Expectations are building around the Orillia Terriers this year as the team has advanced to the second round of the Provincial Junior Hockey League Carruthers Division playoffs and, perhaps surprisingly, are up 2-1 against perennial powerhouse Stayner.
That success has some long-time fans reflecting on the last time a junior hockey team from Orillia went the distance.
It was May 11, 1985 when the Orillia Travelways defeated the Penticton Knights by a score of 4-2. Captain Jamie Clarke lifted Orillia’s first and only Centennial Cup above his head in front of a jam-packed barn at the Orillia Community Centre. It was the pinnacle of junior hockey for Orillia.
Two years prior to making Orillia hockey history, Clarke was studying aircraft mechanics at Centennial College and was ready to move on from hockey.
“I thought my hockey career was coming to an end, but I still had the passion to play,” Clarke recalls of that crossroads.
Clarke suited up for the Centennial College team and caught the eye of Travelways general manager Greg Simmerson, who offered Clarke a spot on the Orillia team.
“I didn’t even know where Orillia was at the time,” Clarke chuckled. “They told me they were building to win a Canadian championship and gave me an opportunity to play.”
The Garson, Ontario native had no idea that his life would never be the same after his decision to leave college and move to Orillia.
“I fell in love with the team, the city and the people who were running the team,” Clarke said.
Clarke spent two seasons playing for the Travelways and grew a special bond with his teammates and the city that he has called home now for 36 years. The now 56-year-old Clarke and his Centennial Cup winning teammates get together often to reminisce about their historic season.
Clarke has been involved with the game of hockey in Orillia since he first moved here. He has coached multiple teams including the 2006 Novice Silver Stick championship squad, which was a special moment for Clarke and his son, Will, who played on the team.
Clarke shared the same special moment with his father who coached his peewee team from Garson to a Silver Stick championship in 1977; a few months later, Clarke’s father passed away.
Clarke is thankful for all the opportunities the city has given him. He became a tool and die maker and eventually started his own company here; Huronia Machine has been thriving for 31 years.
“I had $20 in my pocket when I came here and was living game-to-game where I was paid $15 a game. But I met some really good people and just fell in love with the city," said Clarke.
He said he feels like he owes the city of Orillia for the opportunity to build his life here and is especially thankful for the Orillia Hockey community. That’s why when the Junior A Couchiching Terriers folded in 2010, he stepped up to help bring junior hockey back to Orillia in the form of a Junior C team.
“Eight years ago, I was one of the initial investors on this team who put in $5,000,” Clarke explained.
“I literally thought we would all just put in the money, open the doors and there would be a thousand people there every night,. We were going to win and it would all be gravy, but it didn’t work that way.”
The Orillia Terriers had some major growing pains to endure. They couldn’t pull their record above .500 until this past season, and Orillia hockey fans did not flock to the rink.
“When I played on the Travelways it was like playing in the OHL: big crowds, booster clubs where you could go in and socialize with everybody, we were somewhat of celebrities,” Clarke recalls.
“I kind of thought that’s what it would be like when we brought the Junior C team back.”
After little success a few years into the operation, co-owner Mike Duprey showed up on Clarke’s front porch.
“He said ‘I’m out, we’re done, it’s yours. Take it,’” Clarke remembers.
Clarke and then-assistant coach and now general manager Andrew McDonald rallied to keep the team alive.
“Andrew wanted to keep doing it, so I said I’ll make some calls,” Clarke said.
“I got Roy Micks involved as assistant general manager, Bill Smith invested (money), I matched it. They stayed involved, so I stayed involved and I’ve probably put $75,000 over the past two-and-a-half years to keep it going.”
Clarke’s motivation to keep the Terriers alive comes from the opportunity he was given to start his life here 35 years ago.
“Hockey in Orillia has been really good to me. I have more now than I've ever had and this is where I got my start,” Clarke explained.
“If I don’t do it then this team might not be here. I don’t think a lot of people know that, and know what it takes to run a team.”
The growing pains continued - on and off the ice - for Clarke and the Terriers once he took over as the owner of the team. A few years ago, the club won just three games. Fans have been fickle.
“it’s a battle to get the city on our side, getting the fans back and even getting commitment from the kids on the team,” Clarke said.
“It can be frustrating for someone putting so much time and effort in when you’re not getting the same commitment back.”
However, since Clarke helped reboot junior hockey in Orillia eight years ago, the team has made considerable progress. This was the first year the Terriers have been a winning team, sporting a record of 25-14-0-3.
“I think we are on the cusp of something great. If we can win this series against Stayner it will really help put us back on the map,” Clarke said.
“I think eventually, the momentum will get going and more business people will want to get involved with this team. Right now there are still people that don’t even know we have a team," lamented Clarke.
The team's current playoff run - they rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to beat Schomberg and now have a 2-1 series lead over Stayner - could fast-track the momentum.
“That would be pretty awesome; it would be cool for some of the kids who were a part of the teams that won three games and lost 40,” Clarke said.
"It would be cool to have those kids realize that we weren’t lying when we said 'Stick with it and we are going to make this team a winner.' It would be cool for Andrew McDonald and (coach) Dallyn Telford who have put so much time into this."
Clarke and his staff have believe they have put the Terriers in position to rekindle the magic of the 1985 Travelways, something that loyal Orillia hockey fans have waited a long time to experience again.
The Terriers host Stayner tonight at 8 p.m. at Rotary Place. A win would put them in the driver's seat and give them a 3-1 lead in the semi-final series.
