Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League

Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League
Current season or competition:
2018–19 CPJHL season
Region(s) Ontario
Commissioner Bryan Elliott
Founded 2016
No. of teams 9
Recent Champions Essa Stallions (2017–18)
Headquarters Port Colborne, Ontario
Website CPJHL.com

The Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL) is a Canadian-based junior ice hockey league based in Ontario. The CPJHL is sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union.[1]

History

The CPJHL was announced in the spring of 2016. Originally, eleven teams were divided into two divisions[2] and scheduled to begin play in September. The league plans to feature a 48-game schedule concluding in March and include an all-star game, college showcase event, and a league playoff.

The league gained sanctioning by the United Hockey Union (UHU) in June 2016.[3][4] Before the league's first season would start, several of the announced teams had some further organizational changes. Burk's Falls was initially introduced as the Warriors, but an ownership change saw the team renamed the Bruins. The Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters were initially announced as the Ottawa Sharpshooters before making Almonte Community Center the home for the junior club. The Sharpshooters also included a U-18 team that compete in the National College Prospects Hockey League, another UHU league.

On September 16, the day the first games were set to take place, the league announced that the Akwesasne Chiefs and Coldwater Falcons would not play in the first season due to lack of players on each team.[5] After delaying the Burk's Falls Bruins first game by two weeks, the Bruins still struggled to roster enough players and the club delayed their entry to the league.[6] The Muskoka Wild finished the regular season as champions before losing the playoff championship game to the Jr. Sharpshooters.

After the inaugural season, the league removed the Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters and O-Town Rebels.[7] Soon after, the league began announcing further changes with expansion teams the Bracebridge Pioneers, Brampton Royals, Coldwater Ice Wolves, Creemore Barley Kings, and the Madawaska Valley Falcons. The Glengarry Highlanders and Norwood Nemesis also relocated and became the Smiths Falls Settlers and the Cobourg Galaxy, respectively. The Barley Kings and Brampton Royals were removed later in the offseason. In September 2017, the league added the four remaining teams from the recently folded National College Prospects Hockey League: the Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters, Eastern Ontario Hockey Academy (EOHA), Lake Erie Eagles, and Maniwaki Mustangs.[8] The Lake Erie Eagles had every scheduled game cancelled for the first seven weeks, citing prohibitive costs of international insurance, before playing their first CPJHL game on October 21.[9] The Cobourg Galaxy, Muskoka Wild, and Madawaska Valley Falcons also folded early in the season.

During the 2018 playoffs, the Jr. Sharpshooters and EOHA, both owned by Angelo Gallo, were scheduled to face each other in an elimination game, which was then forfeited by the lower seeded Jr. Sharpshooters. EOHA then faced the Smiths Falls Settlers, splitting the series after two games in a best-of-three series. However, after the second game, the league cancelled the series in favor of the Settlers when it was found that EOHA had been using players from the Jr. Sharpshooters in the playoffs.[10] The Essa Stallions defeated the Settlers in the championship. Both the Jr. Sharpshooters and EOHA were immediately removed from the league upon the end of the season.

For the 2018–19 season, the league announced additions of the Brampton Royals, Muskoka Anglers, Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals, Universel College Unik, and Wexford Raiders. The Lake Erie Eagles left the league after one season citing insurance and travel costs. The Nationals left for the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League, joining the Jr. Sharpshooters, instead of the joining the CPJHL. The league then announced the addition of the Shawville Express. Universel College Unik was removed from the league website prior to the release of the 2018–19 schedule and the Bracebridge Pioneers were removed after the schedule was released.

Teams

Settlers
Mustangs
Stallions
Hawks
Ice Wolves
Generals
Royals
Anglers
Raiders
TeamLocationArenaFoundedJoined
Brampton RoyalsBrampton, OntarioSouth Fletcher Arena2017[lower-alpha 1]2018
Coldwater Ice WolvesColdwater, OntarioColdwater Community Centre2017
Essa StallionsAngus, OntarioAngus Recreation Centre2016
Grey Highlands HawksMarkdale, OntarioMarkdale Public Arena2016
Maniwaki MustangsManiwaki, QuebecGino Odjick Center2017
Muskoka Anglers[11]Gravenhurst, OntarioGraeme Murray Arena2018
Scarborough Wexford Raiders[12]Scarborough, OntarioScarborough Gardens2018
Seaforth GeneralsSeaforth, OntarioSeaforth & District Community Centre2016
Smiths Falls SettlersSmiths Falls, OntarioSmiths Falls Memorial Community Centre2016[lower-alpha 2]
  1. ↑ Originally announced to join in 2017–18, but were merged in the Grey Highlands Hawks for the season.[8]
  2. ↑ Relocated

