FRIDAY SEPT 7, 2018: MARKHAM, ON: The Markham Royals being a new quest for the Buckland Cup tonight when they host the Kingston Voyageurs at the Markham Centennial Community Centre. It is the start of the 4th season for the Royals franchise that relocated from Hamilton in 2014, and the Royals will be looking to reclaim the North Division title in pursuit of their first Buckland Cup.

This season signals a change for the Royals organization as the team saw a number of players graduate from the roster, opening the door for a new wave of talent, and as the Coaching staff has pointed out this incarnation is a younger group of players. It features a slightly smaller group that will bring speed and skill to the game every night, and a revamped back-end that will be lead by returning defenseman Devyn Mayea who was just recently named an Alternate Captain.

Other returning players from the 2017-18 season include Orlando Mainolfi, Nick Giunta, Alessio Luciani (also named Alternate Captain) and the newly named Captain of the Royals, Braedyn Aubin.

The Royals also added two veteran faces behind the bench in Assistants Scott Elliot and Brad Watt. Both are familiar faces with the franchise, as Elliott was the Head Coach and Watt his Assistant with the Hamilton Red Wings franchise from 2012 - 2014.

The Royals will be looking to improve on their 58pt season (26-22-1-5 record) which had them third in the Division and 6th in the (then) North-East Conference. Markham has been a strong contending team in each of their first three seasons winning at least 25 games and making the playoffs each year.

This season also signals a change in the OJHL, as the Board of Governors voted to change the league’s Conference alignment to North-West and South-East Conferences from South-West and North-East this spring. Schedules have been more heavily weighted to intra-division games to increase local rivalries. The League also moved the Lindsay Muskies from the North Division to the East Division, meaning the Royals will now play in a 5-team Division with Newmarket, Aurora, Pickering and Stouffville; each of the 4 divisions will have 4 teams advance into the post-season.

Game time tonight will be at 7:30pm, and the Royals will be hosting a pre-game ceremony prior to puck drop with a banner unveiling to honour the Humboldt Broncos hockey team.