Toronto Jr. Canadiens

The Toronto Jr. Canadiens was the name of a junior ice hockey franchise in the Ontario [Junior Hockey League]. In 2025, the franchise relocated from the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, where it had been based since 2006, to the Town of Newmarket, Ontario, and was rebranded as the Newmarket Hurricanes.

History

The team originated in 1972 as the Wexford Warriors of the Metro Junior B league, when the original Wexford Raiders jumped to the Junior A Ontario Provincial League in 1972. When the Junior A Raiders folded in 1981, the Junior B Warriors adopted the Raider name and kept it until 2006.
The Wexford Raiders were one of the strongest teams to play in the Metro Junior A Hockey League. A losing team for much of its history, they become one of the most dominant squads in 1990, under coaches Stan Butler and Kevin Burkett. Butler and Burkett coached the Wexford Raiders midget team to the 1989 championship, then took most of the players to the Junior B level in 1990, and they served as the foundation to four consecutive Metro championship squads. During the 1990s, under the management of Burkett and Butler, the Raiders sent more players on NCAA Division I hockey scholarships than any other junior team in North America. In 1994, the Raiders defeated the Caledon Canadians 4-games-to-0 in the Metro League final. The Canadians were granted the permission to host the Dudley Hewitt Cup that year and ended up winning it despite losing the Metro final.
In 1998, again playing Caledon, the Raiders won the last Metro Junior "A" title in game 7 by a score of 9–0. In 2006, the Raiders changed their name to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and took on the colours of the Montreal Canadiens.
On February 11, 2007, after 144 minutes and 32 seconds of play, the Canadiens defeated the Pickering Panthers in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs. The game-winning goal was credited to Kyle Wetering at the 4:32 mark of the 5th overtime. Toronto outshot Pickering 88–86. On February 12, 2007, TSN show That's Hockey showed highlights of the game and announced that the history of the game may be preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame as the longest junior hockey game in history, far surpassing the previous record. The game has been officially named the longest game in Ontario Hockey Association history.
In 2025, the league announced the relocation of the franchise to the Ray Twinney Recreation Complex in the Town of Newmarket. The franchise was rebranded as the Newmarket Hurricanes, a callback to the Newmarket Hurricanes (1997–2019) that rebranded as the Milton Menace in 2019.

Season-by-season results

Playoffs

MetJHL Years

1990 Lost final
1991 Won League
1992 Won League
1993 Won League
1994 Won League, lost OHA Buckland Cup round robin
1995 Lost final
1996 Lost semi-final
1997 Lost semi-final
1998 ''Won League, lost OHA Buckland Cup''

Raiders 1970-1981

There also was a Wexford Raiders team in the Ontario Provincial Junior League based in the Wexford neighbourhood of the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. The team originated in 1970 as the Toronto Raiders of the Metro Junior B league, and was renamed the Wexford Raiders in 1971. In 1972, the team moved to the new Ontario Provincial Junior League in 1972 and operated until 1981. After the Junior A team folded, the Metro B "Warriors" assumed the "Raider" name in 1983.

Playoffs

1973 Won League, lost OHA Buckland Cup
1974 Won League, won OHA Buckland Cup, lost Hewitt-Dudley Memorial Trophy semi-final
1975 Lost final
1976 Lost quarter-final
1977 Lost quarter-final
1978 Lost quarter-final
1979 DNQ
1980 Lost quarter-final
1981 ''DNQ''

Arena

Beginning in the 2025–26 OJHL season, the Jr. Canadiens play their home games at Ray Twinney Recreation Complex in Newmarket. From 2006–2025, they played at the Scotiabank Pond at Downsview Park in Toronto.

Notable alumni

;Wexford Warriors

;Wexford Raiders

;Toronto Jr. Canadiens