The Niagara RiverHawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League .
History
In 1987, the Chippawa Merchants were granted an OHA Junior C franchise and were based in the Chippawa Willoughby Arena.
In 1999, the Chippawa Merchants changed their team name to the RiverHawks.
In 2001, the RiverHawks defeated the Belle River Canadiens of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League 4-games-to-1 to win the Clarence Schmalz Cup as Ontario Hockey Association provincial Junior C champions.
In 2010, the RiverHawks left the Chippawa Willoughby Arena for the brand new Gale Centre, located in Niagara Falls. As a part of the move the team changed colours from their original red, white and black scheme to teal, gray and white with orange trim.
In 2014, the RiverHawks were granted a name change to the Niagara RiverHawks to reflect their use of the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls as their home arena, and their at-large status by not being affiliated with a specific Junior B hockey club.
For the 2016-17 season the Riverhawks became part of the Junior C hockey re-structure in Southern Ontario. All junior C leagues joined under one umbrella as the Provincial Junior Hockey League. The former Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League became the Bloomfield Division of the South Conference.
The playoffs for the 2019-20 season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the team not being able to play a single game.
In the 2023-2024 season, The Riverhawks were acquired by a new ownership team, Although still playing at the Gale Centre, this would see the team return to the original colour scheme, being Red, Black, White, Grey with a Silver Trim
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs1987-88 39 13 21 5 - 185 226 31 6th NJC-E 1988-89 40 23 14 3 - -- -- 49 1st NJC-E 1989-90 40 16 22 2 - -- -- 34 5th NJC-E 1990-91 36 11 19 6 - 174 211 28 4th NJC-E 1991-92 36 19 15 2 - 189 152 40 3rd NJC-E Lost final1992-93 42 27 9 6 - 265 140 60 2nd NJC-E 1993-94 41 26 11 4 - 240 158 56 3rd NJC-E 1994-95 35 31 2 2 - 223 87 64 1st NJC-E 1995-96 36 17 10 9 - 148 136 43 3rd NJC-E 1996-97 36 25 10 1 0 191 133 51 3rd NJC-E 1997-98 42 25 14 2 1 214 145 53 3rd NJC-E 1998-99 36 22 12 2 0 153 107 46 3rd NJC-E 1999-00 36 32 4 - 0 220 98 64 1st NJC-E Won Div. semi-final 4-0 (Terriers)Won Div. final 4-0 (Corvairs)Won League 4-3 (Merchants)Lost CSC semi-final 2-4 (Chiefs)2000-01 36 31 0 4 1 202 79 67 1st NJC-E Won Div. semi-final 4-0 (Terriers)Won Div final 4-3 (Peach Kings)Won League 4-0 (Merchants)Won CSC semi-final 4-0 (Bruins)Won CSC final 4-1 (Canadiens)2001-02 36 25 9 1 1 173 110 52 1st NJC-E Won Div. semi-final 4-0 (Terriers)Won Div final 4-2 (Peach Kings)Lost final 2-4 (Navy Vets)2002-03 36 15 12 6 1 109 93 37 5th NJCHL Won Div. quarter-final 4-2 (Corvairs)Lost Div. semi-final 1-4 (Jr. Blues)2003-04 36 18 16 2 0 140 159 38 6th NJCHL Won Div. quarter-final 4-2 (Terriers)Lost Div. semi-final 0-4 (Jr. Blues)2004-05 36 18 15 2 1 136 127 39 6th NJCHL Won Div. quarter-final 4-1 (Corvairs)Lost Div. semi-final 0-4 (Jr. Blues)2005-06 36 11 19 3 3 135 177 28 8th NJCHL Lost quarter-final 0-4 (Peach Kings)2006-07 36 13 21 1 1 147 190 28 9th NJCHL Lost quarter-final 0-4 (Peach Kings)2007-08 36 14 18 2 2 161 166 32 10th NJCHL Lost Preliminary Round 0-4 (Corvairs)2008-09 36 19 14 - 3 171 150 41 8th NJCHLWon Preliminary Round 4-0 (Corvairs)Lost quarter-final 0-4 (Peach Kings)2009-10 36 20 13 - 3 155 151 43 4th NJCHLLost Div. semi-final 1-4 (Jr. Blues)2010-11 36 9 26 - 1 110 196 19 11th NJCHL Lost Div. quarter-final 0-4 (Jr. Blues)2011-12 36 15 18 - 3 119 129 33 9th NJCHL Won Div. quarter-final 4-3 (Jr. Blues)Lost Div. semi-final 0-4 (Peach Kings)2012-13 38 19 15 - 4 139 125 42 4th NJC-E Lost Div. quarter-final 2-4 (Jr. Blues)2013-14 35 17 10 - 8 124 115 42 4th NJCHL Lost quarter-final 2-4 (Jr. Blues)2014-15 42 21 20 - 1 146 143 43 6th NJCHL Lost quarter-final 0-4 (Jr. Mudcats)2015-16 42 20 19 1 2 160 171 43 5th of 8 NJCHL Lost quarter-final 1-4 (Hawks)2016-17 42 13 28 1 - 140 188 27 7th of 8-PJHLBloomfield Div Lost Div quarter-final 1-4 (Rangers)2017-18 42 12 23 3 4 158 210 31 6th of 8-PJHLBloomfield Div Lost Div quarter-final 3-4 (Sailors)2018-19 42 20 17 0 5 143 181 45 5th of 8-PJHLBloomfield Div Lost Div quarter-final 2-4 (Jr. Blues)2019-20 43 15 24 0 3 134 167 33 6th of 8-PJHLBloomfield Div Lost Div quarter-final 1-4 (Rangers)2020-21 Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic2021-22 30 17 12 1 0 109 79 35 4th of 7-PJHLBloomfield Div Won Div quarter-final 4-1 (Sailors)Lost Div. semi-final 1-4 (Peach Kings)2022-23 42 21 16 5 0 161 167 47 4th of 7-PJHLBloomfield Div Won Div quarter-final 4-2 (Jr. Blues)Lost Div semi-final 1-4 (Rangers)2023-24 42 23 14 4 1 168 147 51 4th of 7-PJHLBloomfield Div Won Div quarter-final 4-2 (Hawks)Lost Div. semi-final, 0-4 (Peach Kings)2024-25 42 28 9 3 2 170 116 61 3rd of 8 Bloomfield Div 5th of 16 South Conference 15th of 63 - PJHLWon Div quarter-final 4-1 (Derbys)Lost Div semi-final 2-4 (Peach Kings)2025-26 42 27 14 0 1 191 151 55 3rd of 8 Bloomfield Div5th of 16 South Conference21st of 61 - PJHLWon Div Quarter-Final 4-0 (Jr. Mudcats)Won Div Semi-Final 4-1 (Peach Kings)Lost Div Finals 1-4 (Jr. Blues)
Clarence Schmalz Cup appearances 2001: Chippawa Riverhawks defeated Belle River Canadiens 4-games-to-1
References
External links Riverhawks Homepage Riverhawks News, Schedules and Scores