Joining the ranks of Junior hockey in 1990, the Muskoka Bears were a member of the Metro Junior A Hockey League. Prior to this, the team had played Junior C hockey.
The team made hockey history on February 21, 1997 when their goalie, Ryan Venturelli, became the first goaltender to score two goals (both empty-net) in a hockey game against the Durham Huskies during the Metro Junior A Hockey League 1996–97 regular season.[1]
From 1997 until 2004, the franchise was called the Huntsville Wildcats. The team never truly found their groove, and folded halfway through the 2003–04 season after 23 straight loses and a goals-against average of roughly 10.
For the 2004–05 Season, the team reformed as the Huntsville-Muskoka Otters after Sherwood Bassin, Ray Irwin and Tom McCarthy took ownership.
In 2007, the team was sold to local businessmen Kris House and Jason Armstrong, who shortened the team's name to the Huntsville Otters.
The town of Huntsville hosted the 2011 Ontario Junior A Dudley Hewitt Cup on the weekend of April 18–23, 2011 at the Don Lough Arena, Canada Summit Centre. The Otters went 3-0, and received a bye to the final but lost the championship to the Wellington Dukes 5-3.
In March 2012, it was announced that the Huntsville Otters were to be contracted from the Ontario Junior Hockey League[2] when a local group successfully applied to bring the team to the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League.
