The original Grand Rapids Owls officially arrived in Grand
Rapids on December 17, 1977, relocating there from Dayton Ohio mid-season.
They played their home games at the Stadium Arena located
near Comstock Park, north of downtown Grand Rapids. The building, built just after the ending of WWII, was old and
dark and could be a very intimidating place for the opposition to play. In the 1978/79 season the Owls set a
International Hockey League (IHL) record that still stands to this day, as they
went 27 games without losing on home ice.
That 1978/79 season was also a magical one for the original
Owls. They played before standing room
only crowds the entire season, and won the Huber Trophy, emblematic of the team
with the best regular season record in the IHL. They advanced to the Turner Cup
finals that year, only to fall in a seventh and deciding game, to their
fiercest rival of the time, the Kalamazoo K-Wings, ironically on home ice.
The following season was the last they played in Grand
Rapids and the IHL. They finished with
the second worst record in the league and were put into suspense hoping that a
new home for them to play in would be built.
A new stadium was never built for the team, and they never again played
in the IHL.
The owners of the Junior Owls asked for and received
permission to use the Owls name and logo. The Junior Owls will be competing in
their third season as a member of the Central States Hockey League (CSHL). The CSHL is considered by most to be the
best, and most competitive Junior B league in the United States. Most of the players from the team come from
the West Michigan area and are between 15 and 20 years old.
The club was formally admitted into the CSHL in November of
1998, becoming the seventh member of the league at the time.
The first season of play for the team was the 1998/99
season. That first year the franchise
was known as the Junior Grizzlies. The
name was changed in an effort to get a better identity within the community and
a way to continue the fond memories that the original Owls supplied to the
community during their short tenure.
The first season of play saw the team go through the growing
pains that you would expect to see from an expansion team. After a slow start,
which saw the team go only 2-12-2, they rebounded nicely the second half and
went 13-12-5 for a 15-24-7 overall record. The club finished fifth in the
eight-team league that year.
In the 1999-2000 season the Owls continued the improvement
that they showed the second half of the prior season. The team again started a bit slowly losing some close and
exciting games, and stood only 8-9-3 at the Christmas break. The team again showed well in the second
half and went 16-8-5 after the holiday break and finished the season with an
overall record of 24-17-8 again finishing fifth, this time in a ten team league
though.
Last season saw the Owls off to a good start as they went
.500 in Sept 3-3 and again in October 4-4.
November was a good month in that the club went undefeated with a 5-0-2
record. The Owls finished December with
a positive note going 3-2-1 for an overall record of 15-9-3 at the Christmas
break.
The break was good for the team as they jumped out to three
consecutive victories. The feeling was
short lived as they followed with 3 consecutive losses before finishing January
with a 4-3 record. Well the harsh
winter began to take its toll as the Owls would never again post back to back
victories for the remainder of the season.
They managed only four wins in their last thirteen games for a post
Christmas record of 8-11-1 and an overall winning record of 23-20-4.
The Owls could not regain their early season form, which
included a five game winning streak and an undefeated November, as they bowed
out to rivals Columbus Crush two games to one (both losses in overtime).
The Owls organization once again found success in their
philosophy of commitment to player development as no fewer than eight players
have made the transition to a higher level of hockey.