HUNDER BAY, Ont. — Earning a second straight opportunity to compete at the then Air Canada Cup, the Thunder Bay Kings headed to the 1996 event in Kamloops, B.C., looking to repeat as national midget champions.
Following taking another Hockey Northwestern Ontario district title over Kenora, the Kings headed to the West Regional where they also came away victorious and punched their ticket to Kamloops.
There Thunder Bay finished in a three-way tie for top spot in the standings with a 3-2 record while posting wins over the host Kamloops Lions, New Liskeard Cubs and the Ste-Foy Governors, to earn a place in the semifinals.
Meeting the Red Deer Chiefs, who they ousted in the gold medal game to win it all in 1995, the Kings would prevail once again, skating to a 5-2 decision.
Advancing to a second-consecutive final, and third in five years, with a round robin rematch vs. Ste-Foy, it was the Quebec side that prevailed 6-4 as Thunder Bay settled for a silver medal finish.
Among those earning awards was the Kings Jesse Pyatt, who was tabbed Most Sportsmanlike Player.
The roster of that 1995-96 club then mined silver in B.C. were:
PLAYERS: Kris Bragnalo; Jason Burke; Kevin Godfrey; Kyle Klages; Steven Harkof; Shawn Hebert; Jouni Kuokkanen; Corey Lafreniere; Jamie MacDonald; Cory McEachran (Goaltender); Chad McIver; Derrick McIver; Jean-Paul Nault; Jesse Pyatt; Joe Rogers; Chris Sharp; Kyle Viens; John Zeni; Colin Zulianello (Goaltender).
STAFF: Cliff O’Brien (Manager); Rick Bragnalo (Head Coach); Dan Bissonnette (Assistant Coach); John Adams (Goaltender Coach); Richard Bosch (Trainer).
NOTE: David Bragnalo and Kelly Sundell, who guided Thunder Bay to a silver in 1992 and Air Canada Cup gold in 1995, began that season as Kings coaches, but left midway through the season to take over behind the bench of the Thunder Bay Flyers Jr. A program. With that, Rick Bragnalo moved in as the Kings bench boss and was assisted by Bissonnette and Adams.
The ’96 Kings will be among seven Thunder Bay sides that will be honoured during the course of the 2019 TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Hockey Championship, April 22-28, at the Fort William Gardens.
The Kings, in conjunction, with Hockey Canada, Hockey Northwestern Ontario and the Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association, will host the seven-day championship that will feature the respective regional midget title holders from across the country taking part in the Tisdale Trojans (West); Calgary Buffaloes (Pacific); Toronto Young Nationals (Central); Magog Cantonniers (Quebec) and Halifax McDonald’s (Atlantic).
TELUS CUP TICKET OPTIONS EXPANDED
With over 1,000 week-long passes already sold to date, the organizers of the 2019 TELUS Cup have announced additional opportunities for the public to attend the event, which is being held in Thunder Bay for the first time since 1988.
TELUS Cup tickets are now directly available at the Fort William Garden’s Box office.
Meanwhile, single game tickets are also now on sale, along with packages for the Medal Round on Sunday, April 28 along with a special host team package for admission to all five round robin games featuring the Thunder Bay Kings.
Hockey Canada has announced their single-game prices at $14 for round robin games; $17.50 for each of semifinal contests on Saturday, April 27 and $20 each for the two medal games on Sunday, April 28.
The most cost-effective ticket to purchase is the week-long pass at a modest $89.00 for adults, taxes and fees included.
All tickets remain available at hockeycanada.ca/tickets.
The Fort William Gardens Box office is open this week from Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and again on Saturday, April 20 at 6:30 pm prior to the Thunder Bay North Stars Jr. A contest vs. the Red Lake Miners, which will be Game 5 of the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Bill Salonen Cup final
TELUS Cup Canadian National Midget Hockey Championship
April 22-28
Thunder Bay, Ont.
All games at the Fort William Gardens
Competing teams
Thunder Bay Kings (Host)
Halifax McDonald’s (Atlantic)
Magog Cantonniers (Quebec)
Toronto Young Nationals (Central)
Tisdale Trojans (West)
Calgary Buffaloes (Pacific)
Monday, April 22
Toronto Young Nationals vs. Halifax McDonald’s 12 p.m.
Magog Cantonniers vs. Tisdale Trojans 4 p.m.
Thunder Bay Kings vs. Calgary Buffaloes 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 23
Magog Cantonniers vs. Halifax McDonald’s 12 p.m.
Toronto Young Nationals vs. Calgary Buffaloes 4 p.m.
Tisdale Trojans vs. Thunder Bay Kings 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 24
Calgary Buffaloes vs. Magog Cantonniers 12 p.m.
Halifax McDonald’s vs. Tisdale Trojans 4 p.m.
Thunder Bay Kings vs. Toronto Young Nationals 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 25
Tisdale Trojans vs. Calgary Buffaloes 12 p.m.
Toronto Young Nationals vs. Magog Cantonniers 4 p.m.
Halifax McDonald’s vs. Thunder Bay Kings 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 26
Toronto Young Nationals vs. Tisdale Trojans 11 a.m.
Halifax McDonald’s vs. Calgary Buffaloes 3 p.m.
Thunder Bay Kings vs. Magog Cantonniers 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 27
Semifinal No. 1: 2 p.m.
Semifinal No. 2: 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 28
Bronze medal game: 1 p.m.
Gold/Silver medal game: 6:30 p.m.
