The Kingston Frontenacs are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenacs play home games at Slush Puppie Place, which opened in 2008. The team's history predates the Ontario Hockey League, to a team known as the Kingston Victorias in 1945. This current Frontenacs franchise was founded in the Ontario Hockey Association in 1973–74, then known as the Kingston Canadians until 1987–88. The team was briefly known as the Kingston Raiders in 1988–89, and as the Frontenacs since.
History
The original Kingston Frontenacs were founded in 1897, named after Louis de Buade de Frontenac, governor of New France, who established Fort Frontenac on the site of present-day Kingston. The original Frontenacs were coached by James T. Sutherland, played in the intermediate division of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), and won the inaugural J. Ross Robertson Cup during the 1898–99 season.
The Kingston Frontenacs had a junior ice hockey team in the OHA prior to World War I. This version of the Frontenacs won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the 1910–11 season. National Hockey League alumni from this team are Alec Connell, Bill Cook, Allan Davidson, and Flat Walsh.
An Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) Sr. League team also existed from the 1910s to 1940s. National Hockey League alumni from this team are Mickey Blake, Glen Brydson, Bill Cook, Gus Giesebrecht, Doug Stevenson, Charles Stewart, Carl Voss and Flat Walsh. Some members of this team then formed an entry in the Ontario Veteran's Hockey League during World War II. National Hockey League alumni from this team are Hub Macey, Gus Marker, Walt McCartney and Ed Nicholson.
1952–1973
In 1952, the Kingston Victoria were renamed the Kingston Frontenacs. They won the Eastern Jr. B championship in the 1953–54 and 1955–56 seasons. This Frontenacs team lost in the 1963 Sutherland Cup final to the St. Marys Lincolns, 4 games to 1.
From 1959 to 1963, there was also a Kingston Frontenacs team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League.
Kingston Canadians (1973–1988) The Kingston Canadians arrival in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) for the 1973–74 season was a result of the Montreal Junior Canadiens move 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.
After a one-year hiatus, the OHA then reactivated the suspended franchise under new ownership and with new players, calling the team the Kingston Canadians. The new Kingston team was essentially an expansion franchise promoted from the OHA's Tier II league, that had only common name to share with the old Junior Canadiens. The Tier II Frontenacs originated in the Eastern Junior B Hockey League and date back to at least the early 1940s as the Kingston Victorias. 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 Raiders (1988–89) Following a change in ownership the club was renamed Kingston Raiders for one season in 1988–89. Due to ownership problems, the team was sold again following that season.
Kingston Frontenacs (1989–present) In 1989, the new ownership, including Wren Blair, Don Anderson and Bob Attersley, renamed the team Kingston Frontenacs after the Eastern Professional Hockey League team. The Boston Bruins-style uniforms and logos were revived from the old franchise. The city embraced and welcomed the new ownership. Wren Blair and Bob Attersley were both hockey legends in their own right. In 1997 Wren Blair would be honoured with the Bill Long Award for distinguished service in the OHL. The club was sold to the Springer family of Kingston in June 1998, with Doug Springer becoming the owner and governor.
The Frontenacs franchise has the second-longest championship drought in the OHL (to the Sudbury Wolves by one year), and the fourth-longest in the Canadian Hockey League. The Frontenacs won the Leyden Trophy as the OHL's East Division champions in the 1994–95 and 2015–16. In the 1992–93 season, the Frontenacs reached the Eastern Conference Final but lost to the Peterborough Petes. In 2017-18, Kingston reached the Eastern Conference final for the second time in club history, however, they lost to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Coaches
During the inaugural season of the Kingston Canadians in 1973–74, Jack Bownass was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHA Coach of the Year. Former NHL defenceman Jim Morrison coached the team from 1975 to 1982, which was the longest stint a coach had when the club was known as the Canadians.
Larry Mavety coached the Frontenacs for much of the team's history. He originally coached the team in 1988–89, when they were still known as the Kingston Raiders. In 1989–90, the first season the franchise was known as the Frontenacs, he won the Matt Leyden Trophy as the OHL Coach of the Year. Mavety returned to Kingston in 1997 to become the head coach once again, and stayed in that position until midway through the 2002–03 season when he stepped down to focus on his general manager duties. After a slow start in the 2007–08 season, Mavety once again found himself coaching the Frontenacs until November 2008. Mavety remained as the general manager until the end of the 2010–11 season.
