The Durham Thundercats, originally the Durham 72's, are a senior hockey team based out of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The Thundercats date back to the town's Centennial, 1972, and have been an extremely successful team in all loops of the Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior "AA" Hockey League.
The 72's
During the 1972 Centennial celebration in Durham, locals decided a second Men's hockey club could succeed and thus put into place the formation of the current Durham Thundercats. Working alongside but playing out of different leagues as the towns established team, the Huskies, the town applied to and was accepted to enter the Western Ontario Athletic Association's Northern league. The organization of this second team allowed many talented local players a place to play competitive Senior Hockey, and would lay the foundation for 40 years of Championship calibre teams.
The Durham 72's, as they were named, were founded as members of the Intermediate "C" loop of the WOAA. Their competition would be found in other local teams like Arthur, Woodford, Thornbury, Elora, and Chatsworth. The 72's finished their first season winning their loop but then lost the Major Intermediate "C" Championship to the Milverton Four Wheel Drives. The next season saw them finish first overall again with 14 wins 4 losses and 2 ties, but fall to Arthur in the loop final.
A third attempt at securing a championship finally paid off as the 72's won the 1975 WOAA Intermediate C championship. Unfortunately, the team would be required to take a two-year hiatus until a new arena was planned & developed. Returning to the ice in 1977/78, the 72's were playing at the Intermediate "B" level and were led by current coach Bruce Marshall. 'Beagle' as he is fondly known, led the league in scoring, (a feat he would repeat in the 1985/86 season) and the 72's defeated Palmerston (later known as the Palmerston 81's) to win the "B" Championship. The 72's were challenged by the Intermediate "C" Champion Lion's Head Northstars for the WOAA Grand Championship and lost a hard-fought battle that would lay the ground work for a tumultuous rivalry that would last for years to come.
Over the course of the next three seasons, Durham would endure successes but fall short of the ultimate goal, including the 1981 defeat at the hands of the Mitchell Red Devils, in the Intermediate "B" final. During the summer of 1981, the league underwent a major restructuring. The disbandment of two other local leagues (Central Grey-Bruce League, CGBHL and the Central Ontario Hockey League, COHL) increased the team numbers in The WOAA and required the creation of the Upper Tier Intermediate A Division and the Lower Tier Intermediate D Division.
Changes in the league format proved to be a good thing for Durham as in 1982, the 72's won their first ever Intermediate "A" Championship, beating Lions Head in seven games. Led by the League's leading scorer in Randy '12' Reay, the 7th and final game was played in Markdale, in front of a sold out crowd. The next season saw the 72's lose the Intermediate "A" Championship to the Woodford Royals, who in turn lost the Grand Championship to Lion's Head. In 1986, with coach Bev Nixon behind the bench, the 72's were led again by two-time league scoring champ Bruce 'Beagle' Marshall. Ultimately losing to Woodford in the play-offs, changes were again, on the horizon. With new coach Dennis 'Guido' Graham now calling the shots, the 72's moved to the newly formed Northern division with Lucknow, Ripley, Kincardine, Teeswater, and Lion's Head. After finishing first with 16 wins, 4 losses, and 2 ties, they won the Intermediate "A" Championship but lost the Grand Championship in 6 games.
The 1987-88 season would see the end of an era in regards to the Durham 72's. The lackluster season ended early with a record of 6 wins, 6 losses, and 4 ties and the winds of change soon came knocking. This marked the last season the team would be known as the Durham 72's.
The Thundercats
The summer of 1988 would prove to be a major change for the team known only as the 72's, for the last 16yrs. Given a face lift, they traded in the "72's" for the "Thundercats" and switched the Green and Yellow for the Black and Silver. The effect was instantaneous as the Thundercats would terrorize the league for the next dozen years. Once again a change proved fruitful and the 1988-89 season had the T-Cats finish first in the league with 19 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties. Solid goaltending from Scott MacMillan, Mark Taylor & Gord McGinnis, along with the 90pt seasons from Steve Reay and Todd Stoddart, they would defeat the Lucknow Lancers to win the Intermediate Grand Championship in their first year.