HISTORY

The Kingston Canadian Major Junior “A” Hockey Club joined the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in the spring of 1973, when the franchise was moved from Montreal. The team was formally the junior franchise of the storied Montreal Canadiens, but had suspended operations after the 1971-72 season.

The Kingston Canadians arrival in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) for the 1973-74 OHL season, was a result of the Montreal Junior Canadiens switch to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 1972. During the summer of 1972, the QMJHL had threatened a lawsuit against the OHA to force the Junior Canadiens to return to the Quebec-based league. To solve the problem, the OHA granted the Junior Canadiens franchise a "one-year suspension" of operations, while team ownership transferred the team and players into the QMJHL, renaming themselves the Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge in the process.
The OHA then "re-established" the suspended franchise after a one year hiatus, under new ownership and with new players, calling the team the Kingston Canadians. The new Kingston team was essentially an expansion franchise, that had only common name to share with the old Junior Canadiens. However, in some OHA histories (such as the annual Media Guide) the Kingston team is still shown as the legitimate successors of the Junior Canadiens' legacy.

Kingston had never had a team that participated in the highest junior rate league in Canada before. The team was immediately a smash hit with fans, regularly packing in up to 4000 fans for play-off games, sometimes to a point where they fire marshal had to be called in. These were the “golden years” to many fans. Names the likes of Tony McKegney, Ken Linseman, Mike O’Connell, Brad Rhiness, Mike Crombeen and Mike Gillis could be heard on the newscast, newspapers and among the fans. The teams in the earlier years had their moments. In just their second OHA season the Canadiens took the Memorial Cup favorites, the Toronto Marlboros to an eighth game in the play-offs and almost knocked off the heavily favoured Marlies. To this day fans talk about the “fix was in” and the “phantom goal” which eliminated Kingston from the play-offs.

The fan base was solid and the team was followed well by the public. Through the late 70’s and into the 80’s, things started to change. Although the made the division finals, led by Bernie Nicholls in the 1980-81 season, teams advanced to the play-offs sporadically. If they did make the post season, the team was eliminated in the first round of play. In the 1987-88 season the team lost an OHL record twenty-eight games in a row! (This record stands to this day) The team did not win from January 19th to March 18th, a span of 59 days. For the sixth time in the last nine seasons, Kingston finished last in the OHL’s Leyden Division. Needless to say, this disastrous season closed the book on the name “Canadians”.

• In 1981 Kingston hosted the annual OHL All-Star game. The Emms division coached by Paul Gauthier beat the Leyden division coached by Terry Crisp 4 to 3.
• In 1985-1986 season, Chris Clifford was the OHL first goalie to score a goal.
A brawl during pre-game skate before a game with the Toronto Marlboros, in which Kingston forward Mike Maurice skated into the Marlboro end of the ice to get one of the nets. From then on, the OHL enacted a policy of having on ice officials present before the visiting team is allowed on the ice.
In 2004 Paul Coffey became the only Kingston Canadian inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame to date. In 1977-1978 Paul was a late season addition from the North York Rangers. He played 8 regular reason games with the Canadians, and 5 playoffs games the same season.
The team was purchased by Lou Kazowski, a Peterborough developer, who rechristened the franchise the “Raiders”. Kazowski changed the team’s colour scheme to imitate that of the newly Gretzkyied L.A. Kings, black and silver. He also hired away Larry Mavety from the Belleville Bulls as Coach and G.M. Things did not change on the ice, as the team finished seventh once again in their division. After the season, as the story goes, Kazowski was losing money and his with his shifty business dealings, Kazowski was ready to move the club to Owen Sound. He had trucks loaded during the midnight hour, ready to flee the Limestone City. He was prevented from leaving………

Relief and joy for junior hockey fans came in the summer of 1989 when Wren Blair, former General Manager of Kingston’s championship EPHL team, and the star of that club, Bob Attersley, had combined with a third partner to buy the franchise and return the name and colours to the traditional “Frontenacs”.  (The Eastern Professional Hockey League was a six team loop that started out in 1959-60 and existed for four seasons. The Kingston squad was sponsored by the Boston Bruins, took their colours and adopted the familiar Circle “K” logo from Boston’s Circle “B”. The final season produced a league championship, but with only four teams participating.) The origin of the name "Frontenacs" comes from Louis de Buade de Frontenac, governor of New France who established Fort Frontenac on the site of present-day Kingston. The area surrounding Kingston is also known as Frontenac County.

With a new name and colours, the team did an incredible about facing winning forty-two games and missing first place by just one point. The season however ended suddenly when their arch rival, the Belleville Bulls, won the seventh and deciding game before a packed house in Belleville. The Fronts and Bulls played the longest play-off game in OHL history that night, six hours and sixteen minutes. The game ended at 1:46 a.m. in the fourth overtime period. Larry Mavety was named Coach of the Year for his efforts by the OHL for his great season.

