Kingston Voyageurs
| Kingston Voyageurs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Kingston, Ontario, Canada |
| League | Ontario Junior Hockey League |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Home arena | INVISTA Centre |
| Colours |
Blue, red, white |
| Affiliates |
|
Blue, red, white
The Kingston Voyageurs are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
The Voyageurs entered the Metro Junior B Hockey League in 1974. The Voyageurs filled the Junior "B" void left when the Kingston Frontenacs jumped from the Eastern Junior B Hockey League in 1972 to the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League and then the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1973 as the Kingston Canadians.
The Voyageurs continued with the league when it became the Metro Junior A Hockey League in 1991 and stuck around until 1995. In 1995, the team jumped to the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The Vees were bought in the summer of 2006 by their major sponsor Gregg Rosen from KIMCO Steel Sales Ltd., who promptly spent more money to fix up the teams existing dressing room, build an office above the dressing room for the coaching staff and buy the players new equipment and sticks among other things. The Voyageurs currently play out of the new $24.5 million Invista Centre, located on Fortune Crescent, near Highway 401 and Gardiners Road.
On April 14, 2009, the Voyageurs won their first Buckland Trophy defeating the Oakville Blades in 5 games. On April 25, 2009, the Voyageurs defeated the Fort William North Stars 4-1 to capture the first Dudley Hewitt Cup in team history. By virtue of the win the Voyageurs qualified for the 2009 Royal Bank Cup. They played their first game of the tournament on May 3 against the host Victoria Grizzlies. They finished in fourth place in the tournament.
In 2011, due to Gregg Rosen being diagnosed with cancer, the team was sold to a group that included Colin Birkas, the head coach of the Greater Kingston Jr. Frontenacs. Evan Robinson was relieved of his head coaching duties and Birkas replaced him. As well, the general manager duties were assumed by Denis Duchesne. During the summer of 2014, Duchesne was relieved of his duties as general manager and the role was filled on an interim basis by Birkas and Rick Poirier. Poirier retired from the team shortly before Christmas 2014. Toward the end of the 2014-15 season, Birkas was suspended for an infraction during a game against the Wellington Dukes, causing assistants Ben Munroe and Dan Clarke to assume the coaching duties. Birkas' suspension was for the balance of the 2014-15 season, the playoffs, and the entire 2015-16 season. Despite this, the Voyageurs rallied and managed to have a magical 2015 playoff run. This was highlighted by a comeback from being down 0-3 against the Aurora Tigers to win in seven games, as well as taking the defending champion Toronto Lakeshore Patriots to Game 7 in the Buckland Cup finals.
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