2018-19 OJHL REGULAR SEASON BEGINS TONIGHT
September 7, 2018, Mississauga, ON – The Ontario Junior Hockey League drops the puck on its 2018-19 schedule tonight – while remembering last season.
Opening night has six games, including the Wellington Dukes celebrating their 2017-18 Buckland Cup OJHL and Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada championships by hosting the 2017 national champion Cobourg Cougars at the Essroc Arena in Wellington.
Opening weekend across the OJHL features 14 games in 10 communities.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League, in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the other nine Jr. A leagues that comprise the CJHL – including the 22-team OJHL – announced Saturday details of a special banner that will be presented and unveiled at regular season home games for each if its 133 member clubs early in the 2018-19 season, in tribute of the Humboldt Broncos. The banner, designed by Tyler Hutchinson of Moose Jaw, Sask., is in honour and remembrance of all those involved in the tragic events of April 6, 2018.
The OJHL is pleased to have renewed and expanded sponsorship agreements for 2018-19 with CLIF Bar, College Hockey Inc. and Scotiabank who join Chaos Headwear, Hilton Canada, Kewl Sports, Jostens Canada and Troy Apparel who are already signed as league sponsors for this season.
The OJHL schedule consists of 594 games with inter-conference play continuing after being introduced during the 2012-13 season.
The OJHL Board of Governors voted to change the league’s Conference alignment to North-West and South-East Conferences from South-West and North-East this spring. Schedules have been more heavily weighted to intra-division games to increase local rivalries.
Each club will once again play a 54-game (26 home, 26 away) regular schedule, and two games at the Governors’ Showcase this month.
The top four teams in each division will make the playoffs this season.
Following the success of hosting the annual Governors' Showcase in the U.S. the past three years, the Buffalo Jr. Sabres will once again host the event this year at the state-of-the-art HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York from September 24-26 2018.
Highlights of the 2018-19 schedule include:
• Annual Governors' Showcase to be held in Buffalo, New York, for the fourth consecutive year, from September 24-26, 2018 at the HarborCenter
• The annual Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge will be hosted in Trenton by the OJHL from November 19-21, 2018
• 2018 World Junior 'A' Challenge will be played from December 9-15, 2018 in Bonnyville, Alberta
• 2019 Dudley-Hewitt Cup, Central Canadian Junior 'A' Championship hosted by the Cochrane Crunch (NOJHL) in Cochrane, ON from April 30-May 4, 2019
• 2019 RBC Cup, National Junior 'A' Championship hosted by the Brooks Bandits (AJHL) in Brooks, Alberta from May 11-19, 2019
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 22 member clubs. A proud member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League 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, NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more thank 135 commitments in 2017-18, including 65 NCAA Division I scholarships.
