History
The Icehawks were one of the most historical teams in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, having been formed in 1964 until the team was purchased and moved to Brantford for the 2018-19 season.[1][2] The Icehawks (2003–2018) have previously been known as the Milton Flyers (1971-1983), Milton Steamers (1983-1986), and Milton Merchants (1966-1971, 1986-2003).
Early years
After serving in the Second World War as a RCAF wireless air gunner, David Brush returned to Milton and managed the Fred Armstrong Arena on Brown Street for two years, before Milton had artificial ice. His dedication to hockey included coaching at the minor league level and founding the town’s first Junior C club, the Milton Merchants, in 1964 as co-owner and president, which later became Jr. B and eventually Jr. A. For his efforts Brush was inducted into the Milton Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.[3]
In the 1970s, Vern Gooding owned the local team when they were known as the Milton Flyers.[4]
In 1974, three players including the team captain and top scorer left the team mid season over an imposed curfew dispute. Two of the three players had had tryouts with OHL clubs, and all three were club veterans.[5]
Grant Turner, Mark Grenier, Howie Scannell, and John Morgan owned the Milton Steamers in the early 1980s. Morgan sold his stake in the club to Turner, prompting Scannell to announce that he was preparing to sell his stake as well. On April 10, 1986, Turner, Grenier and Scannell sold the Steamers to Brad Grant who owned trucking company Sandstone Transport.[6]
Grant era and championship successes
Trucking magnate Brad Grant purchased the team in April 1986 when it seemed like the organization might fold. For the 1986-87 season, he immediately changed the team's name from the Steamers to the Merchants after the Junior C team of old, and brought in former coach Gerry Inglis, who had also coached the Georgetown Raiders and had won five intermediate championships at the time.[6]
Grant led the team to tremendous success in the late 1990s. During his 15-year ownership run, the team captured four division crowns, three league championships and a provincial title.[7]
In 1992, the Milton Merchants were Central Junior B Hockey League champions with a 4-2 victory in Game 7 over the Aurora Eagles.[8] They made the Ontario Hockey Association Sutherland Cup Junior B championship but lost in five games to the Mid-Western Junior B Hockey League's Kitchener Dutchmen.[9]
Following the 1992-93 season, the Merchants made the jump to Junior A in the OPJHL.
The 1994-95 season marked the beginning of a historical run for the franchise as the club won five straight division titles. The surge of success increased when the Merchants were crowned league champions in 1997, winning the Buckland Trophy after defeating the Newmarket 87's. In the 1997 Dudley Cup playoffs, the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) beat Milton four games to one.
In 1998, the Milton Merchants repeated their Buckland Trophy title, dispatching the Newmarket Hurricanes this time, and then went on to become Central Canadian Junior A Champions by winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup, defeating the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) four games to two, and exacting revenge for the previous year's loss to Rayside-Balfour.
At the 1998 Royal Bank Cup, the Milton Merchants went 1-3 in round robin play. In the semifinal game, Milton lost 6-2 to the South Surrey Eagles and were eliminated from the tournament.
In 2018, the Milton Sports Hall of Fame announced that it is inducting the 1996–97 and 1997-98 Merchants teams, and Brad Grant as a builder, during a ceremony in November.[10]
Forgione era
In 2001, Grant sold the team to an Oakville trio that consisted of ex-NHLer Dave Gagner, Mario Forgione who owned the Mississauga IceDogs at the time and was an automotive parts manufacturing president, and wine distillery consultant Ken Chase.[11][12]
For the 2003-04 season, Forgione changed the team's name from the Merchants to the IceHawks to reflect the team's connection with the local minor hockey programs called the Winterhawks, and Forgione's ownership of the Mississauga IceDogs.[13] In 2005, the Ontario Hockey Association fined the Icehawks $12,000 and suspended then-General Manager George Dupont for signing two players outside of OHA guidelines.[14] In 2006, Forgione officially affiliated the Icehawks with the IceDogs.[15]
Heinz era
In the spring of 2006, ex-NHL goaltender Rick Heinz' attempt to purchase the nearby Georgetown Raiders fell through, but by July 2006 the local Campbellville resident Heinz had talked Forgione into selling the Icehawks, and the affiliation with the IceDogs ended.[16] Heinz sold the team just nine months later after starting the season with essentially no committed players.[17]
DeVincentis and Piett era
Dean Piett, a commercial real estate businessman from Burlington, and Rob DeVincentis, the Ancaster owner of a construction business, purchased the team from Heinz and owned the team from 2007 to 2017.[18]
Move to Brantford
DeVincentis sold the team in 2017 to Darren DeDobbelaer of Brantford, whose son Eric played on the Junior B Brantford 99ers, which DeDobbelaer also owned. The Ontario Hockey Association originally blocked the $500,000 sale of the IceHawks to prevent DeDobbelaer from moving the team to Brantford, or promoting the 99ers to Jr. A and demoting the IceHawks in Milton to Jr. B. Complicating matters was the fact that Brad Grant who previously owned the team was OHA chairman at the time of the proposed sale.[19] The sale was ultimately approved on the condition that the IceHawks remain in Milton for the 2017–18 season. The team the announced that starting in the 2018–19 season the team would relocate to Brantford to play under the 99ers name with the OJHL's approval.[20] However, this move was denied by the Ontario Hockey Association, the overseeing organization for the Ontario Junior Hockey League, by refusing to send officials to their first game in Brantford on September 13[21] and the Icehawks were forced to stay in Milton for another season.[22]
On October 21, the OHA and OJHL announced the relocation of the team back to Brantford.[23]
New Ownership
In 2023, DeDobbelaer sold the team to another buyer, marking the 2023/24 season starting under new ownership for the team.
