 | |
| Region(s) | Ontario |
|---|---|
| Commissioner | Bryan Elliott |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Folded | 2020 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Recent Champions | Essa Stallions (2018–19) |
| Headquarters | Port Colborne, Ontario |
| Website | CPJHL.com |
The Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL) was a Canadian-based junior ice hockey league based in Ontario. The CPJHL was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. [1]
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, the Bracebridge Pioneers were removed after the schedule was released, while Shawville postponed their start and then announced they would join the next season. During the season, the Brampton Royals' franchise was revoked by the league and given to an organization called the Greater Toronto Jaguars under new ownership. The Jaguars were also removed from the schedule in December 2018.
Following the 2018–19 season, the ownership of the league was transferred from founder Stephane Laveault to Smiths Falls Settlers' general manager Barry DeGray. [11] The expansion teams for the 2019–20 season was announced as the Langton Royals, Le Bécard de Senneterre, and Les Buffalos de Ferme-Neuve. In the first week of the season, the Grey Highlands Hawks were removed from the league and the Essa Stallions relocated to Coldwater as the Severn Stallions. On February 15, 2020, the league banned team owner Brian Fish for life for repeatedly not upholding the contract obligations to his players and terminated both his teams, the Muskoka Anglers and Scarborough Wexford Raiders, midseason. [12] [13] Prior to playing the for the league playoff championship between the Seaforth Generals and Le Bécard de Senneterre, the series was cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, 2020. [14]
Due to the ongoing restrictions during the pandemic, the league did not play a 2020–21 season with only a few teams playing a couple of exhibition games in late 2020. In a July 2021 league update, CPJHL president Barry DeGray stated the league would focus on reduced travel with teams only located in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. [15] The league announced a new team called Montreal-Est Oilers, but the announcement was removed a couple of weeks later. [16] In September 2021, a schedule was announced with four teams: Les Buffalos de Ferme-Neuve, Maniwaki Mustangs, Smiths Falls Settlers, and Universal College. [17] Le Bécard de Senneterre announced they would not be participating in the season. [18] A week before the 2021–22 season was scheduled to begin, the league cancelled the season. [19]
As of August 2022, the league appears to be defunct. [20]
 | This section needs to be updated.(May 2022) |
| Team | Location | Arena | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Bécard de Senneterre | Senneterre, Quebec | Centre Sportif André Dubé | 2019 |
| Les Buffalos de Ferme-Neuve | Ferme-Neuve, Quebec | Centre Sportif Ben Leduc | 2019 |
| Maniwaki Mustangs | Maniwaki, Quebec | Gino Odjick Center | 2017 |
| Smiths Falls Settlers | Smiths Falls, Ontario | Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre | 2016 [lower-alpha 1] |
| Season | Team | Record | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Muskoka Wild | 35–7–3–3 | 76 |
| 2017–18 | Essa Stallions | 42–2–0–0 | 84 |
| 2018–19 | Grey Highlands Hawks | 36–7–1 | 73 |
| 2019–20 | Seaforth Generals | 31–8–0 | 62 |
| Season | Playoff Champions | Runner-up | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters | Muskoka Wild | 4–3 (OT) [33] |
| 2018 | Essa Stallions | Smiths Falls Settlers | 2-games-to-none |
| 2019 | Essa Stallions | Muskoka Anglers | 2-games-to-none |
| 2020 | Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||
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Due to the many uncertainties of the league (contracts, schedule, teams and regulations), we have to announce the cancellation of the regular season. On the other hand, we will be putting our energy into development clinics that will be offered throughout the year, details to come. We are sincerely sorry, look forward to seeing you again soon!!