The Kenora Thistles were an ice hockey team founded in 1894 in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The team competed for Canada's Stanley Cup five times between 1903 and 1907, winning it in January 1907 and defending it once. They lost it in a challenge series two months later, the shortest length of time that any team has possessed the Cup. Nine Thistles players—four of them local to the area—have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Stanley Cup champion team was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. The Thistles competed in Manitoba-based leagues throughout their existence, owing to the city's proximity to that province. They joined the Manitoba Hockey Association in 1902, winning the league championship in three of their six seasons. After an economic downturn in 1907, they were unable to sustain their success as professionalism came to ice hockey, and the team disbanded in 1908. (Full article...)