The City of St. Catharines will celebrate its junior hockey history Saturday night.
As St. Catharines prepares to celebrate 150 years, perhaps it’s only fitting to recognize its long-standing Junior A Hockey tradition and add two more banners to the rafters at the Meridian Centre home of the Niagara IceDogs. This year a player and a builder – Pierre Pilote and Rudy Pilous – will be honoured with a banner-raising ceremony initiated by St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe, in partnership with the IceDogs.
Pilote, a member of the St. Catharines Teepees from 1950-1952, was known as a rushing defenceman who knew how to score, tallying 34 goals in two seasons. In his second season with the team, he averaged a point per game. In 1952, Pilote turned pro with the Chicago Black Hawks who placed him with the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons. He joined the Black Hawks in 1955 where he played for 13 years. While with the Black Hawks he won a Stanley Cup in 1961, and three consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL’s outstanding defenceman. The Hawks team captain from 1961 to 1968 was named to eight NHL All –Star teams. In 1968 he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and retired after one season. In 890 NHL games, Pilote earned 498 points including 80 goals. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975. Pierre Pilote passed away on September 9, 2017.
Pilous, who many consider to be the driving force behind junior hockey in St. Catharines, founded the St. Catharines Falcons, the first Junior A hockey club in the city in 1943. Pilous coached the Falcons for two and a half seasons before joining the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons organization in 1946. In 1950 he returned to the Garden City to become the head coach and general manager of the St. Catharines Teepees (the second Jr. A franchise to call St. Catharines home). In 1954 he led the team to its first Memorial Cup victory and was the team’s GM when the Teepees won their second Memorial Cup in 1960. In 1958 Pilous had become the head coach of the Chicago Black Hawks and guided the team to a Stanley Cup win in 1961. In 1985, Pilous was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. Player, coach, scout, manager and owner, Rudy Pilous did it all. He passed away at the age of 80 in 1994.
Both Pilote and Pilous will have their names on banners raised to the Meridian Centre rafters on Saturday night in a special ceremony before the Niagara IceDogs take on the Erie Otters during the OHL’s Rivalry Week, slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
“St. Catharines has a proud Jr. A hockey history, and the IceDogs are thrilled to celebrate this history and the teams that came before us. Congratulations to the newest banner raising honorees – we are honoured to be a part of this historic night,” said Darren DeDeobbelear, Owner and Governor of the Niagara IceDogs.
“It’s an honour to be a part of celebrating two incredibly important individuals in our hockey history by raising these banners to the rafters of the Meridian Centre” St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe said. “I’m excited to honour Mr. Pilous and Mr. Pilote, and to celebrate their hockey legacies, in St. Catharines. I’d like to thank hockey author and historian John Hewitt and longtime local philanthropist Archie Katzman for approaching me about this initiative.”
This marks the fourth and fifth banners to be raised at the Meridian Centre to honour those who have contributed to hockey history here in St. Catharines, after Stan Mikita’s banner was raised in 2018, followed by Brian Cullen and Marcel Dionne in 2024.
In addition to the banner raising, the IceDogs will be wearing specialty jerseys that pay homage to over 80 years of Jr. A. Hockey history in St. Catharines. The design is inspired by the teams of the past, featuring the yellow of the Teepees and Falcons as the base jersey colour, with black and red striping to tie in the Blackhawks years, transitioning into IceDogs colours of today. Bones is featured prominently on the front of the jersey wearing a shoulder ‘TP’ patch, part of the original Teepees jersey design. Logos representing all four teams that came before the IceDogs are featured on each sleeve, paying homage to the following teams:
St. Catharines Falcons 1943-1947
St. Catharines Teepees 1947-1962
St. Catharines Black Hawks 1962-1976
St. Catharines Fincups 1976-1977
Following the game, bidding will begin on these game-worn specialty jerseys through an online auction. 100% of proceeds will support Community Crew – a local non-profit, providing healthy lunches for more than 1500 students across the school system in the Niagara Region. Additionally, Community Crew will be collecting snacks to help support their School Lunch Program. Snack donations will be collected at the entrances to the Meridian Centre.
For the hockey history buffs in attendance, author and historian John Hewitt, will be selling copies of his three books: Garden City Hockey Heroes; the Flyers and the Thunder; and the 1972 Summit Series: The Last Word; on the concourse with all proceeds supporting Community Crew.
Saturday’s event is made possible through the Mayor’s St. Catharines OutReach and Engagement (SCORE) Fund.
Visit niagaraicedogs.net to purchase tickets to the game.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
