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The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major
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 ...
leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overage players of 20 years of age. There are currently 20 teams in the OHL; seventeen 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 Ca ...
, two in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, and one in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The league was founded in 1980 when its predecessor, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, formally split away from 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 ...
, joining the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League and its direct affiliation with Hockey Canada. The OHL traces its history of Junior A hockey back to 1933 with the partition of Junior A and B. In 1970, the OHA Junior A League was one of five Junior A leagues operating in Ontario. The OHA was promoted to Tier I Junior A for the 1970–71 season and took up the name Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. Since 1980 the league has grown rapidly into a high-profile marketable product, with many games broadcast on television and radio. In March 2005, the league announced the launch of OHL Live Stream, resulting in OHL games being broadcast live on a pay-per-view (PPV) broadband basis.


History

Leagues for ice hockey in Ontario were first organized in 1890 by the newly created
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 ...
(OHA). In 1892 the OHA recognized junior hockey - referring to skill rather than age. In 1896 the OHA moved to the modern age-limited junior hockey concept, distinct from senior and intermediate divisions. Since then the evolution to the Ontario Hockey League has developed through four distinct eras of junior-aged non-professional hockey in Ontario. In 1933, the junior division was divided into two levels, Junior A and Junior B. In 1970 the Junior A level was divided into two levels, Tier I (or Major Junior A) and Tier II (or Minor Junior A). In 1974 the Tier I/Major Junior A group separated from the OHA and became the independent Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL). In 1980, the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League. The OHL split from the OHA in July 1982. The OHA and OHL disagreed on financial terms of affiliation, then the OHL decided to handle its own administration. The OHA and the OHL later reached an interim affiliation agreement, which allowed the OHL to compete at the
Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
.


Commissioners

OMJHL and OHL Commissioners (years in office) *
Tubby Schmalz Clarence Vincent "Tubby" Schmalz (December 19, 1916 – December 7, 1981) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as vice-president of the Western Ontario Athletic Association from 1940 to 1950, and coached and managed the senior ice ...
(September 23, 1974December 15, 1978) *
Bill Beagan William Thomas Beagan (born December 1, 1937) is a Canadian retired ice hockey administrator and ice hockey referee. He served in the Canadian Army for thirteen years, before refereeing in the National Hockey League (NHL) for two seasons. He ...
(December 15, 1978January 1979) *
Sherwood Bassin Sherwood Bassin (born August 14, 1939) is a Canadian ice hockey executive known primarily for 36 years of involvement in the Ontario Hockey League as a general manager, team owner and coach. Bassin successfully turned franchises around, and his ...
(interim; JanuarySeptember 1979) * David Branch (September 17, 1979present)


Member teams


Former teams

*
Cornwall Royals The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with o ...
1981–1992, moved to Newmarket **
Newmarket Royals The Newmarket Royals were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League from 1992 to 1994. They played out of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. History The Royals franchise started in 1969 as the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hock ...
1992–1994, moved to Sarnia *
Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...
1980–1982, moved to North Bay **
North Bay Centennials The North Bay Centennials were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, who played from 1982–2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario. History The North Bay Centennials or "Cents" as they were popularly known, were named afte ...
1982–2002, moved to Saginaw *
Brantford Alexanders The Brantford Alexanders were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League from 1978 to 1984. The team was based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. History The Hamilton Fincups were relocated in 1978 be ...
1980–1984, moved to Hamilton ** Hamilton Steelhawks 1984–1988, moved to Niagara Falls **
Niagara Falls Thunder The Niagara Falls Thunder was a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League from 1988 to 1996. The team was based in Niagara Falls, Ontario. History Niagara Falls became home to its third OHL franchise in 1988 upon the relocation of the H ...
1988–1996, moved to Erie * Guelph Platers 1980–1989, moved to Owen Sound *
Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...
1980–1989, moved to Hamilton **
Dukes of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sc ...
1989–1991, moved to Guelph *
Detroit Junior Red Wings The Detroit Junior Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 1992 to 1995. The Jr. Red Wings were based in Detroit, Michigan. History The Compuware Ambassadors were renamed the Detroit Junior Red ...
1992–1995, became the Detroit Whalers **
Detroit Whalers The Detroit Whalers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons from 1995 to 1997. The Whalers were based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. History The creation of the Detroit Whalers resulted after a failed takeover bi ...
1995–1997, moved to Plymouth **
Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated to Flint, Michigan. History The Whalers ...
1997–2015, moved to Flint *
Brampton Battalion The Brampton Battalion were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team was based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and started playing in 1998. As a result of consistently having among the lowest attendance in the OHL (last plac ...
1998–2013, moved to North Bay *
Mississauga IceDogs The Mississauga IceDogs were a junior ice hockey team in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998 to 2007. A sale relocated the team to St. Catharines, Ontario for the 2007–08 season and they are now c ...
1998–2007, moved to St. Catharines * Toronto St. Michael's Majors 1996–2007, played in Mississauga until 2012 *
Belleville Bulls The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario ...
1981–2015, moved to Hamilton


