The North Bay Centennials were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, who played from 1982-2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario. The North Bay Centennials or "Cents" as they were popularly known, were named after the 100th anniversary of the railroad in North Bay. The team came to the city in 1982 after the new owners of the Niagara Falls Flyers failed to get a deal for a new arena, and chose to relocate to North Bay which already had an adequate facility in operation. The team can trace its roots back to St. Catharines, Ontario where it played from 1943-1976, as the as the Falcons, Teepees and Black Hawks, winning the Memorial Cup in 1954 & 1960. In the early 90s, the Centennials played very succesful under their Coach Bert Templeton (1982-94). But after Bert Templeton was let go, the Centennials fell on hard times with many losing seasons. The Cents never regained their previous form and attendance dropped off yearly. For the 1999-2000 season, the Centennials released new uniforms with an updated logo (an angry hockey stick wielding railroad engineer above the name of the team). to boost retail sales. However, profies were still declining. Combined with an aging facility, the team became unprofitable and was ultimately sold to a group of American investors in 2002, and moved to Saginaw, Michigan to become the Saginaw Spirit.