The Essex 73's are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Essex, Ontario. The 73's are members of the Provincial Junior Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey Association. Prior to becoming members of the PJHL in 2016 the 73's won the GLJHL playoff championship 20 times and the Clarence Schmalz Cup as Provincial Junior C Champions 7 times.
The Essex 73's have competed in the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League since the 1973–74 season.[2] In total, the club has won 20 Great Lakes Junior C League Championships and 7 All-Ontario Junior C titles. By both measures, they are the most successful team in Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League history. Their 7 Clarence Schmalz Cup (CSC) wins and 14 CSC finals appearances are both Ontario Junior C records.[3]
With Dave Prpich behind the bench, the 73's won four league titles in a row from 1974–1975 to 1977–1978, including three All-Ontario Championships in that span. The 73's would claim two more Great Lakes League Championships in the 1980s in 1985–1986 and 1986–1987.[3]
After some struggles in the early to mid-1990s, the 73's got back into winning form, taking the title for the first time in ten years. In 1997–1998 the team won the Great Lakes League Championship by defeating the Wallaceburg Lakers in the league final. Their loss to the Kincardine Bulldogs in the All-Ontario semifinals marked the 73's most successful season in a decade.[3]
In the 2001–2002 season, general manager Al Lemay brought aboard head coach Tony Piroski, who coached the team from 2001 to 2010. The 73's had great success under Piroski, and in his first season the 73's won the Great Lakes League and the All-Ontario Title, defeating the Uxbridge Bruins in the finals.[3]
On September 27, 2003, 19-year-old forward Glen Ivancic was fatally stabbed in Windsor. A banner #25 hung from the rafters at the Essex Memorial Arena for years before it was given to his parents.[citation needed]
The team reached the All-Ontario Junior C Finals five straight seasons (tying an Ontario Junior C Record), defeating the Grimsby Peach Kings in 2005 but losing to the Penetang Kings in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 they faced the offensive powerhouse Alliston Hornets and were defeated in a memorable game 7 overtime loss in Essex. The 2008–2009 season saw the 73's finish with a remarkable 59 wins, 1 overtime loss, 1 regulation loss, and 1 shoot-out loss (including play-offs). The team finished with 31 wins and 0 losses at home in their final season in the historic Essex Memorial Arena. The 73's returned to the finals in 2009 to face Alliston for the second straight year and the 73's fifth consecutive Clarence Schmalz Cup Finals appearance. Essex overwhelmed Alliston on their way to a four-game sweep to win the provincial title. In nine seasons under Piroski the 73's won 7 Great Lakes League Championships and claimed the Clarence Schmalz Cup 3 times as All-Ontario Champions.[3]
The 73's re-hired Les Garrod to the team in the 2010–11 season; the team would finish 2nd place to the Belle River Canadiens and go out in the first round to the Wheatley Sharks in 7 games. It would be the first time in 15 years (1996–97) that the team did not make it out of the First round. Garrod and staff would not be back the following year.[3]
The 73's brought aboard former Windsor Spitfire Scott Miller for the 2011 season as the club's general manager and hired former Lasalle Vipers assistant Gil Langois as head coach. This tandem delivered four consecutive Great Lakes League Championships and three Clarence Schmalz Cup Finals appearances, including one OHA Junior C Championship. In 2013 the 73's swept both Ayr and the familiar Niagara champion Grimsby before losing in the CSC finals 4 games to 1 to the Picton Pirates.[4] 2014 featured a more difficult road to the CSC finals with a high-scoring 7-game quarterfinal against Dorchester along with a 5-game semifinal victory over the Western League champion Wingham Ironmen before the 73's were swept in the Schmalz Cup finals by the Lakefield Chiefs.[5] In 2015 the 73's defeated Exeter in four games and Ayr in five qualifying for their third straight CSC appearance. In three closely contested games versus the Empire B champion Port Hope Panthers, the 73's built up a 3–0 series lead, but the Panthers stormed back, winning the next three games, setting up a winner-take-all game 7 in Port Hope. A lone second-period goal was the difference between the teams as the 73's clinched their seventh CSC All-Ontario Championship and first since 2009.[1]
In the summer of 2016 the eight junior "C" leagues amalgamated under the Provincial, and the GLJHL became the Bill Stobbs Division of the new league. During the 2016–17 season, the 73's won their first Stobbs Division title[6] but fell to the Ayr Centennials in the PJHL semi-final.[7]
In 2017–2018, the Essex 73's streak of 6 straight League Championships came to an end as the Lakeshore Canadiens defeated the 73's in 5 games in the Stobbs Division Finals. The Canadiens were coached by former 73's player and coach Anthony Iaquinta.[8]
2018-2019 saw Gil Langlois return as Head Coach of the 73's and guided the 73's to a First Place finish. The 73's would sweep their first 2 rounds against the Petrolia Flyers and Amherstburg Admirals setting up a rematch against the Lakeshore Canadiens in the division Finals. The Canadiens would repeat as Stobbs Champions knocking off the 73's in 5 games.[9]
In 2019 Gil Langlois retired, and was replaced as coach by former Sarnia Sting player Danny Anger.[10]
Essex celebrated its 50th season in 2022 and established a Wall of Honour, to pay tribute to those individuals who had a significant impact on the overall success of the organization. Three categories were developed; Player Category, Coach & Saff Category and Honurary Category.
Essex announced that former assistant coach, Jamie McDermott would take over the head coaching duties to start the 2022-23 season. Under McDermott, the 73's would finish first overall in the Provincial Junior Hockey League regular season standings with a 36-4-2-0 but would eventually fall in the Stobbs Division finals to the Lakeshore Canadiens.
After the 2022-23 season, McDermott stepped down from the head coaching duties citing family and health as his reasons and the 73's would hire Matt Ridout, their 20th coach in franchise history. Ridout would not last in Essex very long as Manager, Mike Pailey, relieved Ridout of his duties after just 15 games behind the bench, despite having the best record in the Provincial Junior Hockey league at the time, 16-1-0-1. The organization announced difference in direction the team was going as the contributing factor to Ridout's dismissal.
Pailey took over as interim head coach and after guiding the team to 4-1-1-1 record, he announced the hiring of former 73's head coach, Tony Piroski. In Piroski, the 73's had a seasoned coach with nearly 300 wins under his belt at the Jr. C level. Piroski would finish the regular season with a 15-2-0-0 record giving the 73's an overall season record of 35-4-1-2, third place overall in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
Essex 73's defeated Dresden and Blenheim from the playoffs in sweeping fashion and met the Lakeshore Canadiens for the fourth consecutive season in the Stobbs Division finals. The 73's would lose in 7 games to the Canadiens who went on to win the Schmalz Cup.
List of general managers:[3]
List of coaches:[3]