The Innisfil Spartans are a Junior ice hockey team based in Innisfil, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
| Innisfil Spartans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Innisfil, Ontario, Canada |
| League | Provincial Junior Hockey League |
| Division | Carruthers |
| Home arena | Innisfil Regional Complex |
| Colours | Red, Black, and Gold |
| General manager | Greg Buchanan |
| Head coach | Greg Buchanan (2024) |
| Franchise history | |
| 2007-2010 | Innisfil Lakers (GMHL) |
| 2022–present | Innisfil Spartans |
History
editThe Lakers are one of six expansion teams for the 2007-08 GMHL season.
On September 6, 2007, the Innisfil Lakers played their first ever game in franchise history against the Douro Dukes in Ennismore, Ontario. The game resulted in a 2-0 loss for the Lakers. The next night, the Lakers played the South Muskoka Shield in Gravenhurst, Ontario and picked up their first win 6-4.
On November 30, 2007, the Lakers played their long-awaited first home game. The sixteenth game of the season, the delay was over the late finish of construction on Innisfil's new arena which is the Home of the Lakers. Their opponent was the Richmond Hill Rams, which the Lakers defeated by a score of 4-2.
On December 29, 2007, the Lakers hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 7-3. This was the first game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMJHL clubs.
Despite getting a first round bye, the Lakers found themselves in a battle in the 2008 playoffs. In the first round, they met the 2007 semi-finalist Richmond Hill Rams. The series went the distance with the Lakers taking game seven to win the series. In the league semi-final, the Lakers met the 2nd seed Temiscaming Royals. In a tough fought series, the Lakers came out winning 4-games-to-2. In the final, the Lakers found themselves pitted against the defending 2007 Russell Cup champion Bradford Rattlers. The Lakers challenged the Rattlers in each game, but Bradford was not to be denied. The Rattlers won with a four-game-sweep.
On January 4, 2009, the Lakers played Kazakhstan's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 team. Innisfil, the third team in the GMHL to play Torpedo, defeated them 5-3.
On Friday Feb. 20 The Lakers defeated Bradford to clinch the franchise's 1st regular season division title and the top seed in the South division. In the South Division quarter-final, the Lakers would knock off the Ontario Lightning Rams 3-games-to-1. They elected to take a bye through to the division final. The Lakers met the Deseronto Storm in South final, only to lose 4-games-to-2.
Innisfil took a leave of absence for the 2010-11 season to restructure the organization, but ceased operations permanently during that season.
** SPARTANS **
In August 2021 the Innisfil Sports Group announced the return of junior hockey in the form of the Innisfil Spartans. The Spartans will play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League, affiliated with the Ontario Hockey Association. The team will compete in the Carruthers Division of the North Conference. Their first season was a solid 4th place finish out of the 9 division teams.
Season-by-Season Standings
edit| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | P | Results | ||
| 2008-09 | 43 | 36 | 6 | - | 1 | 286 | 130 | 73 | 2nd GMJHL | ||
| 2009-10 | 42 | 26 | 14 | - | 2 | 213 | 191 | 54 | 5th GMJHL | ||
| 3 Seasons | 127 | 91 | 30 | - | 6 | 727 | 450 | -- | 0.740 | ||
| Innisfil Spartans | |||||||||||
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | P | Results | Playoffs | |
| 2022-23 | 40 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 151 | 161 | 43 | 4th of 9-PJHL Carruthers Div |
Lost Div Quarter, 1-4 (Terriers) | |
| 2023-24 | 40 | 7 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 97 | 195 | 18 | 8th of 9-PJHL Carruthers Div |
Lost Div Quarter, 0-4 (Hornets) | |
Playoffs
edit- 2008 Lost final
- Innisfil Lakers defeated Richmond Hill Rams 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final
- Innisfil Lakers defeated Temiscaming Royals 4-games-to-2 in semi-final
- Bradford Rattlers defeated Innisfil Lakers 4-games-to-none in final
- 2009 Lost division final
- Innisfil Lakers defeated Ontario Lightning Rams 3-games-to-1 in division quarter-final
- Received bye through division semi-final.
- Deseronto Storm defeated Innisfil Lakers 4-games-to-2 in division final
- 2010 Lost quarter-final
- Deseronto Storm defeated Innisfil Lakers 3-games-to-none in quarter-final