The Kingston Raiders was a short-lived name used by a

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, Canada-based major

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...

team in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

for the 1988–89 season only. The team played out of the

Kingston Memorial Centre The Kingston Memorial Centre is a 3,300-seat multi-purpose arena located at 303 York Street in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1951, the ''Kingston Community Memorial Health and Recreation Centre'' was designed as a community sports and en ...

Team history

When the

Kingston Canadians The Kingston Canadians were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League from 1973 to 1988. The team played home games at the Kingston Memorial Centre in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. History The Kingston Canadians arrival in the Ontari ...

were sold in 1988, the club's name was changed to Kingston Raiders for the 1988–89 season by the new owner, Lou Kazowski. After a dismal season in 1987–88, he hoped that the team could acquire the "tough" image of the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

football team by adopting their name and new black and silver uniforms, similar to those recently adopted by the NHL's

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

. In their only season of existence, the Raiders finished 7th in the Leyden division and did not qualify for the playoffs. The team's coach was Larry Mavety. It was his first year in Kingston after many years coaching the Belleville Bulls. Larry would also go on to coach the Frontenacs in two different stints. Kazowski was extremely unpopular locally, and after a number of disputes with the OHL and an unsuccessful season, he was encouraged to sell the team and was effectively barred from future ownership. The new owners included Wren Blair and Bob Attersley, who renamed the team

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenacs play home games at Slush Puppie Place, which opened in 2008. The team's history predates the Ontario Ho ...

after the EPHL team of which they had both been members.

Players

The Kingston Raiders had the first overall pick in the draft that year and chose

Drake Berehowsky Drake Berehowsky (born January 3, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is best known for his time in the National Hockey League (NHL), where he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oiler ...

. Berehowsky would win the

Jack Ferguson Award The Jack Ferguson Award is awarded each year to the top draft pick in the Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the W ...

for being the first overall draft pick. Jeff Wilson won the F.W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy, for the best goals against average for a rookie goaltender (1988–89). From this team, six players made the NHL. The last remaining active former member of the Kingston Raiders was Justin Morrison, who played his final OHL game in the 1992–93 season.

NHL alumni

Source

Season stats 1988–1989

*1988–89 Out of

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

.
View Kingston Raiders 1988-1989 stats

Arena

*'

'' The OHL Arena & Travel Guide {{OHL Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Sport in Kingston, Ontario 1988 establishments in Ontario 1989 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1988 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1989 Defunct ice hockey teams in Ontario