The Clarenville Caribous (also commonly known as the Clarenville Ford Caribous due to an ongoing sponsorship deal announced September 23, 2015[1]) are a senior ice hockey team based in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Avalon East Senior Hockey League. The Caribous are three-time winners of the Herder Memorial Trophy as all-Newfoundland and Labrador Senior Hockey Champions and winners of the 2011 Allan Cup as National Senior "AAA" Hockey Champions.[2]
| Clarenville Caribous | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Clarenville, NL |
| League | Avalon East Senior Hockey League |
| Operated | 2006 |
| Home arena | Eastlink Clarenville Events Centre |
| Colours | Black, Red, and White |
| General manager | Derek MacPhee |
| Head coach | Ivan Hapgood |
| Captain | Dustin Russell |
History
The Caribous broke into the WCSHL in 2006-2007, ending the season in last place with 18 points. However, in the very next season in 2007-2008 they shot past the other three teams, ending the season in first place with 30 points. They also went on to beat the Corner Brook Royals in the first round of the playoffs, only to be defeated by the Deer Lake Red Wings in the next. A very big improvement for one year.
The following season proved to be an even bigger improvement for the team. In the club's third year in the League, the 2008-2009 season, the team went to the playoffs to win against the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, and got revenge on the Deer Lake Red Wings, defeating them in the next round. The Caribous went on to play the Conception Bay North CeeBee Stars in the final, and won the series 4-1. Clarenville won the Herder Memorial Trophy for the first time in club history.[3]
In the Summer of 2009, the Caribous applied for Sr. AAA status to compete in future Allan Cup National Championship events.[4] After winning the 2010 WCSHL Championship, the Caribous took home their second straight Herder Memorial Trophy be beating CBN for the second year in a row, 4-1.[5] The Caribous were winless (0-3) at the 2010 Allan Cup in Fort St. John, British Columbia.[6]
In 2010-11, the Caribous went 14-10-0-0 for second place in the WCSHL. They were eliminated in the league semi-final by Deer Lake to end their hopes for a third straight league title and Herder Trophy. Again registered with Hockey Canada as Senior AAA,[7] the Caribous traveled west to Kenora, Ontario to compete at the 2011 Allan Cup. The Caribous went undefeated (4-0), beating Alberta's Bentley Generals 5-3[8] in the final to win their first and Newfoundland and Labrador's second ever Allan Cup.[9]
Seasons and Records
Season by season results
| Led league in points† | Herder Trophy champions‡ |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, DNQ = Did not qualify
WCSHL = West Coast Senior Hockey League, NSHL = Newfoundland Senior Hockey League, CWSHL = Central West Senior Hockey League
| Season | League | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | Finish | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Result | |||||
| 2006-07 | WCSHL | 20 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 133 | 100 | 18 | Lost in WCSHL finals to Deer Lake Red Wings | ||||||||||
| 2007-08 | WCSHL | 23 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 115 | 99 | 30† | 1st | Lost in WCSHL finals to Deer Lake Red Wings | |||||||||
| 2008-09 | WCSHL | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 134 | 109 | 29 | 2nd | Won Herder vs. Conception Bay CeeBee Stars, 4-1‡ | |||||||||
| 2009-10 | WCSHL | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 104 | 81 | 34† | 1st | Won Herder vs. Conception Bay CeeBee Stars, 4-1‡ | |||||||||
| 2010-11 | WCSHL | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 106 | 99 | 28 | 2nd | Lost semi-final, won Allan Cup | |||||||||
| 2011-12 | NSHL | 24 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 36† | 1st | Won Herder vs. Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 4-1‡ | |||||||||||
| 2012-13 | NSHL | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 119 | 100 | 32 | 2nd | Lost in Herder final | |||||||||
| 2013-14 | NSHL | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 116 | 81 | 31 | 2nd | ||||||||||
| 2014-15 | CWSHL | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 110 | 94 | 27 | 3rd | ||||||||||
| 2015-16 | CWSHL | 22 | 10 | 11 | - | 1 | 90 | 96 | 21 | 3rd | 7 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 22 | Lost in league semi-finals to Corner Brook Royals, 3-4 | |||
| 2016-17 | CWSHL | 16 | 8 | 8 | - | 0 | 61 | 57 | 16 | 2nd | Defeated Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts in League finals | ||||||||
| 2017-18 | CWSHL | 16 | 9 | 7 | - | 0 | 69 | 64 | 18 | 2nd | Won Herder, defeated St. John's Senior Caps, 4-0 | ||||||||
Allan Cup results
| Season | Location | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Results | Playoffs |
| 2010 | Fort St. John, BC | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 3rd Pool Two | Lost quarter-final |
| 2011 | Kenora, Ontario | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 1st Pool One | Won Allan Cup |
| 2013 | Red Deer, Alberta | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 1st Pool One | Lost in Final |
| 2014 | Dundas, Ontario | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 1st Pool One | Lost in Final |
| 2015 | Clarenville, NL | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 2nd Division two | Lost in semi-final (South East Prairie Thunder) |
Current roster
For the current team roster see Caribous profile on the league website
Leaders
Captains
- Dustin Russell (2006-2015)
- Andrew Sweetland (2015-2016)
Coaches
- Randy Pearcey (2006-2010)
- Ivan Hapgood (2014-2016)
- Rebecca Russell (2016-)[10]
Trophies and awards
Team awards
- Three all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships (Herder Memorial Trophy): 2009, 2010, 2012
- Awarded the Allan Cup in 2011 as the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada.
Individual awards
S. E Tuma Memorial Trophy (Top scorer in the regular season)
- Andrew Sweetland, 2013 (42 pts)
T.A. (Gus) Soper Memorial Award (MVP in the regular season)
President's Goaltender's Award (Top goaltender in the regular season of operating Senior A leagues)
Top Defenseman
Rookie of the year
Coach of the Year
Howie Clouter Memorial Trophy (Most Gentlemanly and effective player)
Cliff Gorman Memorial Award (Most valuable player of the Herder Playoffs)
Honoured Members
Retired numbers
- #27 Les Stanley (1962-1980)
- #2 Bill Norcott (1963-1975)
- #7 Robert Gladney (1981-1983)
Clarenville Caribous Logo
- Caribous logo created by Newfoundland artist Reilly Fitzgerald and web developer Todd Cole (2006)