Notre Dame Hounds
City	Wilcox, Saskatchewan
League	SJHL
Division	Sherwood
Founded	1933 (1933)
Folded	2025 (2025)
Home arena	Duncan McNeill Arena
Colours	Red and white
Website	notredame.ca/hockey
Franchise history
1970–1976	SJHL (Junior A)
1976–1987	Midget AAA (U-18)
1987–2025	SJHL
Championships
Regular season titles	3 (1987–88, 1988–89, 2001–02)
Playoff championships	SJHL Champions:1 (1987–88) Anavet Cup:1 (1988) Centennial Cup:1 (1988)

TheNotre Dame Hounds were a CanadianJunior A ice hockey team based inWilcox, Saskatchewan. The team was affiliated withAthol Murray College of Notre Dame, a private boarding school established in 1920 and later renamed afterAthol Murray, who directed the school and founded its hockey program. The Hounds were members of theSaskatchewan Junior Hockey League and played their home games in Duncan McNeill Arena. The team became national champions in 1988, representing Western Canada and winning theCentennial Cup. The Hounds have also operated successfulMinor AAA teams over the course of their history. The Hounds hockey program was notable for producing a number of players who have gone on toNational Hockey League careers. The Hounds were relocated toWarman, Saskatchewan in 2025, becoming theWarman Wolverines.

The Notre Dame Hounds were founded by Athol Murray out of the College of Notre Dame, which was renamed after Murray in 1981.^[1] Murray moved toRegina fromToronto in 1922, where he had earlier established the Argos sports club, and he brought many students with him to Saskatchewan and founded the Regina Argos program.^[1][2] Murray was assigned to Wilcox in 1933 and began teaching at St. Augustine School, which had been established in 1920 by theSisters of Charity of St. Louis, where he would found the College of Notre Dame in 1933.^[2] He brought his love of hockey with him—Murray was known to say, "I love God, Canada, and hockey—not always in that order."^[3] Murray coached the team until 1947.^[4]

The Hounds hockey team joined the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) in 1970, although the team struggled to compete and the arrangement last only until 1976. After that, the team operated only as a AAA minor hockey team for more than a decade. In 1980, the team won the national championship, theAir Canada Cup, defeating the Ste. Foy Governors in the final by a score of 5–1.^[5] The team returned to the final in 1984, and won the tournament for a second time in 1986, defeating the Toronto Red Wings by a score of 8–5.^[6][7] In 1987, the Hounds returned to the final for a fourth time.^[8] Despite losing the final, the organization decided to move up a level, returning to Junior A hockey, and the Hounds were promoted back to the SJHL in 1987.^[9] After the promotion, the Hounds continued to operate their AAA team, which has gone on to further success, including back-to-back national titles in 2009 and 2010, and a record fifth national championship in 2018.^[10][11]

Since the 1990s, the Hounds have also operated a successful AAA girls' team.^[12] The team played in the national championships in 2010 and 2011, finishing second in 2010 and winning the2011 Esso Cup as national champions.^[13][14] In 2022, both the boys' and girls' Hounds squads advanced to their respective national championships in the same season for the first time since 2010.^[15]

The Hounds' first season back in the SJHL, 1987–88, would prove to be the most successful in club history, despite most of the players still being under-18s.^[16] Coached byBarry MacKenzie and boasting future National Hockey League (NHL) starsRod Brind'Amour andCurtis Joseph, the team won 53 out of 60 games and defeated theYorkton Terriers for the SJHL title.^[9] The team then swept theWinnipeg South Blues for the right to contest the Western CanadianAbbott Cup title, in which they faced theCalgary Canucks. Despite falling behind three games to one, the Hounds defeated the Canucks in seven games—which included Joseph saving apenalty shot with two seconds remaining in game seven—to win the Abbott Cup and proceed to the Centennial Cup national championship.^[8] The Hounds, newly promoted to the Junior A ranks, were the youngest team in the history of the tournament.^[17] The Hounds advanced to the tournament final, where they defeated theHalifax Lions by a score of 3–2, withDwayne Norris scoring the game-winning goal in the third period to secure the national championship.^[8] Brind'Amour led the tournament in scoring and was named its most valuable player.^[18] In 2013, the 1987–88 Hounds squad was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.^[9]

Although the Hounds topped the SJHL standings the following season, they fell short of defending their title. The team's most successful season since 1988 came in 2014–15, when they returned to the league final, losing to theMelfort Mustangs.^[19]

The Hounds have been noted for producing a large number of NHL alumni over many decades, such as Brind'Amour, Joseph,Wendel Clark,Vincent Lecavalier, andMorgan Rielly.^[20][21] More than one hundred former Hounds have been drafted to the NHL.^[1][2] During the1985–86 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs iced three former Hounds on one line, with the forward grouping of Clark,Gary Leeman, andRuss Courtnall being christened the "Hound Line".^[22] As it happened, the three had never played on a line with the Hounds, as Clark played defence until joining the Maple Leafs.^[23] The2015 Stanley Cup Finals between theChicago Blackhawks andTampa Bay Lightning featured four Hounds alumni in Lightning coachJon Cooper and defencemanBraydon Coburn and Blackhawks playersScott Darling andBrad Richards.^[24] In addition to NHL draft picks, many Hounds have gone on to play in the AmericanNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); nineteen members of the 1987–88 team—nearly the entire roster—were given NCAA scholarships.^[8]

On February 18, 2025, the SJHL conditionally approved the relocation of the Junior A Hounds toWarman for the 2025-26 hockey season.^[25]

Since 2021, the Hounds organization has been the subject of allegations of physical and sexual abuse by players who attended Notre Dame College and played hockey there in the 1980s. Todd Tisdale, whose brother Tim had starred for the Hounds in 1986, made the first public allegations in late 2021.^[26] Tisdale has described a culture of hazing at the College, and accused officials there of ignoring and enabling physical and sexual violence.^[26] Tisdale pursued an apology from the school in the 1990s and in 2018 filed a statement of claim against the school; he re-filed in 2022, adding a second student to the claim.^[27] Other students who participated in the program in the 1980s followed suit with public allegations, including Kenny Wray and Jason Duckworth.^[28][29]

GP =Games Played, W =Wins, L =Losses, T =Ties, OTL =Overtime Losses, GF =Goals For, GA =Goals Against, P =Points

1987–88 championship playoffs

• 1988Won SJHL,ANAVET Cup,Abbott Cup, andCentennial Cup

Hounds defeatedWeyburn Red Wings,4-games-to-0

Hounds defeatedNipawin Hawks,4-games-to-0

Hounds defeatedYorkton Terriers,4-games-to-2(SJHL Champions)

Hounds defeatedWinnipeg South Blues (MJHL),4-games-to-0(ANAVET CUP Champions)

Hounds defeatedCalgary Canucks (AJHL),4-games-to-3 (Abbott Cup Champions)

Second in1988 Centennial Cup round robin (2–1)

Hounds defeatedPembroke Lumber Kings (CJHL),7–3 in semifinal

Hounds defeatedHalifax Lions (MVJHL),3–2 in final(Centennial Cup Champions)

Over 215 Hounds alumni have been signed or drafted by anNHL team.^[30][31]

• List of ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan
• Ice hockey in Saskatchewan

• Notre Dame Hounds website (archived)

• Defunct Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata