In 1963, Eugene George and a group of Kitchener businessmen brought the Guelph Royals, a farm team of the NHL’s New York Rangers, to Kitchener and renamed them the Kitchener Rangers Junior “A” Hockey Club.

Mr. George was an integral part of the group that brought the Rangers to Kitchener in 1963. He served as president during the team’s first five years of operation when the club was owned by the New York Rangers, until it became a “community team” under his guidance in 1967. This was due to the expansion of the NHL’s “Original Six’” Era. So, on July 7, 1967, George agreed to purchase the team from the New York Rangers for a sum of one dollar. He declined the opportunity for private ownership but instead turned the team over to the community through the creation of a not-for-profit organization.

George had a very successful masonry company and he served as founding president of both the Canadian and Ontario masonry contractor’s associations. He was the first Canadian to be president of the Masonry Contractor Association of America and the International Masonry Institute and was inducted into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame in 2010.

As part of the OHL’s jersey patch program, we’ve partnered with the George family to honor Eugene’s legacy by featuring his initials and the founding year, EBG 63, on our jerseys.