The 2002 Dudley Hewitt Cup was the Central Canadian Tier II Junior "A" championship.
Teams[]
- Dryden Ice Dogs (2001-02 SIJHL Season champions)
- Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (2001-02 NOJHL Season champions)
History[]
From 1997 until 2001, only the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League and Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League completed for the Dudley Hewitt Cup. At the beginning of the 2001-02 season, despite the founding of the Superior International Junior Hockey League, the usual OPJHL/NOJHL series had been expected. In December 2001, at the request of the SIJHL, the Canadian Junior A Hockey League announced that the SIJHL champion would compete against the winners of the OPJHL and NOJHL in a round robin to determine the Central Canadian champion and who would move on to the 2002 Royal Bank Cup. Initially, both the OPJHL and NOJHL held out on the idea and threatened to boycott the DHC. The CJAHL announced that if the OPJHL and NOJHL did not send a champion, the SIJHL champion would move on by default to the national championship. The OPJHL did not budge, but the NOJHL gave in and in January announced that their champion would play the SIJHL champion for the DHC in a best-of-3 series.
Series[]
Best-of-3
- Game 1: Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats 4 - Dryden Ice Dogs 3 (2OT) @ Rayside-Balfour
- Game 2: Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats 7 - Dryden Ice Dogs 3
- Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats move on to the 2002 Royal Bank Cup.