The Mount Pearl Junior Blades have a history that goes back to the beginning of the St. John’s Junior Hockey League, which began in 1980. The Blades, coached by Terry Ryan Sr., finished in first place in 1985-86. The Blades iced a strong team that year as Keith Hoyles was the league scoring champ. Also on the team were 86-87 league MVP Pat O’Keefe, 3-time defenseman of the year Darren Taylor and 86-87 defenseman of the year Kevin Hodge. The team went on to win the league championship in 1985-86.
While the Blades had many strong teams throughout the rest of the 80’s and 90’s, teams that included the likes of Eddie Russell and Dennis Strong, they failed to win another championship.
In 1996 the Blades left the St. John’s Junior Hockey League after a dispute with league officials. But in 1998, Kevin Dicks brought junior hockey back to Mount Pearl. While the first few years were rough, the building blocks were being put in place. In 1999 Mark’s Work Wearhouse came on board as the teams Major Sponosor. The Blades started to be mentioned among the leagues elite teams around 2001. Anchoring these teams were 3-time league scoring Champion, Brad Sturge. Sturge won the league scoring in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He finished his junior career as the St. John’s Junior Hockey League’s all-time leading scorer, with 314 points, a record still standing today. In 2002-03 with Dicks taking on the role as Team President and General Manager, coach Pat Carroll led the Blades to a first place finish in the league, and their 2nd league Championship. The Blades also hosted the Don Johnson Cup, the Atlantic Junior B Championship, that same year, and finished in 2nd place.
The Blades went on to finish first place in regular season 4 times in the next 6 years. Dicks retired from the junior game in 2006, but left a successful platform for his successors. Bill Norris was named president of the team in 2006, and remained in that role for 2 years until 2008, in which Gerard Rose was named team president, a title he still holdes today. The team continued it’s success on the ice winning 2 more League Championships in 2006-07 and 2008-09. The Blades lost in game 7 of the league finals in 2007-08. These strong teams relied on strong play in net, led by Devon O’Brien(2007-08 top goaltender) and Mark Whalen (2006-07 top goaltender and rookie of the year), and also timely scoring from players such as Cory Blackmore (league MVP 2008-09).
Along with a strong team on the ice, the Mount Pearl Junior Blades are also very strong in the community. The Junior Blades hold a charity gold tournament yearly where over $15,000 has been raised for the Janeway Foundation and for the Candlelighters.
