CHANGE ABOUNDS ACROSS THE OJHL THIS SEASON
By Ron Valentine
Many things remain the same as the 2018-2019 version of the Ontario Junior Hockey League approaches, but there will be notable changes for this coming campaign.
Four teams will be looking to defend their Divisional titles. In the North, the Aurora Tigers finished five points ahead of Newmarket. In the East, the Wellington Dukes took the crown with Kingston eight points behind. In the South, the Toronto Patriots, No. 1 overall in the 22-team league, finished six ahead of North York and in the West, the Georgetown Raiders were a full 20 points ahead of the Buffalo Junior Sabres.
Two clubs will be in different Divisions this time around with the Muskies of Lindsay moving from the North to the East and the Oakville Blades going to the West from the South. The conferences will be North/West and South/East, another change. The same number of games, 54, will be played with the Governors’ Showcase returning to Buffalo Sept. 24-26.
As usual, there will be new faces in the coaching and managerial areas (in Aurora, Burlington, Georgetown and Newmarket, Stouffville, Toronto Patriots and Trenton) and something that makes a veteran fan feel his age: the oldest players this campaign have 1998 birth dates!
The top club from the league, if they can clear the Dudley-Hewitt Cup hurdle in Cochrane will have to journey to the 'badlands' of Brooks, Alberta to play in the RBC starting May 11, 2019.
On Friday September 7, six clubs start off the regular season on home ice: Oakville, Wellington, Pickering, St. Michael's, Burlington and Markham.
On the night of Saturday, February 23, 2019, the final game of the regular season (No. 594) will take place at the Port Credit arena as the Mississauga Chargers host the Junior Canadiens in a South Division matchup at a quarter to eight.
For some teams it will be a season to remember, for others not so much, but at this point hope springs eternal for all 22 clubs. One thing is for sure there will be lots of exciting moments between now and next spring! Stay tuned!
Ron Valentine is the official OJHL reporter.
