OJHL continues to develop new player-focused initiatives for upcoming season
July 15, 2024, Mississauga, ON – ….The 2023-2024 Ontario Junior Hockey League season was one of the most successful in league history with several accomplishments achieved both on and off the ice.
The on-ice success was capped off with the OJHL’s Collingwood Blues winning the 2024 Centennial Cup in May, the first in the franchise’s history. The Blues captured the national championship in Oakville, ON where the OJHL’s Oakville Blades served as the 2024 tournament hosts.
Of the six (6) year-end national awards handed out by the Canadian Junior Hockey League, OJHL players were recipients of five (5): Top Rookie, Matthew Manza, Toronto Patriots; Top Defenceman, David Green, St. Michael’s Buzzers; Top Goalie, Noah Pak Collingwood Blues; Top Forward and CJHL MVP, Trevor Hoskin, Cobourg Cougars.
The success continued at the 2024 NHL Draft with Trevor Hoskin of the Cobourg Cougars being selected by the Calgary Flames and Jonathan Morello of the St. Michael’s Buzzers picked by the Boston Bruins. Additionally, three OJHL alumni and 10 former OJHL Affiliate Players were selected during the two-day event in Las Vegas.
The OJHL led the CJHL with 87 commitments this season, including players advancing to NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III, the OHL and OUA. Currently, the OJHL leads the CJHL with alumni at the NHL, AHL, CHL, NCAA and U SPORTS levels.
“The 2023-2024 season saw both individual and team success throughout the OJHL,” said OJHL Commissioner Marty Savoy. “Ending the season with one of our clubs winning the national championships, four of our players receiving five of six CJHL awards followed by the number of current and former OJHL players selected in the NHL Draft is evidence of the development and hard work our players and staff commit to each season.”
The league also saw several successes off-ice during the season including OJHL attendance for regular season and playoffs increasing by 20 per cent over the previous season.
With an increased focus and a new league website, mobile app and digital plan, the league saw a significant surge in the millions of social media engagements across all platforms.
Additionally, the OJHL introduced the development to two new areas within the league operations, the Department of Player Safety, under the leadership of former NHL referee Greg Kimmerly, and the Department of Player Recruitment with the hiring of OJHL alumni and former national Junior A champion MVP Stefano Durante as the league’s first Director of Player Recruitment.
“The development of our Department of Player Safety and Player Recruitment were initiatives from our league’s dedicated strategy of focusing on our players,” said OJHL Vice-President, Hockey. Chris Vanstone. “A critical process for us with these initiatives was hiring at the people level to lead each department. The league was very fortunate to recruit a 20-year NHL Official with experiences required for a position of this importance with bringing Greg Kimmerly into the league. Having Stefano Durante, a national Junior A championship tournament MVP who recently played in the league and moved on to NCAA DI hockey, be the voice of the OJHL to incoming players and families is a tremendous asset to the league”.
The 2023-2024 season also saw the OJHL expand its footprint into southwestern Ontario and the Niagara Region with the addition of the Leamington Flyers and the Niagara Falls Canucks, bringing the total number of teams within the league to 24.
The season concluded with the introduction of the OJHL Hall of Fame that was launched with a celebration during the Centennial Cup in Oakville. Paul Coffey, Steve Thomas, Adam Oates, Robert Hooper and Josh Soares were celebrated as the first five inductees into the hall of fame.
With a continued focus on ‘player safety, development and promotion,’ the OJHL’s Board of Governors made decisions related to the 2024-25 season at its Annual General Meeting in Mississauga earlier this month:
Through the OJHL Foundation, the OJHL will formally introduce its Second Assist Program in support of players off the ice. The program is a follow-up to the Foundation’s First Assist mental wellness program with the Second Assist focusing on addiction, the effects of substance abuse, healthy relationships, harassment and bullying. The program, developed by industry expert Rebecca Pister, PHD, with support of the Coping Centre, aligns with an OJHL Code of Conduct that was approved by the OJHL Board of Governors during this year’s league AGM.
In 2024-25 the OJHL will introduce Video Goal Review (VGR) across the league during the regular season and playoffs to better help with the standard of officiating and to ensure correct calls are made. The OJHL will be the first league in the CJHL with a full implementation of VGR for all games league-wide.
The 24-team league will retain its two conferences, East and West, and the playoff format used last season. The King Rebellion franchise, the former Brantford 99ers, will remain in the West following their move to York Region this spring.
The regular season will run from Sept. 5 until March 2. The schedule will be released later this month.
The playoff schedule:
- Round 1, March 7-20
- Round 2, March 21 – April 3
- Round 3, April 4-17
- Championship Series, April 18- May 1
The OJHL champions will qualify for the 2025 Centennial Cup, scheduled to take place from May 8-18, 2025.
With the continued strategy for the promotion of OJHL players and teams several key events have been scheduled for the 2024-2025 season.
In partnership with the Collingwood Blues and the Niagara Falls Canucks, scouts and fans will have the opportunity to attend two preseason Junior A showcase tournaments. The Cottage Cup will take place in Wasaga Beach, August 27-30, and the Canucks Junior Classic will run from August 30 to September 1 in Niagara Falls. Full schedules and participating teams to be announced in the coming days.
The OJHL’s annual Governors’ Showcase will be held at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, ON Sept 23-25. The four-arena complex that opened in 2010 is the home of the OJHL’s Niagara Falls Canucks. One of the largest junior showcases in North America, the event attracts more than 150 scouts from all levels of the game each season.
The OJHL’s annual All-Star and Prospects program will have a new look this season. The OJHL will be partnering with the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) on an event to take place November 11-13 in Smiths Falls, Ontario that will see each league’s All-Stars and Prospects facing off against each other during the three-day competition. Further details will be jointly released by the two leagues in the coming days.
The league will be introducing a new event in the 2024-2025 season, which will provide additional exposure for 20-year-old players within the OJHL. A team composed of the top 20-year-olds in the OJHL will play an exhibition series against two teams in the OUA. The OJHL 20-year-old team will first face the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto January 4, 2025, and then Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at Campus Ice Centre in Oshawa January 5, 2025.
About the OJHL –“ League of Choice”
The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 24 member clubs. The OJHL is the home of the 2024 Centennial Cup champion Collingwood Blues. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had 48 NCAA Division I scholarship commitments this past season.
For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, please visit www.ojhl.ca
Reprinted with permission from the Ontario Junior Hockey League
