Sports

Junior C hockey enters Schmalz Cup playoffs

April 9, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Provincial Junior Hockey League has completed the Division championships, and there are now eight teams remaining in Junior C hockey who will battle it out for the Conference title in a bid to move on to the Junior C Schmalz Cup championship.

The Schmalz Cup is the top prize in the province for Junior C hockey.

The season got underway in September with 61 teams in the PJHL from small towns across Ontario.

In this region, the Stayner Siskins are the North Carruthers Division 2026 champions after defeating the Alliston Hornets in a final series that went six games.

The Siskins finished their season in first place, one point ahead of Alliston, after trailing behind the Hornets for much of it.

The championship series got underway in Stayner on March 19, with Game 1 ending in a 6-1 Hornets win.

Game 2 saw the series tied when Stayner left the ice with a 4-2 win on Alliston’s home ice.

Game 3 was a disaster for the Hornets. After Alliston won the game 7-5, the Siskins protested.

A clerical error omitted one of the Alliston AP players on the roster. The League ruled that it was an illegal player, forfeited the Hornets, and awarded the win to Stayner.

Stayner won Game 4, 7-2, on March 27.

The Hornets kept the series alive with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5 on March 29.

The series ended on Alliston home ice on April 1, when the Siskins made a third-period comeback to tie the game and force overtime.

Stayner scored in overtime for the win and claimed the Division title.

The Siskins will now go on to face the Fergus Whalers for the North Conference championship.

The other Conference finals were not much of a surprise, as all the top teams advanced this year.

In the East Conference, the Frankford Huskies will be up against the Uxbridge Bruins.

The South Conference championship will see the Dundas Blues battle the Tavistock Braves.

The Lakeshore Canadiens will be facing the Mt. Brydges Bulldogs in the West Conference championship series.

The Conference championships are scheduled to be completed by April 16, if the series goes the full seven games.

The four teams remaining after the Conference championships will start the next series to see which two teams will play the final series for this year’s provincial championship.

The Hanover Baron are the defending Schmalz Cup champions.

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