London Nationals

For the team that existed from 1965–1968 with the same name, see London Knights.

London Nationals
City	London, Ontario
League	Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League
Division	Western
Founded	c. 1950
Home arena	Western Fair
Colors	Blue, Black, and White
General manager	Tim Simmons
Head coach	Kelly Thomson
Affiliates	London Knights (OHL), Mount Brydges Bulldogs (SOJHL)
Franchise history
1950-1958	London Lou Ball Juniors
1958-1960	London Diamonds
1960-1961	London Athletics
1961-1965	London Nationals
1965-1966	Ingersoll Nationals
1966-1967	London Bees
1969-1973	London Squires
1973-1976	London-Glencoe Squires
1976-1991	London Diamonds
1991-Present	London Nationals

The London Nationals are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in London, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Bill and Ken Eansor are the current owners and General Managers of the London Nationals. The Assistant General Manager is Tim Simmons, and the head coach of the Nationals is Tim Flynn. The Nationals play their home games at the Western Fair Sports Centre. The arena's seating capacity is 1,800, and features an international-sized ice surface measuring 100' X 200'.

History

The team's life began in 1950, playing in The Big '10' Western Division out of the Ontario Arena at the Western Fair grounds. They won the Western Division title in 1952 as the London Lou Ball Juniors, after sponsor Lou Ball's clothing store. In 1956 the 'Big 10' was divided, and London became a member of the Western Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League.

The team's name changed to London Diamonds in 1958, then to Athletics in 1960. in 1961 the team was renamed again. They were called the Nationals, after sponsor Canadian National Recreation Association, an organization of Canadian National Railways employees.

In 1963 the Toronto Maple Leafs began sponsoring the Nationals. The Maple Leafs traditionally had affiliations with the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael's Majors, however with the withdrawal of the Majors from the OHA, and the collapse of the Metro Junior A League, the Leafs were left with only one team. They decided to sponsor the junior team in London, which they wanted to play at the new London Gardens and be promoted to the Ontario Hockey Association.

The OHA initially balked at the proposition however, and so the Nationals continued to play in the Junior B league, winning the London Free Press Trophy as league champions in 1964 and 1965. For the 1965–66 season, the team was finally admitted to major junior hockey, and London's Junior B franchise moved to Ingersoll to make room for the Junior A Nationals. The Junior A team was renamed as London Knights in 1968, and the Nationals name disappeared from the London sports landscape.

The Junior B team returned to London under the name Bees for the 1966-1967 season, but then fell dormant for two seasons. The team was revived in 1969 as the Squires, and played under that name until 1976. The team was then known as the Diamonds from 1976-1991, before the Nationals name was revived after a long-lasting sponsorship with a diamond jeweler dissolved.

The team's time under the Diamonds name was successful, as they claimed the Southwestern Junior B Hockey League title in 1977, and the Western Ontario Hockey League title in 1981, 1983, and 1984.

The team's most recent championship came in 1992.

NHL alumni

List of alumni who also played in the National Hockey League.

London Nationals Junior B

• Mike Corrigan
• Gerry Desjardins
• Darryl Edestrand
• Brandon Prust
• Mike Van Ryn

London Diamonds Junior B

• Bill Armstrong
• Neal Coulter
• Jeff Hackett
• Ken Hammond
• Dave Hutchison
• Walt McKechnie
• Dan Quinn
• Craig Simpson
• Scott Thornton

Season-by-season results

Legend:
T = Tie (1982-2005), SL = Shoot Out Loss (2005-06 onward), OTL = Overtime Loss

