Surrey Eagles

New Westminster Royals

The city of New Westminster had been the home of a number of professional ice hockey teams, all named the New Westminster Royals, in the 1910s, 1940s and 1950s. In 1962, a New Westminster Royals team joined the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League. After five straight league championships, the PCJHL merged with the British Columbia Junior Hockey League in 1967. They were Abbott Cup Finalists in 1967, during the 1967 Memorial Cup playdowns. In 1971, the franchise was suspended when the Western Canada Junior Hockey League expanded with the New Westminster Bruins. In 1981, the Bruins skipped town and the Royals were reactivated for two seasons. In 1983, the Bruins returned to New Westminster and the Royals were again inactive. In 1988, the Bruins left town again and the Royals were reactivated. The Royals won the Fred Page Cup, as BCHL Champions, in 1989–90, then relocated to Surrey after the 1990–91 season. Future NHL star Cliff Ronning was a notable member of the early 1980s Royals squad. Future convicted fraudster Frank Biller played for the Royals from 1988-1990 (winning the BCHL championship), then joined the British Columbia firm Eron Mortgage Corp, becoming vice-president and chief mortgage broker and helping to execute the biggest fraud in British Columbia history, taking investors for $240 million (over $357 million today) before being shut down by the British Columbia Securities Commission in 1997.^[1]

Surrey

The first four seasons in the South Surrey were very disappointing for the Eagles as they did not make it past the Quarter-Finals. It was seasons 5 and 6 that the team had its greatest success.

In 1997, their fifth season, the Eagles finished with a record of 47-7-6 for 100 points, and won the BCHL championship by defeating the Vernon Vipers in the Subway Cup. The Eagles then beat the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League champions Cranbrook Colts and the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League to earn a berth in the Royal Bank Cup. In the tournament, held in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, the Eagles went 3-1 in the round robin and beat the Kanata Valley Lasers 4-2 in the semi-final before losing to the host Summerside Western Capitals 4-3 in the championship game.

Season 6, 1998, would bring the ultimate goal, a Royal Bank Cup, to the South Surrey Eagles. This time, in Nanaimo, British Columbia, they cruised through the tournament, ultimately beating the Weyburn Red Wings 4-1 in the final.

The remaining seasons were also very strong regular seasons for Surrey. In 1999 they lost the league title to eventual Royal Bank Cup winners Vernon Vipers. They lost twice in the Semi-finals in that span and won the league title, Fred Page Cup, in 2005 overcoming Vernon Vipers, 4 games to 1. In the Doyle Cup series, Camrose Kodiaks defeated them, 4 games to 1.

In 2012/13 the Eagles had another very successful year. They won the British Columbia Hockey League championship by defeating the Penticton Vees in 6 games. Next they won the inaugural Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup with a 4-2 win over the Brooks Bandits in the championship game. At the Royal Bank Cup the Surrey Eagles went 3-1 in the round robin to finish in 2nd place, however in the Semi-Final, they lost to the host Summerside Western Capitals in overtime.