By Ken Pagan

New home arena, new logo and uniforms, new name, same great hockey club.

Club owner and president Tim Wilson made it official on Wednesday, announcing the relocation of the Ancaster Avalanche junior 'B' hockey franchise to Hamilton's Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena, where the Hamilton Kilty B's will be revived for the 2018-19 GOJHL season.

The Kilty B's were first formed in 1977 and played in the Golden Horseshoe Junior B Hockey League for several years, winning a championship in 1992-93 before joining the provincial junior 'A' league and being renamed the Hamilton Red Wings in 2002. The Red Wings moved to Markham in 2015, leaving a junior hockey void on the mountain.

The team purchased the rights to the Kilty B’s name and trademark from Stu Hyman, owner of the Markham Royals Jr. A team, formerly the Hamilton Red Wings and Kilty B’s. He is the father of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman, who played junior with the Hamilton Red Wings from 2008-2011.

“I think the city has been crying for hockey to be back at Mountain Arena,” Wilson said in an interview with Ancaster News, adding team representatives and Hamilton staff have been working behind the scenes for several months.

The team will play its home games on Monday nights, reviving the Red WIngs/Kilty B's tradition. The list of alumni who came through the Kilty B's/Red Wings organization includes Hyman, Cam Talbot, Chris Tanev, Steve Staios, Gary Roberts, Keith Primeau and Marty McSorley.

"It hasn't been done in a long time, the Monday night games," Wilson said on a radio interview with TSN 1150 on Wednesday. "It's really exciting. I think it's going to create quite a stir, doing something that isn't being done with Monday night hockey. We're really going to cater to the crowd and try to build up Monday nights and offer people a place to watch some good local talent."

The Avalanche played out of Ancaster's Morgan Firestone Arena for five seasons after relocating from Stoney Creek for the 2013-14 season. They are coming off a season in which a franchise record for wins was established (38-10-2) in finishing fourth overall in the 26-team GOJHL. They lost in Game 7 of the conference semifinals to the St. Catharines Falcons.

"Ancaster was great -- a fantastic facility and a great staff that catered to us," Wilson told TSN radio. "I just think bringing the team to a more central location in Hamilton, especially where it used to be, is just going to be a lot of fun."

Head coach Ken Peroff, who was named the Golden Horseshoe Conference's Coach of the Year, will return as coach and is already working on building a roster for the season's start in September. A prospect camp and goalie camp is scheduled for Morgan Firestone Arena next Wednesday through Sunday.

"Hopefully, we're going to put a better product on the ice than even last year," Wilson said. "If we can do better, or even match last season for that matter ... we're going to treat tour fans and the support group really well. It's just really exciting."