Season	Games	Won	Lost	T/SL	OTL	Goals For	Goals Against	Points	Standing	Playoffs
1950-51	14	8	6	0	-	--	--	18	2nd Big '10' Western
1951-52	16	11	5	0	-	107	68	22	2nd Big '10' Western	Won League
1952-53	18	14	4	0	-	--	--	28	1st Big '10' Western
1953-54	24	6	18	0	-	119	189	12	4th Big '10' Western
1954-55	25	5	20	0	-	110	204	10	4th Big '10' Western
1955-56	27	0	27	0	-	68	249	0	5th Big '10' Western
1956-57	27	9	18	0	-	126	167	18	5th WJBHL
1957-58	30	20	10	0	-	--	--	40	2nd WJBHL
1958-59	36	14	22	0	-	165	224	28	3rd WJBHL
1959-60	25	1	24	0	-	--	--	2	6th WJBHL
1960-61	32	0	32	0	-	86	399	0	5th WJBHL
1961-62	36	10	25	1	-	201	254	21	7th WJBHL
1962-63	35	3	32	0	-	133	348	6	6th WJBHL
1963-64	40	28	11	1	-	260	159	57	2nd WJBHL	Won League
1964-65	40	23	17	0	-	213	181	46	3rd WJBHL	Won League
1965-66	40	25	15	0	-	237	178	50	3rd WJBHL
1966-67	40	5	35	0	-	124	278	10	5th WJBHL
1967-69	Did Not Participate
1969-70	36	16	17	3	-	137	169	35	3rd WOJHL
1970-71	41	10	29	2	-	139	240	22	4th WOJHL
1971-72	39	12	18	9	-	173	185	33	5th WOJHL
1972-73	42	21	15	6	-	224	203	48	2nd WOJHL
1973-74	40	4	32	4	-	114	239	12	5th WOJHL
1974-75	40	19	15	6	-	186	172	44	2nd WOJHL
1975-76	39	11	22	6	-	168	206	28	6th WOJHL
1976-77	38	13	24	1	-	191	274	27	5th SWJBHL	DNQ
1977-78	40	30	8	2	-	261	171	62	1st SWJBHL	Lost Final
1978-79	42	19	18	5	-	227	213	43	5th WOJHL
1979-80	42	22	12	8	-	182	127	52	5th WOJHL	Lost Final
1980-81	42	31	9	2	-	256	147	64	1st WOJHL	Won League
1981-82	42	22	16	4	-	196	180	48	3rd WOJHL	Lost Final
1982-83	42	31	7	4	-	263	138	66	1st WOJHL	Won League
1983-84	48	34	7	7	-	297	148	75	1st WOJHL	Won League
1984-85	48	35	13	0	-	285	164	70	1st WOJHL	Lost Final
1985-86	42	34	5	3	-	275	150	71	1st WOJHL
1986-87	42	28	10	4	-	272	162	60	2nd WOJHL	Lost Final
1987-88	42	13	24	3	2	190	213	31	7th WOJHL
1988-89	41	19	16	4	2	197	193	44	5th WOJHL
1989-90	40	20	18	1	1	205	231	42	4th WOJHL
1990-91	48	15	30	3	0	170	259	33	8th WOJHL
1991-92	48	30	13	3	2	274	191	65	1st WOJHL East	Won League
1992-93	52	25	20	5	2	-	-	57	2nd WOJHL East
1993-94	50	25	21	3	1	273	251	54	2nd WOJHL East
1994-95	52	16	34	0	2	223	281	34	4th WOJHL East
1995-96	51	27	17	5	2	208	184	61	3rd WOJHL East
1996-97	52	23	19	7	3	220	230	56	3rd WOJHL East
1997-98	52	14	35	0	3	205	307	31	5th WOJHL East
1998-99	52	19	32	0	1	213	282	39	4th WOJHL East
1999-00	54	22	27	0	5	189	232	49	8th GOHL
2000-01	54	39	11	1	3	251	143	82	2nd GOHL	Lost Final
2001-02	54	32	21	0	1	251	169	65	6th WOHL
2002-03	48	31	14	0	3	207	182	65	3rd WOHL
2003-04	48	27	18	2	1	172	150	57	5th WOHL	Lost Final
2004-05	48	22	22	1	3	161	173	48	5th WOHL
2005-06	48	22	25	1	0	148	165	45	8th WOHL	Lost Quarter-final
2006-07	48	21	23	-	4	183	178	46	7th WOHL	Lost Quarter-final
2007-08	48	30	14	-	4	214	175	64	3rd GOJHL-W	Lost Final
2008-09	52	33	10	-	9	221	174	75	2nd GOJHL-W	Lost Final
2009-10	50	37	10	-	3	244	133	77	1st GOJHL-W	- bgcolor="#eeeeff"	2010-11	51	34	13	-	4	235	162	72	2nd GOJHL-W	} References External links Official website of Junior 'B' London Nationals