GTHL, the largest minor/youth hockey league in the world, is suing 4 of its teams for $700,000

The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) is suing four of its member clubs to the tune of $700,000 for allegedly inflating ice-time costs and siphoning off the balance over the course of years.

In a statement of claim filed Jan. 14th, 2026 in Ontario Superior Court, the GTHL accuses the City of Vaughan Hockey Association (operating as the Vaughan Rangers), the Vaughan Panthers Minor Hockey Association, and two Markham-based organizations, operating as the Markham Majors and Markham Islanders, of charging undisclosed “premiums” on arena ice used for league games, money the league says was never disclosed, authorized, or agreed to.

These "secret premiums" total $566, 920 over the last 20 years.

The GTHL is seeking $700,000 to cover losses and interest in the sweeping lawsuit alleging breach of fiduciary duty, financial negligence, breach of contract and fraud. In short, the GTHL is alleging that these organizations defrauded families for their own financial benefit.

The GTHL is seeking $300,000 from the Rangers, $150,000 from the Panthers, and $250,000 from the Majors and Islanders combined.

“This practice by the clubs of charging the GTHL undisclosed premiums for GTHL game ice has been ongoing for many years, perhaps 20 years or more, since each of the clubs first joined the GTHL in the mid to late 1990s or early 2000s,” the league alleges.

Toronto lawyer Michael Mazzuca, who is representing the accused organizations, reportedly wrote in an email to CTV and TSN that the allegations are “entirely frivolous, vexatious and without merit.”

This, of course, is not the first time that the GTHL and its member organizations have been in the news for allegations of fraud. A TSN investigative piece dating back to 2023 revealed that organizations had been illegally bought and sold. In September of that year the CRA announced it would review the allegations. The results of that investigation have not been made public.