The city ofNew 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 junior 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 major junior Western Canada Hockey League expanded with the New Westminster Bruins. In 1981, the Bruins relocated and the Royals were reactivated for two seasons. In 1983, the another Bruins' team returned to New Westminster and the Royals were again inactive. In 1988, the Bruins left again and the Royals were reactivated. The Royals won the Fred Page Cup as BCHL playoff champions in 1989–90. Future NHL star Cliff Ronning was a notable member of the early 1980s Royals' squad. Future convicted fraud Frank Biller played for the Royals from 1988 to 1990.
Surrey
In 1991, the New Westminster Royals relocated to nearby Surrey, British Columbia. For the first four seasons in South Surrey, the Eagles did not make it past the quarterfinals in the playoffs. 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 semifinal before losing to the hostSummerside Western Capitals 4–3 in the championship game. In the following 1997–98 season, the South Surrey Eagles won the Royal Bank Cup with the tournament held in Nanaimo, British Columbia, defeating the Weyburn Red Wings 4–1 in the final. The Eagles' following seasons also were successful, losing the league title to eventual Royal Bank Cup winners Vernon Vipers in 1999, then twice losing in the league semifinal, and won the league title in 2005 over the Vernon Vipers four games to one. In the 2005 Doyle Cup series, they lost to Camrose Kodiaks four games to one. In 2012–13, the Eagles won the British Columbia Hockey League championship by defeating the Penticton Vees in six games. They then won the inaugural 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 second place, but lost to the host Summerside Western Capitals in overtime in the semifinal game.
