2023-24 GOJHL season

This is the 2023-24 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season. This is the league's 74th 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.

Membership Changes[]

The Thorold Blackhawks were forced to move their home games to the Vale Health and Wellness Centre in Port Colborne for the 2022 playoffs and for the 2022-23 season due to ongoing construction at the Thorold Community Arena. On May 16, 2023 the move was made permanent with the team being renamed the Port Colborne Sailors.^[1]

On May 17, 2023 the Leamington Flyers were announced as joining the Ontario Junior Hockey League for the 2023-24 season.^[2]

On June 26, 2023 the Niagara Falls Canucks were announced as being an expansion team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League for the 2023-24 season,^[3] ending their tenure in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.^[4]

On April 25, 2024 the GOJHL announced that the ownership of the Brantford Bandits had purchased the Cambridge Redhawks. And in a parallel move the Brantford Bandits were purchased by the ownership of the Paris Titans of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (OHA) and elevating the Titans franchise membership to the GOJHL.^[5]

Teams[]

Golden Horseshoe Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Caledonia Corvairs	Caledonia	Haldimand County Caledonia Centre
Fort Erie Meteors	Fort Erie	Leisureplex Kinsmen Arena
Hamilton Kilty B's	Hamilton	Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena & Skating Centre
Pelham Panthers	Pelham	Pelham Community Centre
Port Colborne Sailors	Port Colborne	Vale Health and Wellness Centre
St. Catharines Falcons	St. Catharines	Jack Gatecliff Arena
Welland Jr. Canadians	Welland	Welland Main Arena
Midwestern Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Ayr Centennials	Ayr	Ayr Farmers Mutual Insurance Company Arena
Brantford Bandits	Brantford	Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre
Caledon Bombers	Caledon	Mayfield Recreation Complex
Cambridge Redhawks	Cambridge	Galt Arena Gardens
Elmira Sugar Kings	Elmira	Woolwich Memorial Centre(Dan Snyder Arena)
Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins	Waterloo	Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
Listowel Cyclones	Listowel	Listowel Memorial Arena
Stratford Warriors	Stratford	William Allman Memorial Arena
Western Conference
Team	Centre	Arena
Chatham Maroons	Chatham	Chatham Memorial Arena
Komoka Kings	Komoka, Ontario	Middlesex Centre Wellness and Recreation Complex
LaSalle Vipers	LaSalle	Vollmer Culture and 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	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Caledonia Corvairs	50	39	9	1	1	234	111	80
Fort Erie Meteors	50	36	12	2	0	191	118	74
St. Catharines Falcons	50	36	12	1	1	197	128	74
Hamilton Kilty B's	50	24	22	4	0	163	162	52
Welland Jr. Canadians	50	15	31	4	0	112	208	34
Pelham Panthers	50	14	33	2	1	124	209	31
Port Colborne Sailors	50	12	33	4	1	128	216	29

Midwestern Conference[]

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Listowel Cyclones	50	38	9	1	2	206	103	79
Stratford Warriors	50	31	15	4	0	195	146	66
Elmira Sugar Kings	50	32	16	0	2	195	151	66
Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins	50	29	13	4	4	204	134	66
Ayr Centennials	50	30	19	1	0	188	150	61
Cambridge Redhawks	50	21	25	3	1	148	171	46
Brantford Bandits	50	11	37	2	0	122	223	24
Caledon Bombers	50	5	44	0	1	85	271	11

Western Conference[]

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
London Nationals	50	36	11	1	2	218	136	75
St. Marys Lincolns	50	33	11	5	1	200	130	72
Strathroy Rockets	50	33	12	3	2	206	145	71
LaSalle Vipers	50	31	18	1	0	206	149	63
Chatham Maroons	50	26	21	2	1	195	183	55
St. Thomas Stars	50	18	27	3	2	143	204	41
Sarnia Legionnaires	50	17	27	4	2	176	249	40
Komoka Kings	50	8	42	0	0	98	237	16

Sutherland Cup Playoffs[]

Format[]

All teams qualify for the playoffs. The first three rounds remain best-of-seven series within each conference. The fourth round consist of the three conference champions playing a home and home round robin. If the second and third place team finish tied they will meet in a single game tie-breaker. If all three teams finish tied, regular season standing tie-breaker procedures will be used to determine first place and the other two teams will meet in a tie-breaker game. The first place team and the second place team (or winner of the tie-breaker) will meet in a best-of-seven series to determine the Sutherland Cup champion.

