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This article is about the team that was formerly based in St. John's and became the Northeast Celtics in 2013. For the previous edition of the team which played from 1998 to 2002 please see Northeast Jr. Eagles (1998-2002)

Northeast Eagles
Northeast Jr. Eagles
City: Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
League: St. John's Junior Hockey League
Founded: 1980
Home Arena: Jack Byrne Arena
Colors: Black, yellow, and white
              
General Manager: Doug Tibbo
Head Coach: Rob Cahill Sr.
Affiliates: Northeast Eagles (Sr. A Team)
Franchise history
1980-1983: Brother Rice Celtics
1984–2014: St. John's Jr. Celtics
2013–2016: Northeast Celtics
2016–current: Northeast Jr. Eagles

The Northeast Jr. Eagles are a team in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and play in the Junior B level St. John's Junior Hockey League.  The team played out of St. John's as the Brother Rice Celtics from 1980 to 1983 and then as the St. John's Jr. Celtics from 1984 to 2014.  The team relocated to Torbay and were renamed the Northeast Jr. Celtics playing out of the Jack Byrne Arena. The team was renamed the Northeast Jr. Eagles prior to the 2016-17 season

History[]

Prior to 1980, junior hockey in St. John's was for the most part a juvenile-level recreation league. Every year, an all-star team was drafted from the city and named the St. John's Jr. Capitals, after their senior team the St. John's Capitals, to compete against teams from across the province for the Veitch Memorial Trophy at either the Junior A or B level.

In 1980, the St. John's Junior Hockey League was organized and a legitimate Junior B league was formed. The winner of this league, not an all-star team, would represent the city in provincial and inter-provincial events. One of the founding members of this league was the St. John's "Brothers Rice" Jr. Celtics. In 1982, the Celtics would win their first league championship. They would win the Veitch Memorial Trophy and move on to the first ever Don Johnson Cup—an inter-provincial Junior Championship featuring the best Junior B clubs from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In the final game, the Jr. Celtics defeated PEI's Kensington Bombers, 4–3, to win the first ever championship. Newfoundland's own Don Johnson had the honour of awarding the trophy bearing his name to his own son, Celtics' Michael Johnson, at the first event.

Nine games into the 1982–83 season, the Celtics had to pull out of the league. They were mothballed in 1983–84, but returned after that year off.

In 1989, the league retracted by half and was promoted to Junior A to compete for the Manitoba Centennial Cup at a National level. The Celtics were a part of this Junior A experiment for its two seasons, but the winners of the two seasons (St. John's Jr. 50's and Avalon Jr. Capitals) did not fare well in national playdowns, and the entire league returned to Junior B in 1991.

St Johns Jr Celtics

Logo as Jr. Celtics

The Jr. Celtics won the St. John's League championship in 1982, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2008, and 2011. They won the Provincial Veitch Memorial Trophy in 1982, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2008, and 2011. 1982 remains the Celtics' only Don Johnson Cup.

On May 4, 2016 the three levels of team that play in the Jack Byrne Arena announced that they combining their efforts to promote the game at all levels locally.  The Northeast Minor Hockey Association has joined with the junior and senior teams to form one group designed to help promote the game at all levels. As part of this agreement, the junior team – which plays in the St. John’s Junior Hockey League and has had a player affiliation agreement with Northeast since 2011 – will change its name to Eagles moving forward.
The minor association as well as the senior and junior teams will continue to have their own executives and associations, but will come together to help each other through a separate body designed to help with promotion, fundraising and sponsorship. The agreement was reached at a recent meeting of all three organizations.[1]


Season-by-season record[]

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
Brother Rice Celtics
1980–81 32 15 11 6 164 145 36 3rd SJJHL
1981–82 32 25 4 3 - 250 104 53 1st SJJHL Won league, Won VMT, Won DJC
1982–83 9 2 6 1 - 36 65 5 5th SJJHL Suspended
1983–84 Did not participate
St. John's Jr. Celtics
1984–85 33 3 28 2 - 73 256 8 7th SJJHL
1985–86 28 4 23 1 - 112 280 9 7th SJJHL
1986–87 30 8 20 2 - 150 226 18 6th SJJHL
1987–88 31 6 23 2 - 177 274 14 5th SJJHL
1988–89 42 31 11 0 - 335 214 62 1st SJJHL
1989–90 36 16 15 5 - 213 193 37 2nd SJJHL
1990–91 33 11 22 0 - 178 206 22 4th SJJHL
1991–92 27 9 15 3 - 129 159 21 3rd SJJHL
1992–93 38 15 23 0 - 192 214 30 3rd SJJHL
1993–94 24 19 5 0 - 191 98 38 1st SJJHL Won league
1994–95 34 24 9 1 - 218 135 49 1st SJJHL Won league, Won VMT
1995–96 32 22 7 3 - 232 155 47 1st SJJHL
1996–97 32 17 12 3 - 155 143 37 2nd SJJHL
1997–98 34 18 16 0 - 187 187 36 2nd SJJHL
1998–99 33 20 11 2 - 176 140 42 3rd SJJHL
1999-00 37 29 5 3 - 199 125 61 1st SJJHL Won League
2000–01 31 17 8 3 3 163 124 40 4th SJJHL Won League, Won VMT
2001–02 32 22 8 2 - 155 105 46 1st SJJHL
2002–03 29 10 18 0 1 130 144 21 6th SJJHL Won VMT
2003–04 29 10 16 1 2 146 166 23 7th SJJHL
2004–05 28 4 22 1 1 124 184 10 8th SJJHL
2005–06 29 13 12 1 3 171 167 30 5th SJJHL
2006–07 29 16 11 2 0 146 149 34 4th SJJHL
2007–08 28 16 10 1 1 130 102 34 3rd SJJHL Won League, Won VMT
2008–09 28 17 9 1 1 146 124 36 3rd SJJHL
2009–10 28 21 5 2 0 163 93 44 2nd SJJHL
2010–11 28 17 10 - 1 144 102 35 4th SJJHL Won League, Won VMT
2011–12 28 12 14 - 2 121 127 26 5th SJJHL
2012–13 28 15 12 - 1 123 137 31 3rd SJJHL Lost Semi-final
2013–14 28 8 18 - 2 103 134 18 7th SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 1–4 (Caps)
Northeast Celtics
2014–15 28 11 16 - 1 87 104 23 7th SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 2–3 (Renegades)
2015–16 28 7 20 - 1 82 152 15 7th SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 0–3 (Jr. Blades)
Northeast Eagles
2016–17 28 3 21 - 4 75 152 11 8th of 8 SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 1-3 (Breakers)
Season GP W L OL SL GF GA P Results Playoffs
2017-18 28 5 21 0 2 92 166 12 8th SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 0–3 (Jr. Blades)
2018-19 27 10 14 3 0 98 129 23 6th SJJHL Lost Quarter-final, 0–3 (Stars)
2019-20 28 9 17 - 2 99 130 20 8th SJJHL Trailing Quarter-final, 1-2 (Blades when playoffs are cancelled
2020-21 2 0 2 0 - 4 11 0 N/A Season Cancelled
2021-22 21 0 21 0 - 33 135 0 8th Lost Semifinals
2022-23 28 10 14 - 4 93 127 24 T-5th Lost Quarterfinals

References[]

External links[]

Preceded by
Don Johnson Cup Champions
1982
Succeeded by
Antigonish Bulldogs
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