Richmond Hill Rams

Richmond Hill Rams
City	Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
League	Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League
Operated	2006-2009
Home arena
Colours	Black, Red, and White
General manager
Head coach
Franchise history
2006-2008	Richmond Hill Rams
2008-2009	Ontario Lightning Rams

The Richmond Hill Rams were a Junior ice hockey team based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League.

History[]

Richmond Hill Rams[]

The Rams were a resurrection of the Richmond Hill Rams of the old Metro Junior A Hockey League, which folded in 1995. The creation of the new team, although in a renegade league, was the first Junior team to be established in Richmond Hill in 12 seasons.

The Rams' first game was the first in the GMHL's history. The game was at the Ram's home arena and took place on September 8, 2006, against King Wild. The final result was a 6–0 victory for the Rams. The first goal in the team's history was scored by Darren Archebald, in the first period on the powerplay. Archebald's goal was also the first in the league's history as well. Daniel Jones had the honour of goaltending the team and league's first win and shutout. The Rams 100th goal was scored on November 3, 2006, against the Nipissing Alouettes, scored by Frank Spano with 9:19 remaining in the second period. English player Craig Peacock was also the first player in the league to score a Hat Trick, this was on the 2nd day of the season in a 5–1 win against Nipissing, he also went on to top the whole league in scoring with 39 games played 48 goals and 34 assists for a total of 82 points, 17 ahead of his nearest challenger.

On January 2, 2008, the Rams hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 7–4. This was the fourth game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMJHL clubs.

After finishing the 2007–08 season with exactly the same record as they did in the 2006–07 season, the Rams took a bye during the first round, then were challenged by the Innisfil Lakers in the quarter-final. The Lakers initially took a 3-games-to-none series lead, but the Rams battled back to force a winner-take-all Game 7. The Rams ran out of steam in Game 7 and were defeated 6-4 by the Lakers.

In March 2008, the Rams and King Wild engaged in a 4-game exhibition series against the Mexico national ice hockey team. The first of two games for the Rams was on the 20th, and finished with the Mexico national team winning 6–4. On the 24th, the Rams played them again and lost 5–2.

Ontario Lightning Rams[]

On January 8, 2008, the ownership of the Rams announced a new sponsorship that changed the team name to the "Ontario Lightning Rams" for 2008–09, but the deal and the name were dropped after one season. In the summer of 2009, the Rams took a leave of absence and never returned to action, along with sister-franchise Espanola Kings.

Rams player during warm-ups

Season-by-season standings[]

Playoffs[]

• 2007 Lost Semi-final

Richmond Hill Rams defeated Nipissing Alouettes 4-games-to-2 in quarter-final

King Wild defeated Richmond Hill Rams 4-games-to-2 in semi-final

• 2008 Lost Quarter-final

Innisfil Lakers defeated Richmond Hill Rams 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final

• 2009 Lost Division quarter-final

Innisfil Lakers defeated Ontario Lightning Rams 3-games-to-1 in division quarter-final

Notable alumni[]

• Darren Archibald (Vancouver Canucks prospect)
• Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants)
• Shaun Stackhouse (Amarillo Gorillas)

External links[]

• Richmond Hill Rams, copy archived May 17, 2008