By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
The Ridgetown Royals begin the task of building their roster for their first season in the Northern Premier Hockey League’s Metropolitan Conference with an open tryout early next month.
The team’s new owner and general manager, Dylan Brown and assistant Tyler Ryan want to build off the success of the Royals’ inaugural season, when they finished first in the American Premier Hockey League regular season with a 19-5-0 record, including a perfect 12-0 record at the East Kent Memorial Arena, but were eliminated in the Governors Cup semifinals by the Buffalo Tempest.
The Royals will hold a tryout on Saturday, July 4, at the Ken Houston Memorial Ag Centre in Dresden from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The cost is $15, and players can pre-register on the Royals’ social media sites or by sending an email to royalsgm27@gmail.com or royalsagm2026@gmail.com The management and coaching staff will invite the top prospects to the team’s main camp in August.
Justice Scheltgen returns as the head coach.
Brown takes over from T.J. Clarke, who brought senior men’s hockey to town last year.
Clarke has decided to concentrate on his role as manager with the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Junior A Hockey League.
Brown played with the Wooster Bulls of the APHL last year, so he is well aware of the Royals.
“I certainly remember their size and overall depth,” Brown said.
The Royals’ season, however, was marred by a wild brawl that broke out after the Tempest eliminated them in Game 2 in Dresden, which led to the team and players Shawn Noah and Hunter Burk being suspended indefinitely by the APHL.
Those suspensions will not carry over to the NPHL season, since they are not affiliated.
The Royals were not planning to return to the APHL, as the wheels were already in motion for the team to join the Ontario-based league.
Brown has announced five player signings, including himself and Ridgetown’s Breck Rainey.
Also signed are goalie Jack Hudec, from Downers Grove, Ill., forwards Nathan Schuette, from Cleveland, and Derrick Eshelman, from Trenton, Mich.
Huden and Schuette played for Wooster while Eshelman played for the Motor City Muskies in the APHL.
Brown said more signings will be announced in the near future, including returnees from the ‘25-26 Royals, as last year’s squad was comprised mainly of players from the Ridgetown area and across Chatham-Kent.
“We’re going to have a real competitive team, we’re not going to be easy to play against,” Brown said. “I want to come in and use a system that worked last year, something we can just plug in and go.”
Brown also wants a good dressing room environment.
“I want to get everyone on par with what I’m trying to build, create a good working space so everyone can come in and just play hockey,” he said.
The Royals will play in the NPHL’s Metropolitan Conference’s South Gateway Division, along with the Tilbury Bluebirds, Alvinston Killer Bees and Strathroy Jets.
The North Loyalist Division has six teams – Stratford Irish, Woodstock Lakers, Six Nations Ironmen, Orangeville Blitz, Halton Hills Coyotes and Brant County Riverhawks.
There will be interlock games between the two divisions, as the teams played a home-and-home last season.
The American Premier Hockey League, meanwhile, only has four returning teams from the 10 that played in 2025-26 – the Thousand Island Raiders, Toledo Swarm, Wooster Warhawks and Tempest.
The new teams include one from Toronto – the Bathurst Street Lions – along with the Oswego (N.Y.) Admirals, Three Rivers (Pittsburgh) Aces, Altoona (Kakemont, Pa). Inferno and a team from Rome (N.Y.).
Along with the Royals, the 2025-26 champion Summit City (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Distillers, Iron City Forge, and all three Michigan teams – West Michigan Sentinels, Northern Michigan Warhounds, and Muskies – are not returning to the APHL.