The next two seasons saw the Frontenacs’ relocate to their familiar “last in the Leyden” spot, until a break through season in 1992-93. Under Coach Dave Allison, the team finished second with 83 points and was led by future NHLers Chris Gratton and Brett Lindros. Keli Corpse was also an integral part of the success that saw the team make it into the third round of the play-offs, losing to Peterborough to advance to the league championship. However, the following season saw the team return to familiar stomping grounds of the lower echelons of the division, finishing fifth.

In the 1994-95 season, a first occurred for the Franchise. Led by Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year David Ling and strong goaltending by Tyler Moss, the team captured its first and only division title, winning the Leyden on the last game of the year defeating the Oshawa Generals. Coach Gary Agnew’s team finished with a franchise high 87 points that season and had all the promise in the world, this all came crashing to a halt, when after taking a first round bye, they lost in six games to the Bulls. 

After another fifth (and last) place finish the following year, the 25th season of OHL hockey (1996-97) saw the return of Larry Mavety as Coach and G.M. The team finished fourth in the division and lost their first round match-up.

In September 1997, the sale of 20 percent of the Frontenacs to Nustadia Developments of Burlington was hailed as the first steps to a new rink. “My biggest dream,” said owner Wren Blair, “is to drop the puck in a new facility. A new arena is a must for the survival of the junior team”.

In 1998, the Franchise was valued above the two million dollar mark. Wren Blair started the process to sell the Frontenacs to a fifth generation Kingston family. Doug and Michael Springer were to purchase twenty percent of the shares each year until August 2002 and retain Blair as the managing partner. 

The 1997-98 year issued in one of the all-time favorite individuals to wear a Kingston franchise uniform, Michael Zigomanis and the return of Larry Mavety to the Limestone City. Zigomanis would compile an impressive 74 points in his rookie campaign, in which Kingston finished third in its division. At the trade deadline, Mavety added some depth and the team was poised to make a run at the league championship. Unfortunately the hockey gods did not look favouravble upon the Frontenacs as they were defeated in the second round by London.

The 1998-99 season saw the Fronts drop to last in the division, gaining just more points than second year franchise St.Mike’s and rookie franchises Mississauga and Brampton. Making the play-offs in eighth spot, the team lost in five games to Barrie.

The 1999-2000 saw the team as another team of destiny. With strong goaltending provided by Andrew Raycroft and returning forwards Mike Zigomanis and Sean Avery, the team early in the season was ranked as high as 5th in the entire Canadian Hockey League consisting of 54 teams. This time unfortunately injuries decimated the team, losing Avery and Zigomanis at the end of the season and Raycroft recovering from his ailments. From high hopes to deja vu, the team finished fifth in the Conference and was ousted by the Sudbury Wolves in five play-off games.  The season was not a complete loss, as Andrew Raycroft became the first goaltender in 52 years to win the Red Tilson award for League MVP. Mike Zigomanis was also recognized with the William Hanley trophy for the “Most Gentlemanly Player” in the league.

On August 1, 2000, it was announced that the Springer family had taken over 60 per cent ownership of the Club. Doug Springer immediately announced that Larry Mavety, “the fourth winningest coach in Canadian junior hockey”, who was starting his 19th OHL season, would have 100 per cent control of the franchise. “I want to bring a championship team to this city”, said Springer.

The 2000-2001 season saw the Frontenacs finished with a .500 record and finish once again in the 8th and final play-off spot, like the 1998-99 year. This time however, the team was swept in four games by their arch rival the Belleville Bulls. In February of 2001, the team introduced a “third sweater” with Count Frontenac as its new logo and adopted this replacing the Circle K.

The next two seasons saw could be considered the “dark years” Both the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 saw the Club miss the play-offs. In 2001-2002 the team tied for the last play-off spot and played a one game play-off in North Bay. They lost and were eliminated from the post season. Larry Mavety however became just the fourth coach in junior hockey history with 600 wins.

The following season was one for change. Big change. One year earlier Mavety enjoyed his 600 victory, one year later he stepped down as coach. In mid season, Assistant Coach Greg Bignell took his place. Once again however, the hockey gods frowned upon the franchise with the team missing the play-offs, losing six consecutive games at the end of the season. Head Coach Greg Bignell’s contract was not renewed.

The summer of 2003 saw the hiring of Wolfe Island’s Jim Hulton. In his first year behind the Frontenac’s bench, Hulton guided the team to a second place finish in the division, missing first place by one point. Ranked fifth in the Conference, the franchise returned to the play-offs but once again lost out in the first round, losing in five games to the Barrie Colts.

The next season however saw the Frontenacs return to the previous two seasons, as the team blew an eight point lead to St,Mike’s over the last four weeks of the season and missed the playoffs.

The 2005-2006 season has the Frontenacs soar to the 80 point barrier for only the sixth time in franchise history, finishing the year with a solid 81 points. The team, led by Chris Stewart who was taken by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in the first round, finished the season in fourth in the Conference, but once again the franchise struggled in the playoffs, losing in six games to the Sudbury Wolves.