A number of Frontenacs coaches have gone on to coach in the National Hockey League; while Gary Agnew and Dave Allison had short spells as NHL head coaches, Bruce Cassidy is the only Frontenacs coach to become a full-time NHL head coach.
List of coaches (Multiple years in parentheses, totals include all incarnations of the Kingston franchise) 1973–1975 Jack Bownass (2) 1975–1982 Jim Morrison (7) 1982–1983 Rod Graham 1983–1985 Rick Cornacchia (2) 1985–1985 Jim Dorey (2) 1985–1987 Fred O'Donnell (2) 1987–1988 Jacques Tremblay 1988–1988 Jim Dorey (2) 1988–1990 Larry Mavety (10) 1990–1991 Randy Hall 1991–1992 Paul Cook 1992–1994 Dave Allison (2) 1994–1997 Gary Agnew (3)1997–2003 Larry Mavety (10) 2002–2003 Greg Bignell 2003–2006 Jim Hulton (3) 2006–2007 Bruce Cassidy (2) 2007–2008 Larry Mavety (10) 2008–2011 Doug Gilmour (3) 2011–2014 Todd Gill (3) 2014–2017 Paul McFarland (4) 2017–2018 Jay Varady 2018–2020 Kurtis Foster (2) 2021–2023 Luca Caputi 2023–present Troy Mann
Players Paul Coffey is the only former member of the Kingston franchise to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, getting the honour in 2004. In 1977–78, Coffey played for the Kingston Canadians, as a late season addition from the North York Rangers. He played eight games with the Canadians.
Honoured numbers Several numbers have been honoured by the Kingston Canadians/Frontenacs. In 2019, Chris Clifford had his number 29 retired, joining Mike O'Connell, Brad Rhiness, Tony McKegney, and Ken Linseman in receiving the honour. In 2023, brothers Anthony Stewart and Chris Stewart had their numbers raised to the rafters.
Larry Mavety is the only builder to be honoured by the organization for his work as a coach and general manager. The coach and manager holds the Kingston Frontenacs all-time wins record with 246.
Award winners CHL Player of the Year 1994–95 David Ling
CHL Goaltender of the Year 1999–2000 Andrew Raycroft
CHL Rookie of the Year 2019–20 Shane Wright
Bobby Smith TrophyScholastic Player of the Year 1985–86 Chris Clifford 2009–10 Erik Gudbranson
Dan Snyder Memorial TrophyHumanitarian of the Year 1992–93 Keli Corpse 2007–08 Peter Stevens 2023–24 Mason Vaccari Dave Pinkney TrophyLowest Team G.A.A. 1989–90 Jeff Wilson & Sean Gauthier
Eddie Powers Memorial TrophyOHL Scoring Champion 1983–84 Tim Salmon
Emms Family AwardRookie of the Year 1991–92 Chris Gratton 2019–20 Shane Wright
F.W. "Dinty" Moore TrophyLowest Rookie G.A.A. 1988–89 Jeff WilsonJack Ferguson AwardFirst Overall Draft Pick 1985 Bryan Fogarty 1988 Drake Berehowsky 2019 Shane Wright
Jim Mahon Memorial TrophyTop Scoring Right Winger 1994–95 David Ling 2021–22 Lucas Edmonds
Max Kaminsky TrophyMost Outstanding Defenceman 1974–75 Mike O'Connell 1997–98 Chris Allen
OHL Goaltender of the Year 1994–95 Tyler Moss 1999–2000 Andrew Raycroft 2014–2015 Lucas Peressini
Red Tilson TrophyMost Outstanding Player 1994–95 David Ling 1999–2000 Andrew Raycroft
William Hanley TrophyMost Sportsmanlike Player 1983–84 Kevin Conway 1997–98 Matt Bradley 1999–2000 Mike Zigomanis
Team captains
