The Thunder Bay Twins were an Amateur Senior and Professional ice hockey team from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Twins won five Allan Cups as National Senior Champions from 1970 until 1991.
Origin
On 1 January 1970, the City of Thunder Bay was formed through the merger of the neighbouring cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, along with portions of smaller townships.
Fort William and Port Arthur had a long history of teams competing in Senior "A" hockey, dating back to at least the Port Arthur Bearcats's loss in a 1911 challenge for the Stanley Cup. In 1916 a team from Fort William was the first area team to challenge for the Allan Cup, emblematic of the amateur senior hockey championship. Teams from the two cities played for the Allan Cup 13 times from 1916 through 1955, winning 4 Allan Cup championships – all by the Bearcats – in 1925, 1926, 1929 and 1939. The Fort William Beavers would be the last area team, pre-merger, to be a finalist for the Allan Cup when they were the runnerup in 1955.
When the city of Thunder Bay was formed, the Port Arthur Bearcats and the Fort William Beavers, longtime teams playing in the Thunder Bay Senior A Hockey League (TBSHL), merged to form the Thunder Bay Twins for the 1970–71 season.
USHL and the OHA
The newly created Thunder Bay Twins started in the American United States Hockey League (USHL) in 1970, when the USHL was operating as a semi-professional senior ice hockey league.
In the 1974–75 season, Dave Siciliano served as a player-coach for the Twins. He led the team to 36 wins in 48 games, and a second-place finish in the Northern Division. The Twins defeated the first-place Green Bay Bobcats two games to none in a best-of-three series in the first round of the playoffs. The Twins won the final round of the playoffs with three consecutive wins versus Waterloo Black Hawks in a best-of-five series for the USHL championship.
The Twins had chosen not to participate in the 1975 Allan Cup playoffs for the Canadian senior hockey championship due to scheduling conflicts with the USHL playoffs. After the St. Boniface Mohawks appealed for reconsideration, the Twins entered the Allan Cup playoffs upon the conclusion of the USHL playoffs, then won the series versus the Mohawks. In the Western Canada finals, the Twins won the best-of-five series with three consecutive victories versus the Spokane Flyers. The Twins scored five goals in the last 25 minutes of the decisive third game, including the winning goal scored with six seconds remaining. In a best-of-seven series for the national championship, Siciliano and the Twins won the Allan Cup by defeating the defending champion Barrie Flyers four games to two. The Twins then withdrew from the USHL due to travel costs and schedule commitments to represent Canada on a European tour in the 1975–76 season.
The Thunder Bay Twins moved to the OHASr for the 1975–76 season, bringing the Allan Cup to the league it had just defeated to win the cup. The Twins played in the OHASr through the 1978–79 season. In those four seasons, the Twins won two regular season championships and one league playoff title.
Thunder Bay Hockey League
From at least 1980 until 1982, the Twins competed in the Thunder Bay Hockey League. This all-city super-league consisted of four teams. With the Twins were the Tier II Junior "A" Thunder Bay Kings, the Intermediate A Thunder Bay Blazers and the CIAU Lakehead Nor'Westers. The Twins were easily the top team in the 1980–81 season and swept the playoffs. The 1981–82 season had the other three teams give the Twins more trouble. The Twins were upset by the Nor'Westers in the semi-final, and the league was won by the Jr. A Kings.
Central Sr. A
From 1982 until 1986, the Twins played in the Manitoba's Central Senior A Hockey League. In 1981, the Twins hosted a round robin tournament to determine an Allan Cup champion. The Twins started off the tournament against the Petrolia Squires, defeating them 8–3. In game two, they faced the Grand Falls Cataracts and defeated them 9–4. In the third and final game of the round robin, the Twins met the St. Boniface Mohawks and beat them 5–4 in overtime to clinch first place in the round robin. In the tournament semi-final, something went wrong for the twins. In their second straight game against the Mohawks, the Twins were shocked 4-3 and eliminated from the tournament despite a 3–1 record. The Petrolia Squires won the 1981 Allan Cup.