Former teams

  • Akwesasne Chiefs – Announced team for the 2016–17 season; ceased operations.[13]
  • Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters – Played the 2016–17 season, winning the inaugural championship; removed by the league at the end of the season. The organization joined the National College Prospects Hockey League (NCPHL). The NCPHL then folded and the Jr. Sharpshooters re-joined the CPJHL for 2017–18. Immediately removed from the league upon completion of the season.[10] Joined the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League for 2018–19 season as the Ottawa Sharpshooters.
  • Bracebridge Pioneers – Played in the 2017–18 season, removed from the league after the 2018–19 season schedule was released.
  • Burk's Falls Bruins – Folded two weeks into the 2016–17 season without playing a game.
  • Cobourg Galaxy – Membership revoked by the league after six games into the 2017–18 season for not having enough players.
  • Coldwater Falcons – Announced team for the 2016–17 season; ceased operations.
  • Creemore Barley Kings – Announced for the 2017–18 season but removed from the league in early July.
  • Eastern Ontario Hockey Academy (EOHA) – Joined from the recently defunct National College Prospects Hockey League (NCPHL) in 2017 and was also operated by the same organization of the Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters. The team was immediately removed from the league after the 2018 playoffs after the organization had broken league player participation rules.[10]
  • Glengarry Highlanders – Founding members of CPJHL 2016–17. Relocated and rebranded as Smiths Falls Settlers for 2017–18.
  • Lake Erie Eagles – Founded in 2016 and joined CPJHL in 2017 from the National College Prospects Hockey League. After one season in the CPJHL, the Eagles' owner/head coach was offered to join a new franchise in the United States Premier Hockey League called the Lake Erie Bighorns and folded the Eagles citing operating costs in the CPJHL.[14] The Bighorns also were removed from the USPHL just prior to the start of the 2018–19 season.
  • Madawaska Valley Falcons – Expansion team for the 2017–18 season; suspended operations after 13 games.
  • Muskoka Wild – Played the 2016–17 season and were regular season champions. Team folded in the first week of the 2017–18 season.
  • Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals – Announced as a 2018–19 expansion franchise,[15] officially terminated on July 29, 2018, as a CPJHL franchise citing recruiting concerns.[16] The Nationals were added to the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League the next day[17] claiming they had already notified the CPJHL they were leaving the league prior to their franchise being terminated.[18]
  • Norwood Nemesis – Played the 2016–17 season in Norwood. Team relocated and rebranded as Cobourg Galaxy for 2017–18.
  • O-Town Rebels – Played the 2016–17 season; membership revoked by the league.
  • Shawville Express – Announced as a 2018–19 expansion team, during beginning of the season the Express games were removed from the schedule and replaced by existing teams with a neutral site in Shawville.
  • Universel College Unik – Announced as a 2018–19 expansion team, removed from league prior to schedule release.

Regular season champions

SeasonWest DivisionRecordPtsEast DivisionRecordPts
2016–17Muskoka Wild35–7–3–376Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters34–8–1–271
2017–18Essa Stallions42–4–0–084Smiths Falls Settlers40–4–0–080

Playoff champions

SeasonPlayoff ChampionsPlayoff FinalistResult
2016–17Almonte Jr. SharpshootersMuskoka Wild4–3 (OT)[19]
2017–18Essa StallionsSmiths Falls Settlers2-games-to-none

References

  1. ↑ "The New Kid on the Block: Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League". OHL Writers. 21 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "CPJHL Add Akwesasne Chiefs To East Division". Junior Hockey News. 10 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "CPJHL: New junior league". Cornwall Standard Freeholder. 20 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "New junior hockey team will hit the ice in Norwood". Inside Belleville. 12 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "CPJHL League Update". Junior Hockey News. 19 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Burk's Falls team hangs up skates before first game". Almaguin-North Bay Nipissing News. 28 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "CPJHL removes teams". CPJHL Twitter account. 27 March 2017.
  8. 1 2 "CPJHL ADDS FOUR TEAMS FOR UPCOMING '17-18 SEASON". CPJHL. 18 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "SATURDAY GAME CHANGE". Madawaska Valley Falcons. 20 October 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 "CPJHL ISSUES STATEMENT ON SMITHS FALLS-EOHA PLAYOFF SERIES". CPJHL. March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  11. ↑ "CPJHL ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF MUSKOKA ANGLERS FOR 2018-19 SEASON". CPJHL. 20 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "SCARBOROUGH WEXFORD RAIDERS RETURN HISTORY AS WELL AS JUNIOR HOCKEY TO THE SCARBOROUGH GARDENS". Scarborough Wexford Raiders. 25 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Chiefs cease operations". Cornwall Standard-Freeholder. 20 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "New junior hockey club arrives in Erie". GoErie.com. July 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ "CPJHL ADDS NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE NATIONALS FRANCHISE FOR UPCOMING 2018-19 SEASON". CPJHL. 3 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "CPJHL TERMINATES MEMBERSHIP OF NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE NATIONALS". CPJHL.com. July 29, 2018.
  17. ↑ "GMHL Expands to Niagara-On-The-Lake". Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. July 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ "NIAGARA ON THE LAKE NATIONALS JOIN GMHL". NOTLNationals.com. July 29, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Muskoka Wild fall short in OT Thriller as Almonte Sharpshooters win the Championship". Muskoka 411. 20 March 2017.
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