The Amherstburg Admirals are a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

club based in

Amherstburg, Ontario Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. They are members of the

Provincial Junior Hockey League The Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) is a Canadian junior ice hockey league spanning parts of Southern Ontario. The PJHL is the third tier of the Ontario Hockey Association and is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

. From 1987 until 2013, the team was located in

Kingsville, Ontario Kingsville is a town in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost municipality with town status. The town had a population of 21,552 in the Canada 2016 Census, up from 21,362 in the Canada 2011 Census. History Ki ...

, as the Kingsville Comets.

History

In the late 1980s the perennial powerhouse

Leamington Flyers The Leamington Flyers are a junior ice hockey team based in Leamington, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. They are an affiliate of the Ontario Hockey League's Flint Firebirds. Histo ...

seemed poised to make a jump to the

Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League The Western Ontario Hockey League (WOHL) was a junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1969 until 2007. In 2007, the league became a division of the newly formed Greater Ontario Junior Hockey ...

. The GLJHL granted expansion to the Comets right on Leamington's doorstep. In 1992, the Flyers finally made the jump and a lot of the local skill attributed to the Flyers switched over to the Comets. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s the Comets would be competitive. As the 2000s wore on, despite a newly renovated arena from the municipality, performance on the ice and attendance greatly declined. The 2011-2012 season was the Kingsville Comets 25th year of play in the Great Lakes Jr. C league. In April 2013, the team had struck a tentative deal with the Ontario Hockey Association and the town of

, to relocate the struggling franchise. Amherstburg had recently constructed a new arena which only required minor upgrades to host a Junior C team. In 26 years in Kingsville the team failed to win a league championship or appear in the GLJHL final. Due to Kingsville's location, the Comets usually ran into either the

Essex 73's The Essex 73's are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Essex, Ontario. The 73's are members of the Provincial Junior Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey Association. Prior to becoming members of the PJHL in 2016 the 73's won the GLJHL ...

or the

Belle River Canadiens The Lakeshore Canadiens are a Canada, Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Belle River, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. The Canadiens are 5 time Clarence Schmalz ...

by either the division semi-final or final. In the Comets' 26 seasons, Essex and Belle River combined for 22 league titles. On September 15, 2013, the Admirals made their hometown debut against the defending league champion

. The Admirals would fall 6-0 in front of a sold-out crowd. Chris Wallace played the entire game for the Admirals, making 29 saves. The next night, the Admirals traveled to

Wheatley, Ontario Wheatley is a community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It lies about east of Leamington. Nearby parks include Two Creeks Conservation Area, which has 15 km of hiking and bicycling paths, Kopegaron ...

, for their first road game and came home with their first win. Josh Lafromboise scored the Admirals' first ever goal at 10:38 into the first period and Dan Matoski scored the game winner 1:54 in the third to take a 6-4 victory over the

Wheatley Sharks The Wheatley Sharks are a junior hockey team based in Wheatley, Ontario, Canada. As of the 2016-17 season the Sharks began play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association. Previously, they were members of the Great ...

. Chris Wallace picked up the first ever victory in net.

Season-by-season record

References

External links

* {{OHA-C Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League teams 1987 establishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1987 Amherstburg, Ontario