David Branch (born November 27, 1948) is a Canadian ice hockey administrator. His lengthy involvement in

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

includes serving as commissioner of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

since September 15, 1979, and serving as president of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

from 1996 to 2019. He received the

Order of Hockey in Canada The Order of Hockey in Canada is an award given out annually by Hockey Canada. It honours Canadian ice hockey players, coaches and executives and recognizes their contributions to the game. The first group of honourees was announced on April 10 ...

in 2016.

Early life

David Branch was born on November 27, 1948, in

Bathurst, New Brunswick Bathurst ( 2021 population; UA 12,157 ) is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick, it overlooks the Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River. As part of the New Brunswick local governance reform , e ...

. He played

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

hockey while attending the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

on a scholarship. After graduating, he moved to

Whitby, Ontario Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Ajax and west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. It had a population of 138,501 at the 2021 census. It ...

, and became involved in coaching

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

with the Whitby Wildcats organization, and hockey camps run by

Wren Blair Wren Alvin Blair (October 2, 1925January 2, 2013) was a Canadian ice hockey coach, scout and executive in the National Hockey League. Biography Early life Blair was born in Lindsay, Ontario, the son of Audrey and Alvin Blair. The family moved t ...

and Jim Gregory.

Executive career

Branch served as secretary-manager of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

from 1973 to 1977. He was hired by

Gord Renwick Gordon Ralph Renwick (February 13, 1935January 6, 2021) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and w ...

in 1978 to become the new executive director of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

for the retiring Gordon Juckes. He served in that role until 1979. Branch played a role in the founding of the Ontario Hockey League, by negotiating the split of its predecessor, the OMJHL from the OHA. He became commissioner of the OMJHL in 1979, and the independent OHL in 1980. He became president of the

(CHL) in 1996. Branch helped develop a scholarship program that affords all players one year of post-secondary education per season played in the league. Branch has advocated for player safety, anti-violence, and mental health. He was instrumental in adopting rules to reduce the number of fights in the OHL. Branch was part of introducing a blindside hit rule in the OHL, and aims to have all members of the CHL introduce similar rules.

Dan MacKenzie Dan MacKenzie is a Canadian sports administrator and marketing executive. He has served as president of the Canadian Hockey League since September 2019. He served as the vice-president and managing director of National Basketball Association ...

succeeded Branch as the CHL president in September 2019, while Branch continued as the OHL commissioner.

Honours and awards

Branch is a member of the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

selection committee. He was honoured with the

in 2016, and he was inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 2017.

Personal life

Branch is the father of Barclay Branch, who served as a

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in the OHL.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, David 1948 births Living people Canadian Amateur Hockey Association personnel Canadian Hockey League executives Canadian sports executives and administrators Ontario Hockey Association executives Ontario Hockey League Order of Hockey in Canada recipients People from Bathurst, New Brunswick University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni