St. Thomas Stars

Canadian junior ice hockey team

The St. Thomas Stars are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. The team plays in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Junior ice hockey in St. Thomas began in 1961 with the St. Thomas Barons in the Western Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League. The league was replaced by the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League in 1970, and the Barons switched to the new league and changed their name to the Elgins. The Elgins folded in 1973, and were merged into the St. Thomas Colonels in the Central Junior C Hockey League. The team moved into the Southwestern Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League in 1976, and then into the Western Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1978. The Colonels changed their name to the Pests in 1980, and then to the Stars in 1984.

The Barons won the league championship during the 1968–69 season, then played against the Flin Flon Bombers from the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) for the Canadian Hockey Association east west final, and for the Father Athol Murray Trophy. The series was a best of seven format which began in St. Thomas. It was the first Canadian national junior ice hockey championship played which was not under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The Barons withdrew from the championship series during the fourth game, played at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon on May 5. The team left after an on ice brawl during the second period. The referee defaulted the game to the Bombers, who were leading by a 4–0 score at the time. The Bombers led the series three games to one after the default win. Game five was scheduled in Flin Flon on May 7, and games six and seven would have been in St. Thomas if necessary. The Barons were escorted from the arena to their hotel by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police due to fear of violence. The Canadian Press described the Barons as being over matched in the series and were not up to the calibre of the WCHL. The Barons abandoned the series in the interest of player safety, and departed for home on May 6, despite a scheduled game on May 7 in Flin Flon. The team paid its own expenses to get home, with assistance from some of its fans who made the road trip to Manitoba. Canadian Hockey Association president Ron Butlin awarded the series to Flin Flon, and suspended the St. Thomas Barons from the association. Barons' coach Keith Kewly said the decision was his to abandon the series.

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1972 73 31 4 26 1 9 8th CJCHL 1973 74 32 15 13 4 179 177 34 4th CJCHL 1974 75 36 13 17 6 248 259 32 4th CJCHL III 1975 76 27 8 18 1 152 182 17 4th CJCHL III 1976 77 38 11 25 2 201 284 24 6th SWJBHL DNQ1977 78 40 19 20 1 237 223 39 3rd SWJBHL Lost semi final1978 79 42 3 37 2 148 330 8 8th WOJHL1979 80 42 2 38 2 121 388 6 8th WOJHL1980 81 42 7 29 6 162 274 20 7th WOJHL1981 82 42 10 27 5 182 248 25 8th WOJHL1982 83 42 17 17 8 178 193 42 4th WOJHL1983 84 48 22 21 5 238 233 49 5th WOJHL1984 85 48 20 23 5 254 292 45 4th WOJHL1985 86 42 26 11 5 245 169 57 2nd WOJHL Won League1986 87 42 24 15 3 271 234 51 4th WOJHL Won League, won SC1987 88 42 19 20 2 1 213 207 41 5th WOJHL1988 89 42 9 30 2 1 195 284 21 7th WOJHL1989 90 40 17 19 3 1 173 185 38 6th WOJHL1990 91 48 34 11 1 2 234 183 71 2nd WOJHL1991 92 48 17 27 3 1 202 227 38 4th WOJHL East1992 93 52 23 23 3 3 52 3rd WOJHL East1993 94 51 10 36 2 3 192 307 25 5th WOJHL East1994 95 52 36 13 0 3 351 245 75 1st WOJHL East Won League, lost SC final1995 96 52 28 18 5 1 272 244 62 2nd WOJHL East Won League, lost SC final1996 97 52 30 18 3 1 234 216 64 2nd WOJHL East1997 98 52 36 11 5 0 304 210 77 1st WOJHL East Lost final 1998 99 52 37 11 0 4 301 195 78 1st WOJHL East Lost final 1999 00 54 31 17 0 6 229 200 68 4th GOHL2000 01 54 12 41 0 1 151 298 25 10th GOHL2001 02 54 13 37 4 0 183 289 30 9th WOJHL2002 03 48 19 25 2 2 142 171 42 6th WOJHL2003 04 48 22 19 4 3 154 148 51 6th WOJHL2004 05 48 31 15 1 1 184 141 64 2nd WOJHL Lost final2005 06 48 21 22 3 2 132 140 47 7th WOJHL2006 07 48 25 20 3 177 195 53 6th WOJHLLost quarter final2007 08 48 19 20 9 165 187 47 7th GOJHL W Lost quarter final2008 09 52 12 31 9 154 258 33 8th GOJHL WLost quarter final2009 10 50 21 25 4 173 179 46 7th GOJHL W Lost Conf. Final2010 11 51 30 17 4 200 163 64 4th GOJHL W Lost SF Round Robin2011 12 51 26 23 2 204 215 54 5th GOJHL W Lost Conf. QF2012 13 51 26 18 7 194 209 59 5th GOJHL W Lost Conf. QF2013 14 49 20 26 3 168 211 43 7th GOJHL W Lost Conf. QF2014 15 49 22 20 7 166 170 49 6th GOJHL W Lost Conf Quarter, 2 4 (Sarnia)2015 16 50 27 19 2 2 200 173 58 5th of 9 W12th of 26 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 1 4 (Chatham)2016 17 50 19 27 2 2 181 200 32 7th of 9 W19th of 27 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 0 4 (Chatham)2017 18 50 29 16 3 2 182 154 63 5th of 9 W11th of 26 GOJHL Won Conf Quarter, 4 1 (Sarnia)Won Conf. Semifinals 4 3 (Flyers)Lost Conf. Finals 0 4 (Nationals)2018 19 48 17 24 3 4 145 176 41 7th of 9 W17th of 25 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 1 4 (Nationals)2019 20 50 12 32 1 5 146 262 30 9th of 9 W21st of 25 GOJHL Did not qualify for post season2020 21 Season lost due to pandemic2021 22 48 18 26 3 1 149 175 40 7th of 9 W18th of 25 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 2 4 (Nationals)2022 23 50 21 23 4 2 183 180 48 7th of 9 W18th of 25 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 0 4 (Nationals)2023 24 50 18 27 3 2 143 204 41 6th of 8 W16th of 23 GOJHL Lost Conf Quarter, 1 4 (Rockets)

1962: Waterloo Siskins defeated St. Thomas Barons 4 games to 1
1987: St. Thomas Stars defeated Niagara Falls Canucks 4 games to none
1995: Stratford Cullitons defeated St. Thomas Stars 4 games to none
1996: Niagara Falls Canucks defeated St. Thomas Stars 4 games to 2