Congrats to the Penticton Vees for winning 41 games in a row. That is a remarkable accomplishment, but the Vees have not set a Canadian junior 'A' hockey league record...yet.If you've never heard of the Norman Junior Hockey League, you're not alone. It was a loop that consisted of 4 teams in 1981-1982. The Snow Lake Spartans, The Pas Lumber Kings, The Thompson King Miners and the Flin Flon Bombers. For you geography challenged the closest team to Winnipeg was more then 600 kilometres away. The NJHL champion would face the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion in the Turnbull Cup with a berth in the Centennial Cup national championship on the line. The league started up in 1978 and folded 7 years later.
Back to 1981. That year it was the Flin Flon Bombers who were NJHL champs, and in did it by winning 42 games in a row. They were so dominant that in the league semi final, The Pas refused to play them. However going 42-0 against sub par competition didn't help them out as they were bombed by Fort Gary in the Turnball Cup, losing 3 straight by a combined score of 30-7. Still they won 42 games in a row, as a Junior A team.
So, that means the Vees need 2 more wins to actually set the record, and how is this for drama, Penticton has 2 games left in the regular season. On second thought it might not be that dramatic; they won their last game 10-0 and have scored an astonishing 324 thus far in 58 games while giving up a paltry 123.
I fully expect them to win their final two games, but if they don't, then the record will still belong to the Flin Flon Bombers of the Norman Junior Hockey League.
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