The following pages list the team rosters of the Dixie Rockets, Dixie Beehive Junior ‘B’ and Junior ‘A’ teams. Every attempt has been made to ensure that all players are listed regardless of how many games they played. Footnotes are made where explanations are required to eliminate any confusion or ambiguities. It should be noted that when a name appears it has been substantiated as being correct either from OHA Jr. ‘A’ season summary records, programs, team photographs or newspaper stories. Also, it must be assumed that the newspapers did not list every player and some may not be listed here.
A very strange thing occurred when the Port Credit Weekly changed its name to The Weekly. On January 1, 1959, almost all coverage of the Dixie Beehives stopped and didn’t resume again until October 1960. This happened again during the 1966-67 season. Likely the reason for the gap was a lack of reporting staff available to do the job. Fortunately, however, the games were well covered by The Advertiser (Etobicoke), and the Brampton community newspapers. There are also footnotes for many of the entries on the following pages in an attempt to clarify or eliminate any possible confusion with players who have identical names.
A classic example is the name John McKenzie who played with the 1956-57 Dixie Beehives when they won the All Ontario Championship against Sarnia. The Beehives and the St. Catharines teams were both affiliated with the Chicago Black Hawks. There was a John McKenzie who played for the St. Catharines Tee Pees at the same time and who eventually went into the NHL and WHA leagues. However, as it turned out, the NHL player, John ‘Pie’ McKenzie, and the Dixie Beehive player, John McKenzie, are not one and the same. In fact, the NHL John McKenzie told this writer that he has no recollection of having ever played in Dixie Arena with any team. “The closest I came to a Dixie Beehive player was when I played for the Boston Bruins alongside Fred Stanfield,” he said.
Another similarity, an astonishing one at that, is the name Paul Coffey. There was a Paul Coffey who played for Dixie in 1955-56 and 1956-57. However, he is no relation to Mississauga’s Paul Coffey who was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2004.