Timeline of franchises (since 1980)

Note: The 12 original OHL franchises were all previously members of the OMJHL. Some other franchises played in different junior leagues prior to joining the OHL. DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:01/01/1979 till:2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Former value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a former league member id:Current value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.67) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member id:lineColor value:gray(0.5) PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Former from:01/01/1979 till:06/01/1984 text:Brantford Alexanders bar:1 color:Former from:09/01/1984 till:06/01/1988 text:Ham.Steelhawks bar:1 color:Former from:09/01/1988 till:06/01/1996 text:Niagara Falls Thunder bar:1 color:Current from:09/01/1996 till:end text:Erie Otters bar:2 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Kingston Canadians / Raiders / Frontenacs bar:3 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Kitchener Rangers bar:4 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:London Knights bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/1979 till:06/01/1982 text:Nia.Falls Flyers bar:5 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/2002 text: North Bay Centennials bar:5 color:Current from:09/01/2002 till:end text:Saginaw Spirit bar:6 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Oshawa Generals bar:7 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Ottawa 67's bar:8 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Peterborough Petes bar:9 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds bar:10 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Sudbury Wolves bar:11 color:Former from:01/01/1979 till:06/01/1989 text:Toronto Marlboros bar:11 color:Former from:09/01/1989 till:06/01/1991 shift:(-7) text:Ham.Dukes bar:11 color:Current from:09/01/1991 till:end text: Guelph Storm bar:12 color:Current from:01/01/1979 till:end text:Windsor Spitfires bar:13 color:Former from:09/01/1981 till:06/01/2015 text:Belleville Bulls bar:13 color:Current from: 09/01/2015 till:end text:Hamilton Bulldogs bar:14 color:Former from:09/01/1981 till:06/01/1992 text:Cornwall Royals bar:14 color:Former from:09/01/1992 till:06/01/1994 shift:(-3) text:Newmarket bar:14 color:Current from:09/01/1994 till:end text: Sarnia Sting bar:15 color:Former from:09/01/1982 till:06/01/1989 text:Guelph Platers bar:15 color:Current from:09/01/1989 till:end text:Owen Sound Platers / Attack bar:16 color:Former from:09/01/1990 till:06/01/1997 text:Detroit Amb./Jr.Red W./Whalers bar:16 color:Former from:09/01/1997 till:06/01/2015 text: Plymouth Whalers bar:16 color:Current from:09/01/2015 till:end text:Flint Firebirds bar:17 color:Current from:09/01/1995 till:end text:Barrie Colts bar:18 color:Former from:09/01/1997 till:06/01/2007 text:Toronto St. Michael's Majors bar:18 color:Current from:09/01/2007 till:end text:Mississauga St. Michael's Majors / Steelheads bar:19 color:Former from:09/01/1998 till:06/01/2007 text:Mississauga IceDogs bar:19 color:Current from:09/01/2007 till:end text:Niagara IceDogs bar:20 color:Former from:09/01/1999 till:06/01/2013 text:Brampton Battalion bar:20 color:Current from:09/01/2013 till:end text:North Bay Battalion ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1980 LineData = at:07/15/1980 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66 #OHL begins TextData = pos:(39,125) tabs:(60-left) fontsize:S text:Formation of OHL


