The Brantford Bandits 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

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

team based in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

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 tota ...

. They play in the Mid-Western Conference of the

Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) is a Canadian junior ice hockey league based in Southern Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation, and Hockey Canada. The league is ...

History

For years, the

Brantford Eagles The Brantford Eagles were a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Mid-Western Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. On May 23, 2012, the Eagles were transplanted to Caledo ...

franchise were not very successful. From 1992 until 2002, the Eagles were only able to surpass ten wins once. Most of that time, the team had been transplanted to

Ohsweken, Ontario Ohsweken () is a dispersed rural community located within the Six Nations of the Grand River, in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 300 of the 2,700 homes on the reserve are in Ohsweken, and it is the site of the reserve gover ...

. In 2002, the team moved back to Brantford and began winning more consistently. By the 2005-06 season, the Eagles made the Mid-Western League final. In 2007, the three

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 ...

Junior B Leagues merged into the GOJHL. From that point on, the Eagles would win three Mid-Western regular season championships, three Mid-Western Conference playoff championships, and the 2009

Sutherland Cup The Sutherland Cup is the ice hockey Ontario Junior "B" Provincial Championship trophy. The trophy was first awarded in 1934, and named in honour of former OHA and CAHA president, James T. Sutherland. The Sutherland Cup is now the championship ...

as Ontario Champions. But the fans did not come. On May 23, 2012, the Eagles were official moved to

Caledonia, Ontario Caledonia is a community located on the Grand River in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 9,674 as of the 2016 Canadian Census. Caledonia is within Ward 3 of Haldimand County. The Councillor elected for Ward 3 is Dan Lawr ...

and became the

Caledonia Corvairs The Caledonia Corvairs are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Golden Horseshoe Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team announced it would not participate in the 201 ...

. In 2012, the GOJHL announced it was recruiting new teams for a new

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

-based fourth conference for the league. In Spring 2013, the plan would unceremoniously die, but a Brantford group that had decided to apply for entry transferred their request to the Mid-Western Conference. Their request was accepted and the ownership group named themselves the 99'ers in honour of

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

and the Brantford Minor Hockey Association. On September 6, 2013, the 99ers played their first ever game, on the road, against the Brampton Bombers. Luc Hartholt scored the first goal in franchise history at 2:29 of the first period in a 4-3 win. Andre Keire made 20 saves to pick up the first ever win in net.

Season-by-season results

References

External links

Bandits Webpage

GOJHL Webpage
{{GOJHL Ice hockey teams in Ontario 2012 establishments in Ontario