1989-1990, Wayne Doucet 1990–1991, Geoff Schneider 1991–1992, Dave Stewart 1992–1993, none 1993–1994, Keli Corpse 1994–1995, David Ling 1995–1996, Marc Moro 1996–1997, Cail MacLean 1997–1998, Colin Chaulk 1998–1999, Kevin Grimes 1999–2001, Michael Zigomanis 2001–2002, Andrew Ianiero 2002–2003, Cory Stillman 2003–2005, Anthony Stewart 2005–2006, Adam Nemeth 2006–2007, Chris Stewart 2007–2008, Cory Emmerton / Justin Wallingford 2008–2009, Erik Gudbranson / George Lovatsis / Brian Lashoff 2009–2010, Brian Lashoff 2010–2011, Taylor Doherty 2011–2012, Tyler J. Brown / Cody Alcock 2012–2013, Cody Alcock 2013–2014, Michael Moffat 2014–2016, Roland McKeown 2016–2017, Stephen Desrocher 2017–2018, Ted Nichol 2018–2019, Ryan Cranford 2019–2020, Jakob Brahaney 2021–2022, Shane Wright 2022–2024, Paul Ludwinski 2024–2025, Quinton Burns 2025–2026, Jacob Battaglia / Vann Williamson 2026-2027, Vann Willamson
First-round draft picks The Kingston franchise has had several players selected in the first round of the NHL draft. Alex Forsyth – 18th overall, Washington Capitals, 1975 Draft Mark Suzor – 17th overall, Philadelphia Flyers, 1976 Draft Mike Crombeen – 5th overall, Cleveland Barons, 1977 Draft Mike Gillis – 5th overall, Colorado Rockies, 1978 Draft Behn Wilson – 6th overall, Philadelphia Flyers, 1978 Draft Ken Linseman – 7th overall, Philadelphia Flyers, 1978 Draft Jay Wells – 16th overall, Los Angeles Kings, 1979 Draft Rik Wilson – 12th overall, St. Louis Blues, 1980 Draft Mike Stothers – 21st overall, Philadelphia Flyers, 1980 Draft Kirk Muller – 2nd overall, New Jersey Devils, 1984 Draft Roger Belanger – 16th overall, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1984 Draft Scott Metcalfe – 20th overall, Edmonton Oilers, 1985 Draft Bryan Fogarty – 9th overall, Quebec Nordiques, 1987 Draft Scott Pearson – 6th overall, Toronto Maple Leafs, 1988 Draft Drake Berehowsky – 10th overall, Toronto Maple Leafs, 1990 Draft Chris Gratton – 3rd overall, Tampa Bay Lightning, 1993 Draft Brett Lindros – 9th overall, New York Islanders, 1994 Draft Chad Kilger – 4th overall, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 1995 Draft Kevin Grimes – 26th overall, Colorado Avalanche, 1997 Draft Anthony Stewart – 25th overall, Florida Panthers, 2003 Draft Chris Stewart – 18th overall, Colorado Avalanche, 2006 Draft Erik Gudbranson - 3rd overall, Florida Panthers, 2010 Draft Sam Bennett - 4th overall, Calgary Flames, 2014 Draft Lawson Crouse - 11th overall, Florida Panthers, 2015 Draft Shane Wright - 4th overall, Seattle Kraken, 2022 Draft
NHL alumni Kingston Canadians
Perry Anderson Scott Arniel Roger Belanger Neil Belland Phil Bourque Gord Buynak Jeff Chychrun Chris Clifford Paul Coffey Mike Crombeen Peter Dineen Brian Dobbin Peter Driscoll Richie Dunn Todd Elik Bryan Fogarty Mike Forbes Alex Forsyth Mike Gillis Ron Handy Greg Holst Greg Hotham Scott Howson Tim Kerr Marc Laforge Ken Linseman Darren Lowe Tom McCarthy Tony McKegney Scott Metcalfe Mike Moffat Kirk Muller Craig Muni Bernie Nicholls Mike O'Connell Scott Pearson Rob Plumb Walt Poddubny Paul Pooley Herb Raglan Moe Robinson Howard Scruton Steve Seftel Steve Seguin Mike Siltala Dennis Smith Mike Stothers Mark Suzor Jay Wells Behn Wilson Rik Wilson
Kingston Raiders
Drake Berehowsky Tony Cimellaro Sean Gauthier Mark Major