2016-17 GOJHL Season

This is the 2016-17 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season.  This was the league's 67th season overall dating back to the Eastern Junior B Hockey League, Metro Junior A Hockey League, and the Western Junior B Hockey League in 1950.  The league has used the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League name since 2007 when 3 leagues (Mid-Western Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League and Western Ontario Hockey League) merged to form the present league.

The league schedule was released on August 16 and featured each of the 27 teams playing a 50 game schedule with each team playing 24 home games, 24 away games and 2 neutral site games played at the league's 8th Annual Showcase event held September 9th-11th at the Western Fairgrounds in London, Ontario. 

Membership changes

• Buffalo Regals return to the league, they had requested one-year leave of absence prior to the 2014–15 season. They also sat out 2015–16 season after failing to file the proper paperwork with USA Hockey in order to be re-instated for sanctioned play.  Reports had surfaced that the team had folded between November 18th and 20th but the team had cancelled its' November 20th game and returned to the ice for a game on November 22nd.  The team was later deemed ineligible for the playoffs
• The Stratford Cullitons change their name to the Stratford Warriors
• The league released an annoucement on February 13th and then clarified on the 14th that the Thorold Black Hawks would not be finishing the season.  The reason cited was "due to continuing roster challenges ‎impacted by illness, injuries, and suspensions."  The team finished the season with a record of 13-28-1-2 with 133 goals scored and 162 goals allowed.  The team had five games remaining on the schedule.  The league was working to make adjustments on the schedule for the balance of the season.  Games of Febraury 4th, 9th, and 10th were later deemed as 5-0 forfeit losses and the remaining five games were also recorded as 5-0 forfeit losses .  This also caused a change in the playoff format for the Golden Horseshoe Conference with the first place team now earning a first round bye as the Buffalo Regals would not be allowed to participate in the playoffs due to issues earlier in the season.
• In late February the league had also posted on the league website that the Guelph Hurricanes had not folded refuting unspecified online postings stating that the team was on the verge of folding or had folded.
• During the final round of the Sutherland Cup playoffs the Cambridge Winter Hawks announced they were severing their ties with the Ontario Hockey Association, possibly in response to the OHA denying the league's application to be elevated to the Junior A level.  This would be a de facto withdrawal from the league as membership in the OHA is required to be a member in an OHA sanctioned league.
• In May 2017 it was announced that the Lambton Shores Predators were planning on moving out of Forest to move to Komoka, Ontario for the 2017-18 season The move had already been approved by the league and the OHA.  The final approval of Middlesex Centre Wellness and Recreation Complex which met June 21st was the final step in the moved. Two junior C level teams (Mount Brydges Bulldogs and Lambeth Lancers) were also reportedly interested in moving to Komoka.  The team will be rebranded as the Komoka Kings.
• The Brampton Bombers were forced to relocate from the Victoria Park Arena when it was damaged by fire on May 27, 2016.  The team moved to the Brampton Memorial Arena.

Teams

Golden Horseshoe Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Ancaster Avalanche	Ancaster	Morgan Firestone Arena, Valley Park Arena, Stoney Creek Arena, Market Street Arena
Buffalo Regals	Buffalo, New York	Holiday Rinks
Caledonia Corvairs	Caledonia	Haldimand County Caledonia Centre
Fort Erie Meteors	Fort Erie	Leisureplex Kinsmen Arena
Niagara Falls Canucks	Niagara Falls	Gale Centre
Pelham Panthers	Pelham	Pellham Arena
St. Catharines Falcons	St. Catharines	Jack Gatecliff Arena
Thorold Blackhawks	Thorold	Thorold Community Arena
Welland Jr. Canadians	Welland	Welland Main Arena
Midwestern Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Brampton Bombers	Brampton	Brampton Memorial Arena
Brantford 99ers	Brantford	Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre
Cambridge Winterhawks	Cambridge	Galt Arena Gardens
Elmira Sugar Kings	Elmira	Woolwich Memorial Centre (Dan Snyder Arena)
Guelph Hurricanes	Guelph	Sleeman Centre & Victoria Arena
Kitchener Dutchmen	Kitchener	Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
Listowel Cyclones	Listowel	Listowel Memorial Arena
Stratford Warriors	Stratford	William Allman Memorial Arena
Waterloo Siskins	Waterloo	Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
Western Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Chatham Maroons	Chatham	Chatham Memorial Arena
Lambton Shores Predators	Forest	Forest Community Centre
LaSalle Vipers	LaSalle	Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex
Leamington Flyers	Leamington	Leamington Kinsmen Recreation Complex
London Nationals	London	Western Fair Sports Centre
Sarnia Legionnaires	Sarnia	Sarnia Arena
St. Marys Lincolns	St. Marys	St. Marys Pyramid Centre
St. Thomas Stars	St. Thomas	St. Thomas Timken Community Centre
Strathroy Rockets	Strathroy	West Middlesex Memorial Arena

