| Ontario Provincial Junior "A" Hockey League | |
| OPJHL | |
| Head Office | Cambridge, Ontario |
| Official Web site | OPJHL |
| Chairman | Charlie Macoun |
| Vice Chairman | Al Doria |
| Founded | 1993 |
The Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey league under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Junior A Hockey League. The league dates back to 1968. The Central turned Junior "A" before the 1993-94 season and changed its name to the OPJHL. The winner of the OPJHL playoffs and Frank L. Buckland Trophy competes for the Dudley Hewitt Cup with the winners of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Superior International Junior Hockey League. The winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup then moves on to compete for the Royal Bank Cup.
- Mid-Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League 1968 - 1971
- Central Junior "B" Hockey League 1971 - 1993
- Ontario Provincial Junior "A" Hockey League 1993 to Present
History
The Ontario Hockey Association Tier II Junior "A" League was born out of the creation of the Ontario Hockey League. The early 1970s sparked a vast reorganization of Canadian hockey right across the country. There have always been multiple tiers of junior hockey, but the top tier, then known as Ontario Hockey Association Junior "A", elected to split from the OHA and create its own level of hockey. The OHL was born out of this, as well was the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in other parts of Canada. The new tier was known as Major Junior "A" hockey.
The aftermath of the annexation of the top tier left a vacuum for a new top tier of OHA hockey. What filled the gap in 1972 was the 12-team Ontario Hockey Association Jr. "A" Hockey League, comprised of 5 teams leaving the Metro Junior "B" (the Richmond Hill Rams, North York Rangers, Downsview Beavers, Aurora Tigers and the Dixie Beehives), 6 expansion teams (Cambridge Winterhawks, Seneca Flyers, Ajax Knob Hill Farms, the Wexford Raiders, Vaughan Nationals, and the Weston Dodgers) and the North Bay Trappers of the recently folded Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. In later years teams like the Owen Sound Greys, the Markham Waxers and the Guelph Platers joined the league.
In the mid-80s, the more fincially secure teams got in a little greedy and made it their goal to buy an OPJHL championship. Due to this, after the 1986-87 season, many teams folded due to fiscal imbalance, leaving 5 teams, and the OHA Jr. "A" League was forced to close its doors.
The Central Junior B Hockey League dated back to at least the 1968-69 season. A high octane league, the Central has seen such championship teams as the Barrie Colts, Markham Waxers, Dixie Beehives, Oakville Blades, and the Streetsville Derbys. In 1987, when the OHA Junior "A" League folded, the Central agreed to take the remaining teams from the league. The Central grew from 8 teams in the late 1980s, to 17 teams by 1993. In 1991, the renegade Metro Junior A Hockey League was created to fill the Junior "A" hockey void across the southern part of the province. In 1993, the Central Junior B Hockey League was promoted to Junior "A" and renamed the "Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League". The year of 1993 also marked the year that the Canadian Junior A Hockey League was created. Since 1994, OPJHL teams have won 8 of 13 Dudley Hewitt Cups as Central Canadian Champions and to earn a birth in the Royal Bank Cup.
The summer of 1998 marked the death of the Metro Junior A Hockey League, as it merged into the flourishing OPJHL, taking many of the league's teams, including: the Aurora Tigers, Bramalea Blues, Buffalo Lightning, Durham Huskies, Huntsville Wildcats, Markham Waxers, Muskoka Bears, North York Rangers, Pickering Panthers, Port Hope Buzzards, Shelburne Wolves, Syracuse Jr. Crunch, Thornhill Rattlers, Wellington Dukes, and Wexford Raiders.
The current OPJHL exists as a 35-team league. For the 2006-07 Season, the OPJHL has accepted the expansion of the Orangeville Crushers, formerly of the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League. The Toronto Thunderbirds have just had a player firesale, and will seemingly be taking a leave from the league after 8 seasons, a league championship and a Dudley Hewitt Cup. Also, the seemingly permanent fixture of the OPJHL, the Couchiching Terriers, have decided to take a hiatus from the league. The Terriers were the OPJHL's first ever league champion. There is the odd fold, name change, or team relocation, but the league has never been stronger and almost always provides an annual contender for the Royal Bank Cup.
The Teams
2006-07 Frank L. Buckland Trophy Playoffs
- For the Central Canada Championship, please go to the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
- For the National Championship, please go to the Royal Bank Cup 2007.
The Final Four
| Semi-finals | Buckland Trophy Finals | ||||||||
| East | |||||||||
| South | |||||||||
| West | |||||||||
| North | |||||||||
Division Playdowns
East/South
| Division Quarter-finals | Division Semi-finals | Division Finals | Buckland Trophy Semi-final | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| East | |||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| South | |||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S6 | |||||||||||||||||||
West/North
| Division Quarter-finals | Division Semi-finals | Division Finals | Buckland Trophy Semi-final | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| West | |||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| WC | |||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| North | |||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N6 | |||||||||||||||||||
Note: E is East, S is South, W is West, N is North, WC is Wild Card.
Champions
OPJHL Buckland Cup Champions
OHA Junior "A" Champions
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Central/Mid-Ontario Junior "B" Champions
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OPJHL Showcase Tournament
The OPJHL Showcase Tournament is an annual event ran between Christmas and New Years in Newmarket, Ontario, hosted by the Newmarket Hurricanes. The tournament started in 1992 to help aid Canadian Hockey League, National Hockey League, and National Collegiate Athletic Association scouts in finding prospects for their teams. The tournament is highly competitive and successful. It draws as many as twenty junior hockey teams from all over North America. Despite just being a mid-season tourney, the event is highly contested and its title is played for with much ferocity.
Champions
- 2006
- 2005 Vaughan Vipers
- 2004 Texas Tornado
- 2003 Texas Tornado
- 2002 Texas Tornado
- 2001 Brampton Capitals
- 2000 Hamilton Kilty B's
- 1999 Vaughan Vipers
- 1998 Milton Merchants
- 1997 Milton Merchants
- 1996 Brampton Capitals
- 1995 Milton Merchants
- 1994 Newmarket 87's
- 1993 Hamilton Kilty B's
- 1992 Markham Waxers