Schedule

The 20 OHL clubs play a 68-game unbalanced schedule, which starts in the third full week of September, running until the third week of March. Ninety percent (90%) of OHL games are scheduled between Thursday and Sunday to minimize the number of school days missed for its players. Approximately 20% of players on active rosters in the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) have come from the OHL, and about 54% of NHL players are alumni of the Canadian Hockey League.


OHL playoffs and Memorial Cup

The
J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...
is awarded annually to the winner of the Championship Series. The Cup is named for
John Ross Robertson John Ross Robertson (December 28, 1841 – May 31, 1918) was a Canadian newspaper publisher, politician, and philanthropist in Toronto, Ontario. Career Born in 1841, in Toronto, the son of John Robertson, a Scottish wholesale merchant, and ...
, who was president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1901 to 1905. The OHL playoffs consist of the top 16 teams in the league, 8 from each conference. The teams play a best-of-seven game series, and the winner of each series advances to the next round. The final two teams eventually compete for the
J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...
. The OHL champion then competes with the winners of the
Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
, the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...
, and the host of the tournament to play for the
Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
, which is awarded to the junior hockey champions of Canada. The host team of the tournament is alternated between the three leagues every season. The most recent OHL team to win the Memorial Cup was the
Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975â ...
in 2017.


Memorial Cup champions

The
Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
has been captured 17 times by OHL/OHA teams since the tournament went to a three-league format in 1972: The Cup was also won 16 times by OHA teams in the period between 1945 and 1971:


Priority selection

The OHL's predecessor, the OHA, had a midget and juvenile draft dating back to the 50s, until voted out in 1962. In 1966 it was resumed, though not publicized. Starting in the 1970s the draft went through several changes. Originally the draft was for 17-year-old midgets not already associated with teams through their sponsored youth programs. In 1971 the league first allowed "underage" midgets to be picked in the first three rounds. In 1972 disagreements about the Toronto team's rights to its "Marlie" players (and Greg Neeld) and claims to American player Mark Howe led to a revised system. In 1973 each team was permitted to protect eight midget area players (Toronto was allowed to protect 10 players from its midget sponsored teams). In 1975 the league phased out the area protections, and the 1976 OHA midget draft was the first in which all midget players were eligible. In 1999 the league changed the draft to a bantam age (15 and 16 year old). It is a selection of players who are residents of the province of Ontario, the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, and other designated U.S. states east of the Mississippi River plus Missouri. Prior to 2001, the OHL held the Priority Selection in a public forum, such as an arena. Drafts were attended by many players and family members. In 2001, the OHL decided to hold the "draft" via the internet, greatly reducing the costs the league and its member teams incurred in hosting a public draft. This move reduced the stress and pressure that prospective players faced with a large crowd present. The
Jack Ferguson Award The Jack Ferguson Award is awarded each year to the top draft pick in the Ontario Hockey League priority selection draft. The trophy is named in honour of Jack Ferguson, a former director of OHL Central Scouting. Winners List of OHL first overall ...
is presented annually to the first overall selection. The award was named in honour of long time OHL scout and former Director of Central Scouting Jack Ferguson.


Trophies and awards

List of trophies and awards in the Ontario Hockey League.


See also

*
List of OHL seasons This is a list of Ontario Hockey League seasons since inception of the league, as well as a list of seasons for its precursor leagues, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), and the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A League (OHA). OHA se ...
*
List of OHA Junior A standings This is a list of OHA standings and season-by-season summaries of the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior A division from 1933 to 1972, and its Tier I division from 1972 to 1974. ;Legend * GP = games played * W = wins * L = losses * T = ties * P ...


References


External links


Official websiteCanadian Hockey League Official website
{{Authority control 1 3 Junior ice hockey leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1974 1974 establishments in Ontario