The Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League (GHL) was a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

league in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1974 until 2007. In 2007, the league became a division of the newly formed Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League along with the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League and

Western Ontario Hockey League The Western Ontario Hockey League (WOHL) was a junior hockey, junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1969 until 2007. In 2007, the league became a division of the newly formed Greater Ontari ...

History

The year 1974 saw the founding of the Golden Horseshoe Junior B Hockey League. The league consisted mostly of " inner ring" teams from the

Niagara District Junior B Hockey League {, class="infobox" style=" text-align:center; border:1px solid #8Af; font-size: 95%;" , - , colspan="2" , , - ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#acf;", OHA Junior "B" , - style="background-color:#def;" , , WJBHL , , (1950-1968) , - style=" ...

. The " outer ring" teams maintained with the Niagara league. In 1978, the Golden Horseshoe league jumped from six to nine teams by swallowing the majority of the short-lived

Southwestern Junior B Hockey League The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. A season later, the Niagara District league folded and their final champion, the

Fort Erie Meteors The Fort Erie Meteors are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History The Meteors originated in the Niagara District ...

, came aboard as the GHL's tenth team. In 1995-96 and 1996–97, the GHL played an interlocking schedule with

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

North Eastern Junior Hockey League North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

. In 1997-98, the league even allowed the expansion of one of the NEJHL's teams, the Rochester Jr. Americans for a single season. In 2005-06, the GHL allowed another former NEJHL team, the

Wheatfield Jr. Blades The Buffalo Regals were an United States, American Junior ice hockey#Junior B, junior "B" ice hockey team based in the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, New York. They played in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). Th ...

, to participate in the league. In 2007, the league merged with the

and the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League to form the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

2007-08 Season

For information on the 2007-08 season, please see: '' Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League''.

Final teams

''These are the teams that were in the league during its final independent season (2006-07).'' *

Niagara Falls Canucks The Niagara Falls Canucks are a junior ice hockey team based in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History The Canucks moved up from Intercounty Junior C in 1971 ...

Port Colborne Sailors The Pelham Panthers, formerly the Port Colborne Pirates, are a junior ice hockey team based in Pelham, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Can ...

* St. Catharines Falcons * Stoney Creek Warriors *

Thorold Blackhawks The Thorold Blackhawks are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Thorold, Ontario. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History The Thorold Jaycees joined the Niagara District Junior B Hock ...

Welland Jr. Canadians The Welland Jr. Canadians are a junior hockey, junior ice hockey team based in Welland, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History The Welland franchise, under any of its vario ...

Other former members

* Brantford Classics *

Buffalo Jr. Sabres The Buffalo Jr. Sabres are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Buffalo, New York. They are a part of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League. Its current head coach and general manager is Nick Tuzzolino, who played in the organization during its Buffalo ...

Caledonia Corvairs The Caledonia Corvairs are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Golden Horseshoe Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team announced it would not participate in the 201 ...

Dundas Blues The Dundas Blues are a junior ice hockey team based in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Bloomfield Division (South Conference) of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association. History The team was founde ...

Dunnville Terriers The Dunnville Jr. Mudcats are a Junior ice hockey team based in Dunnville, Ontario, Canada. They are playing in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. Prior to the 2016-17 season the Mudcats competed in the Niagara & District Junior C Hockey Leag ...

Grimsby Peach Kings The Grimsby Peach Kings are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team from Grimsby, Ontario and play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. History One of the oldest hockey clubs in Ontario, the Peach Kings officially joined the Ontario Hockey Associat ...

* Hamilton Mountain Bees *

Hamilton Red Wings The Hamilton Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1960 to 1974. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum. History The Hamilton Tiger Cubs wer ...

* Simcoe Jets * Tillsonburg Mavericks

Former interleague opponents

Pittsburgh Renegades Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

* Rochester Jr. Americans * Springfield Jr. Indians

Playoff Champions

{, cellpadding="0" , - align="left" style="vertical-align: top" , , {, cellpadding="1" width="600px" style="font-size: 90%; border: 1px solid gray;" , - align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd" , Year , , Champion , , Finalist , , Result in Provincials , - align="center" , 1975 , , Hamilton Red Wings , , , , Lost SF vs. Oakville (C) , - align="center" , 1976 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost QF vs. St. Marys (WO) , - align="center" , 1977 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost SF vs. Streetsville (C) , - align="center" , 1978 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost QF vs.

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

(WO) , - align="center" , 1979 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost Final vs. Streetsville (C) , - align="center" , 1980 , , Welland Cougars , , , , Lost SF vs.

(WO) , - align="center" , 1981 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost SF vs. Stratford (MW) , - align="center" , 1982 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost QF vs.

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...

(WO) , - align="center" , 1983 , , Welland Cougars , , , , , - align="center" , 1984 , , Brantford Alexander B's , , , , , - align="center" , 1985 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , , - align="center" , 1986 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , , - align="center" , 1987 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Lost Final vs. St. Thomas (WO) , - align="center" , 1988 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Lost SF vs. Bramalea (Met) , - align="center" , 1989 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Lost Final vs. St. Michael's (Met) , - align="center" , 1990 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost Final vs. Stratford (MW) , - align="center" , 1991 , , Welland Aerostars , , , , Lost SF vs. Oakville (C) , - align="center" , 1992 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost SF vs. Milton (C) , - align="center" , 1993 , , Hamilton Kilty B's , , , , Lost SF vs.

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

(C) , - align="center" , 1994 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost Final vs. Waterloo (MW) , - align="center" , 1995 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Lost in Round Robin , - align="center" , 1996 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Won SC vs. St. Thomas (WO) , - align="center" , 1997 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , , , Lost Final vs. Elmira (MW) , - align="center" , 1998 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , , , Won SC vs. Elmira (MW) , - align="center" , 1999 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Lost in Round Robin , - align="center" , 2000 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Lost Final vs.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

(MW) , - align="center" , 2001 , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Port Colborne Sailors , , Lost Final vs. Elmira (MW) , - align="center" , 2002 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Lost in Round Robin , - align="center" , 2003 , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Lost Final vs. Stratford (MW) , - align="center" , 2004 , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Lost Final vs. Stratford (MW) , - align="center" , 2005 , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Won SC vs.

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

(WO) , - align="center" , 2006 , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Thorold Blackhawks , , Lost Final vs.

(MW) , - align="center" , 2007 , , St. Catharines Falcons , , Niagara Falls Canucks , , Lost in Round Robin

Records

''Records taken fro
Official Website
'' *Best record: 1997-98 Niagara Falls Canucks (43-3-3) *Worst record: 1993-94 Fort Erie Meteors (1-38-1)

External links

Golden Horseshoe Junior B WebsiteOHA Website
Defunct ice hockey leagues in Ontario