Kirkland Lake
After eight years of futility on Manitoulin Island, the team would either be on the move or fold. In Mid-May 2011, the NOJHL conditionally approved the move of the Manitoulin Islanders to Kirkland Lake, Ontario to become the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils. In their final four seasons in Little Current, the Islanders managed 17 wins in 200 games played.
The Blue Devils moniker is a long used traditional team name in Kirkland Lake, the most notable team to use the name was the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils who defeated the Calgary Stampeders 3-games-to-none to win the 1940 Allan Cup.
On September 9, 2011, the Blue Devils played their first ever home game and regulation game in their history. The Blue Devils dropped a 9-2 decision to the North Bay Trappers. On October 12, 2011, the Blue Devils won their first game since relocation 3-2 in a shootout against the Sudbury Cubs. Two nights later, the Blue Devils scored their first ever home win, 5-4 in a shootout, against the Blind River Beavers.
On January 12, 2012, owner of the team Robert Kasner announced that he was folding the club mid-season. The folding of the team happened right after Kasner was suspended by the league for six months for multiple roster violations. Soon after the folding, the league announced that a new ownership group was to be brought in to run the team and keep hockey going in Kirkland Lake. The new ownership named them the Gold Miners. The Gold Miners won their first-ever NOJHL championship just 2 and a half years into the league as they defeated the Soo Thunderbirds. The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners travelled down to the Wellington, Ontario to participate in the Dudley-Hewitt Cup. Unfortunately, the Gold Miners failed to record a win and returned home disappointed. In 2014-15, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and the Soo Thunderbirds were fighting for 1st place all season, but Kirkland Lake settled on finished 2nd and the Powassan Voodoos upset the GoldMiners in the 1st round Division Semifinals.
The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners were awarded the 2016 Dudley-Hewitt Cup in the spring of 2015.
In the 2015-2016 regular season, the Goldminers were 3rd in a very competitive Eastern Conference, 4 pts behind Conference winning Cochrane Crunch. The Miners faced the Powassan Voodoos, 2nd place finishers, in the 1st round of the playoffs. After defeating Powassan in a hard fought series, the Miners faced the regular season Conference winners & defending Conference Champion Cochrane Crunch, in the Conference Final. In what most would call a mild upset, the Miners vanquished the Crunch & faced overall regular season Champion Soo Thunderbirds, in the final. The Thunderbirds proved too much in this serires and swept the Miners. However, both teams advanced to the Dudley-Hewitt Cup, in Kirkland Lake, where the Miners lost a tough semi-final battle to the Thunderbirds, who would eventually lose to the Trenton GoldenHawks in the DHC Final.
In the 2016-2017 regular season, the GoldMiners were up and down, eventually finishing 4th in the very competitive Eastern Conference & 6th overall in the NOJHL, with 63 points in 56 games. In the first round of the Playoffs we drew the Iroquois Falls Eskis, who we beat in a best of 3 series. In the Eastern Conference semis, we faced the NOJHL's Regular Season Champion, Powassan Voodoos with their 95 point regular season. We gave them all they wanted and still got swept, the Voodoos went 12-0 on their way to the League Championship & Dudley-Hewitt Cup.
For the 2017-18 season, the GoldMiners had a new Coach & GM in Ryan Wood. Icing a young squad, both the rookie coach and team started slowly, but rallied to finish a solid 3rd in the East, with 59 points in 56 games, 10 pts up on 4th place Hearst, under the guidance of former GoldMiners head man, Marc Lafleur. we faced the 2nd place, but eventual League Champion Cochrane Crunch in the 2nd round of the NOJHL playoffs, where the depth of the Crunch was the deciding factor in the 5 game series.
The 2018-19 season began in the summer, with big changes in the GoldMiners Board Room, with new President, Steve Cox, new V-P of Business Operations, Mike Jones along with new V-P of Hockey Operations Derek Callahan as well as new Treasurer Isabelle Rheaume and Special Advisor to the Board, Tom Sinclair, leading the way. Coach & GM Ryan Wood returns with his coaching staff intact, adding Austin Cline as Strength & Conditioning Coach to the staff.
The 2018-19 season saw the GoldMiners finish 2nd in a tight Eastern Conference race, 1 point behind the eventual League Champion Hearst Lumberjacks. The Miners saw a 13 point improvement in the standings, but after an Eastern Semifinal round playoff loss in 6 to Powassan, the Club Executive felt a change was needed and elected not to renew the contract of Head Coach and General Manager Ryan Wood, after 2 seasons at the helm.
