The Markham Royals are a franchise in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, entering our ninth season in our current form in 2024/25. Our history stretches much longer than that, though, spanning over fifty years in Junior Hockey. The Royals came to be as an amalgamation of two organizations, the Hamilton Red Wings and the Markham Waxers.
(Brian Watts / OJHL Images)
The Red Wings got their start as the original rendition of the Hamilton Kilty B’s in 1973, joining the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League (NDJBHL). Quickly, the organization shifted over to the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League, where outside of a year of leave in 1977, the team remained until 1993. The Kilty B’s were one of the league’s most competitive teams for most of their time in the GHJHL, posting an all-time record of 371-28-90-5 (0.559), saving their best for their last season in the league. In 1992-93, the Kilty’s put up a 32-8-1-1 record in the regular season and cruised through the playoffs, winning the Golden Horseshoe championship. With that, they earned promotion to the newly formed OPJHL, a league which would eventually become the OJHL that we know today.
Hamilton kept the Kilty’s name for its first ten seasons in the OPJHL and maintained its status as one of the league’s most competitive teams. Ahead of the 2003/04 season, the team took on the Red Wings name, gaining inspiration from the former Ontario Hockey Association team of the 1960s and 1970s. The Red Wings maintained their consistent regular season success in the expanded league and went on deep playoff runs in 2006 and 2007.
In 2015, the Red Wings left Hamilton to fill a void in Markham, left behind by the Jr. A Waxers, who themselves had an extensive history in the game. Beginning as the Markham Jets in the 1930s, the Waxers became a Junior B organization in the Metro League in 1963, winning league championships in 1968, 1969, and 1972 along with the Sutherland Cup as Ontario’s top team in the latter two years. For much of this time, the Waxers had a partnership with the Toronto Maple Leafs and a loose affiliation with the OHA’s Toronto Marlboros, leading to a bevy of successful alumni.
The Waxers moved up to the original rendition of the OPJHL in 1973, around the same time as the Hamilton organization began its journey. The ever-evolving junior landscape of the 1990s and early 2000s led to a couple of movements between leagues, ultimately returning the team home to the OJHL in its final few years of operation.
Upon returning the Markham, the Royals maintained their history in Hamilton while also carrying the torch of their Markham predecessors, returning to Centennial Arena and taking the name of the Waxers’ sister organization. The Royals began play in their new home in 2015/16, winning the North Division in three of their first four seasons and heading to the OJHL Conference Finals in 2018/19, ultimately losing to the eventual champion Oakville Blades.
After a rebuilding year following the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Royals had a resurgence in 2022/23 and 2023/24, upping their win total from 8 to 22 to 30 in the span of two years. For several months of the season, the Royals were ranked in the CJHL’s Top 20 Junior A teams in Canada. The team also saw several individual franchise records get set and sent four players, along with its coaching staff, to the 2024 OJHL All-Star Festivities.
Over the years, the Royals organization has had a rich history of advancing its players to higher levels. Between the Royals, Red Wings, and Kiltys, the team has graduated over 200 players to NCAA or USPORTS programs, with even more included in the Waxers Umbrella. The organization also has a bevy of major junior, minor-pro and professional hockey alumni, including six active NHLers who have played for the Royals, Red Wings, or Waxers.
Our history is far from over, however—it’s arguably just getting started. The team’s ambitions are as bright as ever, and it hopes to achieve new heights in the OJHL and help its players continue to find new levels in their hockey journeys!
