The hockey team once known as the Pembroke Lumber Kings, a storied Junior A franchise in the Ottawa Valley, will now be called the Pembroke Royals beginning this season. The name change was forced upon new owner Brian Johnstone after the team’s previous owner Alex Armstrong was removed from the Lumber Kings and suspended from Hockey Canada activities for the 2026-27 season. Armstrong and the CCHL are in a legal dispute over ownership rights to the Lumber Kings name. “We would have liked to have kept the Pembroke Lumber Kings name. That is staying with the previous owner for the time being, and we’ll see what happens down the road,” said Johnstone in an interview with CTV News Ottawa. The Lumber Kings name carries significant history in the city of Pembroke, nicknamed Hockey Town Canada. Since being founded in 1964, the team has amassed 14 league championships to its name, including a national Junior A championship in 2011. But the new name “Royals” also has a historical meaning to longtime fans. It was reportedly used in the 1979-80 season when the Lumber Kings were suspended from the league for one season and replaced with the Pembroke Royals. The Pembroke Lumber Kings were reinstated to the league the following season. “We are moving away from what was and we’re just starting fresh with a new brand, fresh attitude, integrity and accountability,” said Tanya Tompkins, the Royals’ new director of operations. Findings by Hockey Canada state that Armstrong failed in his position as the team’s coach after complaints accused him of harassing and mistreating players and failing to operate the business in an ethical manner. Tompkins says she hopes the fanbase recognizes the position the team was in when it came to changing the name. “Everybody understood what was happening. It’s not the player’s fault, and we are here to support the players. We’re here to have a lot of fun and everybody loves hockey in Pembroke,” she said. The Royals are looking for a clean slate to begin this next chapter. Along with new ownership and front office staff, the team has also brought in a new head coach, who has a goal of bringing back the glory days of junior hockey in Pembroke, reminiscing on the 2011 season when current New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe led Pembroke to a national title. “I think everybody was looking and hoping for change,” said the team’s new head coach and general manager Kevin Rosebrugh. “At one point here, the franchise was in trouble, maybe not even operating, right? So, I think when you look at it that way and that perspective, I think everybody’s pretty excited. I think we’ll earn the support back to this community and we’ll get this thing back rocking the way it was in the past.” For returning player Maxim Delage, he’s seen the support the Lumber Kings received in a poor 2025-26 campaign and knows fans will stand behind the Royals. “This is their team, it’s always been their team, and as long as they have hockey here, they’re happy,” he said before a pre-season game versus Renfrew. “And we’re happy that we can give that to them as well.” Johnstone, who has been a longtime sponsor of the Lumber Kings through his ownership of three McDonald’s franchises throughout Renfrew County, said it was a daunting task becoming owner of a team that had been dragged into such turmoil. He says if the opportunity to re-adopt the Lumber Kings name becomes available once again, he won’t hesitate to change back. “Absolutely. It is a historic name for this community, and it would be a favorable decision if that were to present itself. But, for this season, we are the Pembroke Royals.”
