Owen Sound Greys

J.D. McArthur Arena Owen Sound

The Greys have gone through numerous incarnations and leagues in the nearly 100 years since they were founded, although their initial history was cut short due to World War I.

Modern Franchise
The Salvagemen had been formed in 1973 as a Junior C team. Initially they were members of the Northern Junior D Hockey League but were separated from that group come playoff time. Owen Sound endured a five-week layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of what were called the "Super C" playoffs. The "Super C" Champion would be awarded the George S. Dudley Trophy. The Salvagemen finally met the Woodstock Navy-Vets but were swept 4-0.

The next season saw the Salvagemen in a true Junior C group, the Central Junior C Hockey League. They finished sixth and last in the regular season, then began the Super C playoffs, which appear to have been established for teams with larger population bases. Owen Sound was in an eight-game round-robin with London and the Brantford Gunners; the Salvagemen and the Gunners advanced. Owen Sound met Woodstock in the final once again but fared no better, falling in four straight.

The Owen Sound Kings changed names again in 1980, becoming the Owen Sound Rutherford Mercurys, known simply as the Mercurys. This lasted until 1983.

The Greys Return (1983-1987)

The Mercurys organization merged with that of the Greys in 1983, leaving one top-level hockey team in Owen Sound for the first time in 15 years (see the Owen Sound Crescents). The new entity retained the name "Greys" and played two more seasons in the Midwestern league.

The Greys made another move out of Junior B, stepping up to the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1985. They affiliated with the Guelph Platers of the Ontario Hockey League and performed very well in their new surroundings, finishing in third place in their first season and topping the standings in their second. They also won the Frank L. Buckland Trophy as playoff champions in 1986-87, their first title since 1974-75, and advanced to the all-Ontario championship against the Nickel Centre Power Trains of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

The OHA and NOJHL had been meeting annually since 1978-79 to determine the winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup and the provincial representative for the Centennial Cup national Tier II Junior A championship. Every year previously, the OHA champion had prevailed. But Nickel Centre ended the streak, upsetting the Greys 4-2 in a best-of-seven series.

The OJHL folded after the season; for the second time in a decade, Owen Sound was left hanging by the collapse of its Tier II Junior A league. This time, though, the Greys were able to return to the Junior B level.

Back in "B" (1987-Present)
The team has remained in the Midwestern league ever since, by far its longest continuous stretch in any one circuit, but have only had middling success. One of the most disappointing seasons was 1992-93 when the Greys put together a powerful lineup that finished second in the standings, the first time they had ever placed so high in the Midwest. They were led by league scoring champion Bob McAskill, who had 36 goals, 69 assists and 105 points, but failed to advance beyond the semifinal playoff round.

It wasn't until 1995-96 that the Greys finally advanced to a final series. They finished a lowly sixth but eliminated the Kitchener Dutchmen in overtime of the seventh and deciding game of their semifinal series. They met the powerful Stratford Cullitons in the final and lost 4-1.

Owen Sound could not build on that success and it wasn't until 1999-2000 that the Greys returned to the playoff final. Coincidentally, it also marked the return of an Owen Sound player to the top of the league scoring parade, as Ryan Dudgeon put up 59 goals and 104 points to tie Mike Carter of the Cambridge Winterhawks. The Greys reeled off series wins over Kitchener and Stratford-marking the first time the Cullitons had been swept from the playoffs since 1983-but fell short against Cambridge, losing 4-2. The Winterhawks did not lose again that year, rolling to their first Sutherland Cup championship.

This time the Greys were able to use a final appearance as a bit of a stepping stone. In 2000-01 they earned a first-place finish for the first time since 1987 and blew past the Guelph Dominators in the quarter-finals, earning a rematch with Cambridge. The Winterhawks had finished four places and 17 points behind the Greys. That didn't stop them from dumping Owen Sound 4-2, a bitter disappointment for the favoured Greys.

They had to wait five years for their next final appearance, which they earned in 2004-05 despite finishing fifth in the 10-team league. Surprisingly, they were considered the favourite in the final as their opponents, the Listowel Cyclones, had only finished seventh, 12 points behind Owen Sound. Again, that didn't matter as Listowel rolled to a 4-2 series win and a berth in the Sutherland Cup final. In a sad coincidence, the sixth and final game had been played on March 28, 2005-the anniversary of the Greys' two Memorial Cup wins.

Since then, there's been little for Greys fans to cheer about. The team finished ninth out of 10 teams in 2005-06 and missed the Junior B playoffs for the first time since 1978-79. It appears Owen Sound will be on the sidelines again this spring as the club is headed for a finish of ninth and last. Its record as of January 11, 2007 was 3-27-2-1.

Part-time in Port Elgin (2000-2006)

Sporting a good contingent of players from the Port Elgin area, the Greys decided to stage a handful of home games at the new Saugeen Shores Community Complex in that town during the 1999-2000 season. The games were very well attended, with average crowds of about 800 people, far more than were coming to games at the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound.

Starting with the 2000-01 season, the Greys played half of their home games at "The Plex," as the building is known. The team's name was also changed, first to the Owen Sound-Saugeen Greys in 2000 and then to the Owen Sound-Saugeen Shores Greys in 2001.

As the number of Port Elgin-based players dwindled, however, so did attendance. The Greys decided in 2006 to abandon Port Elgin and return to Owen Sound on a full-time basis. The name was also changed back to the traditional Owen Sound Greys. Since the Greys had such a rough time in the past seasons they decided to take a year off for the 2009-2010 season, coming back in 2010 in GOJHL

• from 1973 to 1976: Owen Sound Salvagemen
• from 1976 to 1977: Owen Sound Steelers
• from 1977 to 1980: Owen Sound Kings
• from 1980 to 1983: Owen Sound Mercurys
• from 1983 to 2000: Owen Sound Greys
• from 2000 to 2006: Owen Sound-Saugeen Shores Greys
• from 2006 to 2012: Owen Sound Greys
• from 2012 to 2021: Brampton Bombers
• from 2021 to present: Caledon Bombers

• 1926-1927: Memorial Cup
• 1923-1924: Memorial Cup

• Owen Sound Greys (official)