Golden Horseshoe Conference Quarterfinals[]

Fort Erie Meteors defeated Port Colborne Sailors 4 games to none (5-2, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0)
St. Catharines Falcons defeated 4 games to 1 (5-3, 7-2, 4-5, 4-0, 4-2)
Hamilton Kilty B's defeated Welland Jr. Canadians 4 games to 3 (4-1, 6-4, 2-4, 0-4, 2-3, 5-3, 6-3)

Midwestern Conference Quarterfinals[]

Listowel Cyclones defeated Caledon Bombers 4 games to none (7-0, 3-0, 8-0, 3-0)
Stratford Warriors defeated Brantford Bandits 4 games to 1 (6-0, 3-6, 3-2 (ot), 6-4, 3-2 (3ot))
Elmira Sugar Kings defeated Cambridge Redhawks 4 games to 1 (4-3 (ot), 4-2, 5-3, 1-5, 5-1)
Ayr Centennials defeated Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins 4 games to 2 (4-0, 3-2 (ot), 2-5, 6-0, 6-4, 4-3 (3ot))

Western Conference Quarterfinals[]

London Nationals defeated Komoka Kings 4 games to 1 (1-4, 8-1, 4-, 5-4, 4-2)
St. Marys Lincolns defeated Sarnia Legionnaires 4 games to none (9-1, 5-1, 11-0, 9-3)
Strathroy Rockets defeated St. Thomas Stars 4 games to 1 (8-1, 3-0, 5-1, 3-4 (ot), 5-2)
LaSalle Vipers defeated Chatham Maroons 4 games to 2 (3-2 (ot), 4-5 (3ot), 5-4 (ot), 1-2, 3-2, 4-3 (ot))

Golden Horseshoe Conference Semifinals[]

Caledonia Corvairs defeated Hamilton Kilty B's 4 games to 1 (4-3, 8-2, 8-3, 2-4, 5-3)
Fort Erie Meteors defeated St. Catharines Falcons 4 games to 2 (2-4, 5-2, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1)

Midwestern Conference Semifinals[]

Listowel Cyclones defeated Ayr Centennials 4 games to none (7-4, 5-4, 3-2, 4-3 (ot))
Stratford Warriors defeated Elmira Sugar Kings 4 games to 1 (7-0, 5-2, 5-4 (ot), 3-4 (2ot), 3-2)

Western Conference Semifinals[]

London Nationals defeated LaSalle Vipers 4 games to 1 (7-4, 4-2, 3-4, 2-1 (ot), 7-0)
St. Marys Lincolns defeated Strathroy Rockets 4 games to none (5-0, 8-5, 8-3, 5-3)

Golden Horseshoe Conference Final[]

Fort Erie Meteors defeated Caledonia Corvairs 4 games to 3 (3-2, 2-3, 1-2, 3-2, 4-2, 0-1, 5-3)

Midwestern Conference Final[]

Listowel Cyclones defeated Stratford Warriors 4 games to 1 (3-2, 3-0, 4-0, 1-3, 5-2)

Western Conference Final[]

St. Marys Lincolns defeated London Nationals 4 games to 3 (5-3, 2-3, 7-4, 2-4, 2-3 (ot), 6-0, 5-2)

Sutherland Cup Round Robin[]

Game 1 (April 19): Fort Erie Meteors 1-6 Listowel Cyclones
Game 2 (April 20): St. Marys Lincolns 1-2 Fort Erie Meteors (ot)
Game 3 (April 21): Listowel Cyclones 1-2 St. Marys Lincolns
Game 4 (April 24): Listowel Cyclones 4-1 Fort Erie Meteors
Game 5 (April 26): Fort Erie Meteors 2-3 St. Marys Lincolns
Game 6 (April 28): St. Marys Lincolns 1-5 Listowel Cyclones

Round Robin Standings[]

Team	GP	W	L	GF	GA	Goal Avg.	Pts
Listowel Cyclones	4	3	1	16	5	.762	6
St. Marys Lincolns	4	2	2	7	10	.412	4
Fort Erie Meteors	4	1	3	6	14	.300	2

Sutherland Cup Final[]

Listowel Cyclones defeated St. Marys Lincolns 4 games to 1 (2-3, 4-1, 2-1 (ot), 4-3, 4-3 (ot))

References[]

[1] ttps://www.gojhl.ca/thorold-franchise-makes-port-colborne-home-permanent

[2] ttps://www.leamingtonflyers.com/flyersjoinojhl

[3] ttps://www.ojhl.ca/ojhl-announces-niagara-falls-as-new-expansion-team/

[4] ttps://www.gojhl.ca/gojhl-board-of-directors-releases-statement-on-niagara-falls-canucks-joining-ojhl

[5] ttps://www.gojhl.ca/cambridge-redhawks-under-new-ownership-brantford-bandits-group-takes-the-helm

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