Pembroke Lumber Kings


The Pembroke Lumber Kings are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Central Canada Hockey League and are the winningest team in CCHL history as well as 2011 Royal Bank Cup National Junior A Champions.

History

The Pembroke Lumber Kings are the oldest member of the CCHL beginning operations in 1961. However, in 1979-80 the Lumber Kings were suspended for one season and replaced with the Pembroke Royals. The Pembroke Lumber Kings were approved to rejoin the league for 1980-81.
The Pembroke Lumber Kings won a total of 14 Art Bogart Cup championships between 1973 and 2011. Six of those championships came in the 1980's when the Kings were coached by Jim Farelli. Farelli coached 420 games for the Kings, the most of any Lumber Kings coach in history. His teams advanced to the league championship series eight consecutive years, winning six titles.
The Kings won three championships in the 1970's. The 1972-73 team was coached by Mac MacLean and made it to the Centennial Cup Canadian Junior A Final, losing 4 games to 1 to the Portage la Prairie Terriers. Under coach Bryan Murray the Kings won back to back titles in 1977 and '78. The 1977 team also lost in the Centennial Cup Final to the Prince Albert Raiders. Murray was fired by the Lumber Kings after the 1978 season. Three years later he was starting a long NHL coaching/general manager career as coach of the Washington Capitals.
The Lumber Kings broke a league record winning five consecutive league championships from 2007 to 2011, appearing in five Fred Page Cup tournaments, winning in 2007 and 2011, and finishing as finalists in 2006, 2008, and 2010. In 2011, the Pembroke Lumber Kings became only the second CCHL team since the 1976 Rockland Nationals to win the national championship. The team was led by owner and coach Sheldon Keefe.
Keefe had become the team's coach in June 2006, Sheldon Keefe head coach and general manager.
Owner Sheldon Keefe announced on May 29, 2013 that he had sold the Pembroke Lumber Kings to former Calgary Flames player and Eganville native Dale McTavish. With Keefe no longer in charge of ownership, general management and coaching duties, the Pembroke Lumber Kings success began to fade away, despite making the league finals in 2015 - losing to Carleton Place and not qualifying for the 2017 playoffs - for the first time in 13 years.
The team was sold to Alex Armstrong in June of 2019.
Three books have been written about the history of the Pembroke Lumber Kings, two by author Harold Garton which primarily cover senior hockey in Pembroke until senior hockey ended in the early 1960's, and one by Jamie Bramburger which covers both junior and senior Lumber Kings hockey from 1905 to 2018. Garton's books are called Hockey Town Canada and Hockey Town Canada:The Golden Years and Bramburger's book is called Go Kings Go! A Century of Pembroke Lumber Kings Hockey. Sheldon Keefe wrote the afterword for Bramburger's book.

Notable alumni

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
denotes the removal of 9 points from Pembroke's totals by the CJHL for disciplinary reasons.
The Lumber Kings lost their franchise prior to the start of the 1979-80 season for failing to remain in good standing with the league.

Fred Page Cup

Eastern Canada Championships
MHL - QAAAJHL - CCHL - Host
Round robin play with 2nd vs 3rd in semi-final to advance against 1st in the finals.
YearRound RobinRecordStandingSemiFinalGold Medal Game
1999?, Restigouche River Rats ?-?
?, Coaticook Frontaliers ?-?
?, Kanata Valley Lasers ?-?		?-?-??? of 4n/aW, Restigouche River Rats 4-1
Fred Page Cup Champions
advance to Royal Bank Cup
2000 *W, Coaticook Frontaliers 6-1
L, Halifax Oland Exports 6-8
L, Cornwall Colts 2-5		1-2-03rd of 4L, Halifax Oland Exports 4-8n/a
2006 *W, Joliette Action 8-1
OTW, Woodstock Slammers 4-3
W, Hawkesbury Hawks 5-1		3-0-01st of 4n/aL, Joliette Action 2-4
2007OTW, St. Jerome Panthers 2-1
W, Joliette Action 4-1
L, Truro Bearcats 5-1		2-1-01st of 4n/aW, St. Jerome Panthers 5-2
Fred Page Cup Champions
advance to Royal Bank Cup
2008W, Weeks Crushers 2-1
OTW, Yarmouth Mariners 3-2
L, College Champain Cougars 1-2		2-1-01st of 4n/aL, Weeks Crushers 1-4
2009L, Summerside Western Capitals 3-4
L, Dieppe Commandos 1-3
W, Sherbrooke Cougars 5-2		1-2-03rd of 4L, Summerside Western Capitals 1-4n/a
2010OTW, Terrebonne Cobras 6-5
L, Brockville Braves 1-2
W, Woodstock Slammers 7-4		2-1-02nd of 4W, Terrebonne Cobras 6-4L, Brockville Braves 1-5
2011W, Longueuil Collège Français 11-3
W, Summerside Western Capitals 9-5
L, Terrebonne Cobras 5-6		2-1-01st of 4n/aW, Longueuil Collège Français 6-3
Fred Page Cup Champions
advance to Royal Bank Cup

* Tournament Host

Royal Bank Cup

CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dudley Hewitt Champions - Central, Fred Page Champions - Eastern, Western Canada Cup Champions - Western, Western Canada Cup - Runners Up and Host
Round robin play with top 4 in semi-final and winners to finals.
YearRound RobinRecordStandingSemifinalGold Medal Game
2000 *W, Coaticook Frontaliers 6-1
L, Halifax Oland Exports 6-8
L, Cornwall Colts 2-5
L, South Surrey Eagles 2-9		0-45th of 5n/ana
2007L, Prince George Spruce Kings 2-5
W, Aurora Tigers 5-3
L, Camrose Kodiaks 0-3
W, Selkirk Steelers 4-2		2-24th of 5OTL, Aurora Tigers 2-3na
2011L, Portage Terriers 2-5
W, Wellington Dukes 5-2
L, Camrose Kodiaks 1-2
L, Vernon Vipers 3-5		1-33rd of 5W, Camrose Kodiaks 4-2W, Vernon Vipers 2-0
Royal Bank Cup Champions

* Tournament Host

Championships