The 2019-2020 Ontario Junior Hockey League season is upon us. Teams will begin their training camps this month, here is how the divisions stack up with the relocation of two teams.
North Division
The Collingwood Colts will join the North Division as they prepare for their inaugural season. Collingwood replaces the former Kingston Voyageurs in the OJHL, Kingston played in the East division last season. Collingwood actually replaces the Newmarket Hurricanes in the North Division as Newmarket was sold and relocated at the end of last season.
The remaining teams in the North Division will not change. The Aurora Tigers, Stouffville Spirit, Pickering Panthers and the Markham Royals are the remaining teams. The Markham Royals finished first in the division in 2018-2019
West Division
The West division will welcome its newest member to the mix as the Milton Menace will join the West. The Menace join the league after the purchase and relocation of the Newmarket Hurricanes, a team that had been in the league for thirty years.
With Milton being added to the division it would put the total team count at 7. Therefore, one team had to be moved to a different division. That team is the Brampton Admirals who will shift to the South Division in 2019-2020.
The rest of the division will remain intact as the Brantford 99ers, Oakville Blades, Burlington Cougars, Georgetown Raiders and Buffalo Jr Sabres fill out the remaining teams. The Oakville Blades took the division at the end of the regular season and evidently went on to become the OJHL Champions in 2018-2019. The Blades look to defend that honour in 2019-2020.
South Division
The South division will see a new team join the mix as mentioned above. The Brampton Admirals will shift into the division after Milton was added to their previous division. Brampton will now be grouped with the North York Rangers, St. Michaels Buzzers, Toronto Patriots, Toronto Jr Canadiens, and the Mississauga Chargers.
The North York Rangers were the team to beat last season as they finished on top of the South division with a 23 point margin over second place. The South becomes a 6 team division after operating with 5 teams previously.
East Division
The East division will have one less team in the division this season as the shuffle concludes in the East. The former Kingston Voyageurs were a member of the East division, however with the relocation to Collingwood, the league removed the team. Therefore the East division becomes a 5 team division with the Cobourg Cougars, Lindsay Muskies, Whitby Fury, Wellington Dukes, and Trenton Golden Hawks.
Cobourg won the East division in 2018-2019 holding off the second place Trenton Golden Hawks to close out the regular season.
jrhockeytalk.com 