The Fort Frances Royals were a 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 ...

club from

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Cham ...

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. The Royals were members of the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between ...

-eligible Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League.

History

The Fort Frances Royals were founded in 1963 as members of the

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

. After a season playing against all Manitoba opponents, the Royals elected to transfer to the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League. They were the first team in decades to play in the TBJHL without existing within what would eventually become the City of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...

. The Royals folded mid-season in 1969 after a terrible start to the season. Up to this point, the Royals were a force to reckon with in the TBJHL despite never winning a league title. In 1970-71, the Royals entered the 1971 Centennial Cup playdowns as an independent team. They were defeated 3-games-to-none by the Thunder Bay Marrs in the Northwestern Ontario final.

Season-by-season standings

Notable alumni

* Danny Johnsonbr>
Ice hockey teams in Ontario Sport in Northern Ontario Fort Frances Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada 1963 establishments in Ontario 1970 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1963 Sports clubs disestablished in 1970 Hockey Northwestern Ontario {{Ontario-icehockey-team-stub