PEACH KING CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

BEFORE WE WERE KINGS AND AFTER WE WERE KINGS

Hockey started in Grimsby in 1893

1899  --  First Championship

1900 -- Niagara District Champions

1921 -  the original team  name was The Knocker Hill  team and won the McCoy trophy

1922 -  Peach Kings joined the Fruitbelt Intermediate League and the OHA

1969 - 70 -- Inter-County Jr. C Championship

 

FRUITBELT CHAMPIONS

1925  --  1945 - 1946 -- 1947 --  1948 --  1951

 

OHA CHAMPIONS

1924-1925 ,  1939  --  1940  --  1947

( the 1924 - 1925 championship put Grimsby on the map.  It was a major win and the picture of this team is in the Toronto Hockey Hall Of Fame ( verified )

 

LEAGUE  CHAMPIONS

2003,  2004,  2005,  2007,  2008,  2010,  2011,  2012

 

SCHMALZ  CUP  CHAMPIONS

1940,  2003,  2004,  2011,  2012

 

 A LITTLE BIT OF PEACH KING HISTORY

1910 -- H.H. Wylie who operated the Amusement Park in Grimsby Beach named the team Peach Kings because of the peach farming  in Grimsby

Jan  4,  1922 the arena opened

March 10,  1950  the arena was burned to the ground

1950 - 1951  --  the Peach Kings had no arena to play in and they were called  "  The Orphans Of The Fruitbelt ".   They had their tryouts in the Dunnville arena

Jan.  19,  1951  new arena opened (  The Peach King Gardens )

March 15, 1951  --  disaster struck again.  2 months after the arena opened there was another fire.  This time only the  refreshment booth, upstairs auditorium, and the dressing rooms were destroyed.  Peach Kings were out of town so no equipment was lost.

1951  --  Peach Kings folded because of financial issues created by the fires.  No home games were able to be played so no money came in.

1951 - 1952 -- There was no Peach King hockey team in Grimsby

1952 - 1953  -- We have a team again

1955 -- 1956 -- Team folded again and for 10 years there was no Peach King hockey in Grimsby

1968 -- We have a team again

1968 69  --  Exhibition game against NHL players

1990 - 91 -- team went bankrupt and auctioned off all equipment

1991 - 92 --  new owners

 

 GRIMSBY  NHL PLAYERS WHO BECAME PEACH KING COACHES

 

" POP " McVICAR ,   " PUD " REID,   R.  FARRELL,   BRIAN  CULLEN

 

NHL PLAYERS WHO PLAYED SEVERAL GAMES WITH GRIMSBY PEACH KINGS IN THE 60'S,  70'S, AND 80'S IN THE GRIMSBY ARENA

Wayne Moulton,   Ivan Irwin,   Harry Howell ,   Bob Well,   Pierre Pilote,   Norm Ullmand,   Sid Smith,   Andy Bathgate,   Keith McCreary,   George Morrison,   Jim Harrison,   Harry Pidhirny,   Cal Gardner,   Ike Hildebrand,   Pete Conacher,   Larry Carriere,   Bob Robertson,   Ivan Walmsley,   Bob Goldham,   Murray Henderson,   Ed Litzenberger,  Gus Martson,    Barry Cullen,   Ron Hurst,   Jack Hamilton,   Harry Watson,   J, McCormick,   Danny Lewicki,    Wally Stanowski,    Hugh Bolton,   Aggie Kukulowicz,     Brian McFarlane,   Art Smith,   John Lunau,   Jim McCaig,    Dave Burrows,    Wayne Carleton,   Dave Tataryn,   Eddie Shack,   Dean Prentice,   Ron Ellis,   Bobby Lalonde,   Arnie Brown,   Billy Harris,   Fred Standfield,   Rene Robert,   Chuck Seager,   Rod Seiling,   George Morrison,   Bill Friday,  

IN    2014, I WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE THE HISTORY OF THE GRIMSBY PEACH KINGS AFTER 3 YEARS OF RESEARCH.   A COPY OF THE BOOK IS IN THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME ARCHIVES IN TORONTO.    THIS IS FANTASTIC FOR THE GRIMSBY PEACH KINGS AND THE TOWN OF GRIMSBY.

OCTOBER 2014 WE HAD AN AUMNI GATHERING FOR ALL FORMER PLAYERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.  WE HAD THE HONOUR OF HAVING  2 FORMER PLAYERS  FROM THE THIRTIES ATTENDING  --- LEO REISE ( NHL ) AND BILL ROOKER WHO PLAYED PRO HOCKEY ALL OVER EUROPE,

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE WERE FAMILY MEMBERS OF PLAYERS FROM THE FAMOUS 1925 TEAM  --  HARRY REID AND GEORGE( SHORTY ) HORNE ( NHL)

PETE HORACHEK ( PEACH KING PLAYER )  HEAD COACH OF THE MAPLE LEAFS DROPPED THE PUCK.

THANKS TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PEACH KING TEAM,   

IF ANYONE HAS ANY MORE INFORMATION CONTACT ME --- mowen4@sympatico.ca

MURAL OF THE GRIMSBY PEACH KINGS FROM 1899 TO PRESENT  HANGING IN THE LOBBY OF THE PEACH KING CENTER