City Port Dover, Ontario Division Bloomfield Colors Blue, red, and white Founded 1988 | Conference South Home arena Port Dover Arena Arena Port Dover Arena Color Blue, red, and white | |
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League Provincial Junior Hockey League | ||
The Port Dover Sailors are a Canadian junior hockey team based in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association until the 2016-17 season when the league joined the Provincial Junior Hockey League and the NDJCHL became the Bloomfield Division of the new league..
History
The Port Dover Clippers were founded in 1988 as members of the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League. The Clippers were 1990 and 1991 Niagara East champions and Niagara co-champions. In 1990, the Clippers would fall to the Orangeville Crushers of the Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League 4-games-to-1 in the Clarence Schmalz Cup OHA provincial quarter-final. Their western co-champions, the New Hamburg Spirit 83's would fare no better, dropping one of the other quarter-finals in four-straight games to the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League champion Belle River Canadiens. The next year was more of the same, as Port Diver and New Hamburg were the co-champions, New Hamburg lost the provincial quarter-final to Belle River again (this time in six games), and Port Dover fell to Orangeville again in five.
In 1999, the Clippers took leave of the Niagara District league. Clippers changed their name to the Port Dover Sailors and applied for membership in the Ontario Hockey Association Junior Development League.
In 2006, the OHAJDL changed its name to the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League; the Sailors competed in this league until 2012.
In spring 2010, the team executive canvassed for a coach to help build the team from the bottom up. Chris Gill, a Hamilton native and veteran competitive hockey coach, was selected for the vacant job.
From 2011 until 2013 the team was known as the Norfolk Rebels and split time between Port Dover and Waterford, Ontario.
In 2013, the team returned to being the Port Dover Sailors.