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The Brantford 99ers were a Junior A ice hockey team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League based in Brantford. The 99ers have previously been known as the Milton Icehawks, Milton Merchants, Milton Flyers, and Milton Steamers as Milton hosted junior hockey from 1966 to 2018. After purchasing the team, Darren DeDobbelaer of Brantford moved the club to that city for the start of the 2018-19 season, re-branding the team as the 99ers. In 2023, DeDobbelaer sold the team. The team relocated to King, Ontario and became the King Rebellion in the 2024–25 OJHL season.
In the 1970s, Vern Gooding owned the local team when they were known as the Milton Flyers.
In 1974, three players including the team captain and top scorer left the team mid season over an imposed curfew dispute. Two of the three players had had tryouts with OHL clubs, and all three were club veterans.
Grant Turner, Mark Grenier, Howie Scannell, and John Morgan owned the Milton Steamers in the early 1980s. Morgan sold his stake in the club to Turner, prompting Scannell to announce that he was preparing to sell his stake as well. On April 10, 1986, Turner, Grenier and Scannell sold the Steamers to Brad Grant who owned trucking company Sandstone Transport.
Grant led the team to tremendous success in the late 1990s. During his 15-year ownership run, the team captured four division crowns, three league championships and a provincial title.
In 1992, the Milton Merchants were Central Junior B Hockey League champions with a 4-2 victory in Game 7 over the Aurora Eagles. They made the Ontario Hockey Association Sutherland Cup Junior B championship but lost in five games to the Mid-Western Junior B Hockey League's Kitchener Dutchmen.
Following the 1992-93 season, the Merchants made the jump to Junior A in the OPJHL.
The 1994-95 season marked the beginning of a historical run for the franchise as the club won five straight division titles. The surge of success increased when the Merchants were crowned league champions in 1997, winning the Buckland Trophy after defeating the Newmarket 87's. In the 1997 Dudley Cup playoffs, the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) beat Milton four games to one.
In 1998, the Milton Merchants repeated their Buckland Trophy title, dispatching the Newmarket Hurricanes this time, and then went on to become Central Canadian Junior A Champions by winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup, defeating the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) four games to two, and exacting revenge for the previous year's loss to Rayside-Balfour.
At the 1998 Royal Bank Cup, the Milton Merchants went 1-3 in round robin play. In the semifinal game, Milton lost 6-2 to the South Surrey Eagles and were eliminated from the tournament.
In 2018, the Milton Sports Hall of Fame announced that it is inducting the 1996–97 and 1997-98 Merchants teams, and Brad Grant as a builder, during a ceremony in November.
For the 2003-04 season, Forgione changed the team's name from the Merchants to the IceHawks to reflect the team's connection with the local minor hockey programs called the Winterhawks, and Forgione's ownership of the Mississauga IceDogs. In 2005, the Ontario Hockey Association fined the Icehawks $12,000 and suspended then-General Manager George Dupont for signing two players outside of OHA guidelines. In 2006, Forgione officially affiliated the Icehawks with the IceDogs.
On October 21, the OHA and OJHL announced the relocation of the team back to Brantford.
| Playoffs |
| Won League, Won DHC |
| Lost Conf. SF |
| Lost Conf. QF |
| DNQ |
| DNQ |
| DNQ |
| Brantford 99'ers | ||||||||||
| DNQ | ||||||||||
| Lost Conf Quarterfinals 0-4 (Oakville Blades) | ||||||||||
| Season cancelled due to COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| DNQ | ||||||||||
| DNQ | ||||||||||
| Lost Conf Quarterfinals 0-4 (Blues) | ||||||||||
Some famous Miltonians have also played for the franchise, including four-time Stanley Cup champion John Tonelli, AHL star Darren Haydar, two-time NCAA Frozen Four champion Boston College captain Matt Price, and his brother Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks' draft pick).
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