The Essex 73's have competed in the
Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League since the 1973–74 season. In total, the club has won 20 Great Lakes Junior C League Championships and 7 All-Ontario Junior C titles. By both measures, they are the most successful team in Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League history. Their 7
Clarence Schmalz Cup (CSC) wins and 14 CSC finals appearances are both Ontario Junior C records. With Dave Prpich behind the bench, the 73's won four league titles in a row from 1974–1975 to 1977–1978, including three All-Ontario Championships in that span. The 73's would claim two more Great Lakes League Championships in the 1980s in 1985–1986 and 1986–1987. 2014 featured a more difficult road to the CSC finals with a high-scoring 7-game quarterfinal against
Dorchester along with a 5-game semifinal victory over the Western League champion
Wingham Ironmen before the 73's were swept in the Schmalz Cup finals by the
Lakefield Chiefs. In 2015 the 73's defeated
Exeter in four games and
Ayr in five qualifying for their third straight CSC appearance. In three closely contested games versus the Empire B champion
Port Hope Panthers, the 73's built up a 3–0 series lead, but the Panthers stormed back, winning the next three games, setting up a winner-take-all game 7 in Port Hope. A lone second-period goal was the difference between the teams as the 73's clinched their seventh
CSC All-Ontario Championship and first since 2009. In the summer of 2016 the eight junior "C" leagues amalgamated under the
Provincial, and the GLJHL became the Bill Stobbs Division of the new league. During the 2016–17 season, the 73's won their first Stobbs Division title but fell to the
Ayr Centennials in the PJHL semi-final. In 2017–2018, the Essex 73's streak of six straight League Championships came to an end as the Lakeshore Canadiens defeated the 73's in five games in the Stobbs Division Finals. The Canadiens were coached by former 73's player and coach Anthony Iaquinta. 2018-2019 saw Gil Langlois return as Head Coach of the 73's and guided the 73's to a first-place finish. The 73's would sweep their first two rounds against the Petrolia Flyers and Amherstburg Admirals setting up a rematch against the Lakeshore Canadiens in the division Finals. The Canadiens would repeat as Stobbs Champions knocking off the 73's in five games. In 2019 Gil Langlois retired, and was replaced as coach by former
Sarnia Sting player Danny Anger. Essex celebrated its 50th season in 2022 and established a Wall of Honour, to pay tribute to those individuals who had a significant impact on the overall success of the organization. Three categories were developed; Player Category, Coach & Staff Category and Honorary Category. Essex announced that former assistant coach, Jamie McDermott would take over the head coaching duties to start the 2022–23 season. Under McDermott, the 73's would finish first overall in the Provincial Junior Hockey League regular season standings with a 36-4-2-0 but would eventually fall in the Stobbs Division finals to the Lakeshore Canadiens. After the 2022–23 season, McDermott stepped down from the head coaching duties citing family and health as his reasons and the 73's would hire Matt Ridout, their 20th coach in franchise history. Ridout would not last in Essex very long as Manager, Mike Pailey, relieved Ridout of his duties after just 15 games behind the bench, despite having the best record in the Provincial Junior Hockey league at the time, 16-1-0-1. The organization announced difference in direction the team was going as the contributing factor to Ridout's dismissal. Pailey took over as interim head coach and after guiding the team to 4-1-1-1 record, he announced the hiring of former 73's head coach, Tony Piroski. In Piroski, the 73's had a seasoned coach with nearly 300 wins under his belt at the Jr. C level. Piroski would finish the regular season with a 15-2-0-0 record giving the 73's an overall season record of 35-4-1-2, third place overall in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. Essex 73's defeated Dresden and Blenheim from the playoffs in sweeping fashion and met the Lakeshore Canadiens for the fourth consecutive season in the Stobbs Division finals. The 73's would lose in seven games to the Canadiens who went on to win the Schmalz Cup. ==Season-by-season results==