Standings

Golden Horseshoe Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts
Caledonia Corvairs	50	44	5	1	0	353	99	89
St. Catharines Falcons	50	40	7	0	3	289	101	83
Niagara Falls Canucks	50	33	13	0	4	252	131	70
Ancaster Avalanche	50	30	15	0	5	217	143	65
Fort Erie Meteors	50	24	26	0	0	167	180	48
Welland Jr. Canadians	50	22	26	0	2	178	188	46
Pelham Panthers	50	12	34	0	4	129	244	28
Thorold Blackhawks	50	11	36	1	2	133	206	25
Buffalo Regals	50	3	47	0	0	66	536	6

Midwestern Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts
Listowel Cyclones	50	40	7	1	2	215	106	83
Elmira Sugar Kings	50	38	11	1	0	207	123	77
Kitchener Dutchmen	50	30	15	2	3	196	155	65
Waterloo Siskins	50	28	17	1	4	183	160	61
Cambridge Winter Hawks	50	29	19	0	2	173	149	60
Stratford Warriors	50	24	23	0	3	200	194	51
Guelph Hurricanes	50	14	33	2	1	155	209	31
Brantford 99ers	50	11	32	2	5	143	217	29
Brampton Bombers	50	10	33	2	5	123	232	27

Western Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts
LaSalle Vipers	50	37	9	0	4	224	136	78
Chatham Maroons	50	37	12	0	1	251	172	75
London Nationals	50	36	13	1	0	232	131	73
Leamington Flyers	50	27	16	1	6	163	140	61
Sarnia Legionnaires	50	22	22	0	6	157	186	50
St. Marys Lincolns	50	20	28	1	1	162	223	42
St. Thomas Stars	50	19	27	2	2	181	200	42
Strathroy Rockets	50	16	27	2	5	167	215	39
Lambton Shores Predators	50	8	37	0	5	150	290	21

Sutherland Cup Playoffs

Format

Each conference will hold its own playoffs with 8 teams qualifying for each conference. The three conference champions and the conference runner-up with the best "playoff record to date" qualify for the Sutherland Cup semifinals. The wildcard play the team with the better record of the two they didn't play in the conference final.  All playoff series are best-of-seven.  The Sutherland Cup champion does not advance any further as there is no Eastern Canada championship at the Junior B level.

Due to two teams having financial and roster issues only seven teams will participate in the Golden Horseshoe Conference playoffs with the first place team earning a bye to the conference semifinal round

Golden Horseshoe Conference Quarterfinals

• St. Catharines Falcons defeated Pelham Panthers 4 games to none
• Niagara Falls Canucks defeated Welland Jr. Canadians 4 games to none
• Ancaster Avalanche defeated Fort Erie Meteors 4 games to 1

Midwestern Conference Quarterfinals

• Listowel Cyclones defeated Brantford 99ers 4 games to none
• Elmira Sugar Kings defeated Guelph Hurricanes 4 games to none
• Kitchener Dutchmen defeated Stratford Warriors 4 games to 1
• Waterloo Siskins defeated Cambridge Winter Hawks 4 games to 2

Western Conference Quarterfinals

• LaSalle Vipers defeated Strathroy Rockets 4 games to none
• Chatham Maroons defeated St. Thomas Stars 4 games to none
• London Nationals defeated St. Marys Lincolns 4 games to 1
• Leamington Flyers defeated Sarnia Legionnaires 4 games to 1

Golden Horseshoe Conference Semifinals

• Caledonia Corvairs defeated Ancaster Avalanche 4 games to none
• St. Catharines Falcons defeated Niagara Falls Canucks 4 games to 2

Midwestern Conference Semifinals

• Listowel Cyclones defeated Waterloo Siskins 4 games to none
• Elmira Sugar Kings defeated Kitchener Dutchmen 4 games to 2

Western Conference Semifinals

• Leamington Flyers defeated LaSalle Vipers 4 games to 2
• London Nationals defeated Chatham Maroons 4 games to 1

Golden Horseshoe Final

• Caledonia Corvairs defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4 games to 2

Midwestern Conference Final

• Listowel Cyclones defeated Elmira Sugar Kings 4 games to 2

Western Conference Final

• London Nationals defeated Leamington Flyers 4 games to 1

Sutherland Cup Semifinals

• London Nationals defeated Listowel Cyclones 4 games to 1
• Elmira Sugar Kings defeated Caledonia Corvairs 4 games to 2

Sutherland Cup Final

• Elmira Sugar Kings defeated London Nationals 4 games to 1

2017 Sutherland Cup Champions Elmira Sugar Kings