{{Short description|Several senior and junior ice hockey teams in Kitchener, Ontario}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use Canadian English|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox | above = Kitchener Greenshirts | label1 = City | data1 = Kitchener, Ontario | label2 = League | data2 = Ontario Hockey Association | label3 = Senior A | data3 = c.1917 to c.1938 | label4 = Junior A | data4 = c.1922 to c.1938 | label5 = Junior B | data5 = c.1939 to c.1949 | label6 = Junior A | data6 = 1951–1954 | label7 = Junior B | data7 = c.1963 to c.1978 }}
The '''Kitchener Greenshirts''' name has been used by five separate ice hockey teams playing in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. These include one 'Senior A' level hockey team, two 'Junior A' level teams, and two 'Junior B' level teams. The name has also been used for a team in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA).
==Senior A (c.1917 to c.1938)== thumb|right|250px|Kitchener Greenshirts in 1917–18. The '''Kitchener Hockey Club,''' commonly known as the Kitchener Greenshirts were a senior ice hockey team. Kitchener won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1918 and 1928, as the senior champion of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohahockey.ca/view/oha/about-us/oha-history-8683/senior-series-2|title=Senior Series|year=2019|website=Ontario Hockey Association|access-date=February 1, 2021|archive-date=March 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315051624/http://www.ohahockey.ca/view/oha/about-us/oha-history-8683/senior-series-2|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kitchener also won the 1918 Allan Cup as the national champions of Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allancup.ca/allancuparchivescores.htm#10%27s|title=Allan Cup Archives|website=Allan Cup|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref>
Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender George Hainsworth played senior hockey for the Greenshirts from 1917 to 1923. Another Hall of Famer, Earl Seibert played one game with the team in 1928.<ref name="Alumni">{{cite web|url=https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayersByTeam.jsp?team=Kitchener+Greenshirts|title=NHL Player Search: Kitchener Greenshirts|website=Legends of Hockey|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|access-date=February 1, 2021|archive-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114113943/https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayersByTeam.jsp?team=Kitchener+Greenshirts|url-status=dead}}</ref>
List of National Hockey League (NHL) alumni:<ref name="Alumni" />
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em| *Lloyd Gross *'''George Hainsworth''' *Bingo Kampman *Howie Mackie *Red Mitchell *Ernie Parkes *Werner Schnarr *'''Earl Seibert''' }}
==Junior A (c.1922 to c.1938)== The first junior ice hockey Greenshirts team played in the OHA the early 1920s to the start of World War II. This Junior A program operated in affiliation to the Senior A team of the same name.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} The team was known as the '''Kitchener Colts''' when they won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as the OHA junior champions in 1923.<ref name="junior-cup">{{cite book|title=Annual Report: Constitution, Regulations and Rules of Competition|publisher=Ontario Hockey Association|date=2006|location=Cambridge, Ontario|page=W-13}}</ref> The Colts eventually advanced to play the University of Manitoba in a two-game, total-goals series in Toronto to decide the 1923 Memorial Cup winner. The university won consecutive 7–3 contests to capture the Cup by a total score of 14–6.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lapp|first1=Richard M.|last2=Macaulay|first2=Alec|title=The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship|publisher=Harbour Publishing|date=1997|location=Madeira Park, British Columbia|isbn=1-55017-170-4|pages=21–23}}</ref>
The team later became the Greenshirts and were finalists for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1929.<ref name="junior-cup" /> The Greenshirts were awarded the J. Ross Robertson Cup by default in the 1934–35 season after winning a protest on the series it had lost to the Oshawa Generals.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Babe|last2=Attersley|first2=Bobby|author-link2=Bob Attersley|title=A History of the Oshawa Generals|place=Toronto, Ontario|publisher=Chimo Publishing|volume=One|year=1978|isbn=0-920344-07-0|page=2}}</ref> The decision on the protest came too late for Kitchener to challenge the Northern Champion Sudbury Cub Wolves for the right to compete for the Memorial Cup.<ref>{{cite news|title=Oshawa Quits Puck Playoffs|date=March 26, 1935|newspaper=The Windsor Star|location=Windsor, Ontario|page=29|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69034558/oha-playoffs-1935/}}{{free access}}</ref> The Greenshirts were runners-up in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals in 1936.<ref name="junior-cup" />
Five future Hockey Hall of Famers played junior hockey for the Greenshirts during this era: Bobby Bauer, Woody Dumart, Milt Schmidt, Earl Seibert & Babe Siebert.<ref name="Alumni" />
List of National Hockey League (NHL) alumni:<ref name="Alumni" />
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em| *'''Bobby Bauer''' *Dick Behling *'''Woody Dumart''' *Lloyd Gross *Ott Heller *Art Herchenratter *Ron Howell *Bingo Kampman *Jack Keating *Howie Mackie *George Patterson *'''Milt Schmidt''' *'''Earl Seibert''' *'''Babe Siebert''' }}
==Junior B (c.1939 to c.1949)== With many high calibre Junior A and NHL players involved in military service, Kitchener was left with a Junior B team to fill the void.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
Future NHLers Howie Meeker & Dutch Reibel played for the Junior B Greenshirts during the 1940s.<ref name="Alumni" /> Howie Meeker would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
==Junior A (1951 to 1954)== {{see|Kitchener Canucks}}
==Junior B (c.1963 to c.1978)== {{see|Kitchener Dutchmen}}
==Ontario Minor Hockey== There has also been a minor ice hockey team in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association with the name Kitchener Greenshirts. Its NHL alumni include, Kevin Miehm, Steve Seftel, Brad Schlegel, Paul Reinhart, Brad Shaw and Nick Stajduhar.<ref name="Alumni" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayersByTeam.jsp?team=Kitchener+Greenshirts+Midget|title=NHL Player Search: Kitchener Greenshirts Midget|website=Legends of Hockey|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|access-date=February 1, 2021|archive-date=February 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208012053/https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayersByTeam.jsp?team=Kitchener+Greenshirts+Midget|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Defunct OHL}}
Category:Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Greenshirts Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 1917 Category:Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1978 Category:1917 establishments in Ontario Category:1978 disestablishments in Ontario