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Provincial Junior Hockey League enters Conference championships

April 11, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Eight Junior C hockey teams from across the province are now heading into the conference championship series after completing the Division finals.

Sixteen teams went to the Division championship series to determine who would advance to the next round.

Of the eight-division championship series, seven of those divisions had the top two teams from the regular season battling it out.

The only exception was the East Tod Division, where the third-place Port Hope Panthers and the fourth place Napanee Raiders managed to knock out the first-place Frankford Huskies and second-place Amherstview Jets in the semi-finals.

In the Division finals, there were some tough battles, but three of those series ended in a four-game sweep. The Stobbs Division and the Pollock Division both had the final series go the full seven games.

The Conference series schedules are still being put together with the first games scheduled to get underway on April 11.

In the North Conference final, the Alliston Hornets of the North Carruthers Division will be up against Hanover Barons of the Pollock Division. Hanover won that series over the Mount Forest Patriots

on Monday, April 8.

The East Conference series will have the Clarington Eagles of the Orr Division up against the Napanee Raiders from the Tod Division.

In the South Conference, the Grimsby Peach Kings from the Bloomfield Division will play against the New Hamburg Firebirds representing the Doherty Division.

The West Conference will pit the Lakeshore Canadiens against the Thamesford Trojans. The Canadiens won an epic series over the powerhouse Essex 73’s, in a battle that went seven games and finished on Sunday, April 7, with a 3-1 Lakefield win.

The Conference winners will go on to compete in the Schmaltz Cup series for the provincial championship.

It has not yet been announced whether the Schmaltz Cup will be played in a best-of-seven series format or a tournament format.

The Cup switched to a tournament format during the pandemic and was awarded after the tournament in 2022 and 2023.

The Wellesley Applejacks were last year’s champions, however, they failed to make it past the Division quarter-finals this year.

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