teams in Hamilton. The Hamilton Szabos played from the early 1940s to 1947. In the 1930s Hamilton had an OHA Jr. team known as the Bengal Cubs. In the 1920s there was a Junior Tigers team at the same time as the NHL Tigers team.

The Tiger Cubs played home games at the Barton Street Arena, then known as the Hamilton Forum.

Players

• G Bob Perani

Award winners

• 1957-1958 - Murray Oliver, Red Tilson Trophy, Most valuable player
• 1953-1954 - Dennis Riggin, Dave Pinkney Trophy, Lowest team goals against average.

NHL alumni

Alumnus Brian Kilrea became one of the most notable names ever in Canadian junior hockey, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a coach. Fellow alumnus Pat Quinn coached in the NHL, most recently with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the Canadian national men's hockey team.

4

Yearly results

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1953-54	58	31	24	3	65	0.560	222	208	3rd OHA
1954-55	49	21	23	5	47	0.480	181	173	5th OHA
1955-56	48	13	30	5	31	0.323	171	250	7th OHA
1956-57	52	24	26	2	50	0.481	170	191	5th OHA
1957-58	52	27	18	7	61	0.587	200	176	2nd OHA
1958-59	54	11	35	8	30	0.278	167	229	7th OHA
1959-60	48	10	34	4	24	0.250	158	251	7th OHA