St. Albert Saints

Hockey team
team = St. Albert Saints

city = St. Albert, Alberta
league = Alberta Junior Hockey League
operated = 1977-2004
arena = Akinsdale Arena
colours = Red, white, and gold
name1 = Edmonton Movers
dates1 = 1963-1972
name2 = Edmonton Mets
dates2 = 1972-1974
name3 = Spruce Grove Mets | dates3 = 1974-1977
name4 = St. Albert Saints
dates4 = 1977-2004
name5 = Spruce Grove Saints
dates5 = 2004-Present
altname1 = Edmonton Maple Leafs
altdates1 = 1963-1972
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The St. Albert Saints were a junior ice hockey franchise based in St. Albert, Alberta for twenty-seven seasons from 1977 to 2004. Before 1977, the team played in nearby Spruce Grove as the Spruce Grove Mets, and in 2004 the team again moved to Spruce Grove where they now play as the Spruce Grove Saints. In all its incarnations, the team has been a part of the junior 'A' Alberta Junior Hockey League.

History

The Saints began life as the aptly-named Edmonton Movers, as one of the original franchises of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 1963. Nine years later, the Movers merged with their cross-town rivals the Edmonton Maple Leafs (named after the more famous Toronto NHL club) and moved to the suburban city of Spruce Grove to become the Mets. However, the team's stay in Spruce Grove was short-lived, and by 1977 the team moved to another Edmonton suburb, St. Albert, where they became the St. Albert Saints.

In Edmonton, the team had already built up its share of history, winning two Carling Cups as the Movers in 1967 and 1968 and adding another two consecutive as the Mets in 1975 and 1976, with the 1975 incarnation also taking the national Manitoba Centennial Trophy. But in St. Albert, the team built up most of its most famous alumni and took its share of major championships, although it would never repeat the glory of the 1975 Mets on the national stage.

have gone on to great success in other professional leagues.

Despite these successful players, the Saints were also involved in one of the most tragic incidents in junior hockey history, when a clean hit by a Saints player on Sherwood Park Crusaders forward and captain Trevor Elton resulted in the death of Elton. They were also involved in one of the most violent, a famous bench-clearing brawl on November 21, 1979 between the Saints and the Red Deer Rustlers. This brawl resulted in the suspension of several players, as well as Saints head coach Doug Messier and Rustlers' trainer Terry Sexsmith for getting a little too involved in the battle. Sexsmith was later banned from the AJHL for life.

Departure

As the 21st century rolled around, complaints increasingly began to grow that the Saints' arena, Akinsdale Arena, was of a calibre too low to occupy a junior 'A' franchise. Various newer arenas seating over a thousand, such as the Sherwood Park Crusaders' Sherwood Park Arena, the 2,000-seat Jubilee Recreation Centre, home of the Fort Saskatchewan Traders, and the vacant 1,200-seat Grant Fuhr Arena in Spruce Grove - which was expected to receive a significant upgrade - are all within a short drive of St. Albert. Akinsdale Arena, by comparison, was relatively old and very small, seating only 611 with room for 200 standing, the smallest capacity in the league. The arena also suffered in terms of parking, amenities, and quality of view.

By the 2002-03 season, it was becoming clear that the Saints would be moved, with Barrhead or the oil town of Leduc frequently cited as potential locations. The team was even forced to play out its last games in Edmonton's Bill Hunter Arena, where it never drew crowds of less than double Akinsdale's maximum capacity [ [http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2004/0417/top1.htm Saints give up on St. Albert] , St. Albert Gazette, April 17, 2004] .

Despite rumours that the St. Albert city council under mayor Richard Plain was to approve the construction of a new multi-use facility including a 1,700-seat arena (one that would eventually be approved for over $40 million in 2004), the Saints moved to Spruce Grove to start the 2004-05 AJHL campaign.

eason-by-season Record

"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T/OTL = Ties and overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against"

Maple Leafs Record

ee also

*List of ice hockey teams in Alberta

References

* [http://www.ajhl.ca/history/history_1970s.php AJHL History]
*AJHL Annual Guide and Record Book 2006-07

Notes