The 2016–17 CPJHL season is the inaugural season of the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL). The eight teams of the CPJHL play a 48-game schedule.
League formation The CPJHL was announced in the spring of 2016. Originally, eleven teams were divided into two divisions and scheduled to begin play in September. The league plans to feature a 48-game schedule concluding in March and include an all-star game, college showcase event, and a league playoff. The league gained sanctioning by the United Hockey Union (UHU), the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union, in June 2016.
Before the league's first season would start, several of the announced teams had some further organizational changes: Burk's Falls was initially introduced as the Warriors, but an ownership change saw the team renamed the Bruins. The Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters were initially announced as the Ottawa Sharpshooters before making Almonte Community Center the home for the junior club. The Sharpshooters also included a U-18 team that compete in the National College Prospects Hockey League, another UHU league. On September 16, the day the first games were set to take place, the league announced that the Akwesasne Chiefs and Coldwater Falcons would not play in the first season due to lack of players on each team.
Both the Burk's Falls Bruins and Norwood Nemesis were granted delayed starts to their seasons due to a coaching change for the Bruins and lack of players for both teams. However, after the second week of the season, the Bruins still had trouble with recruiting enough players to fill their roster and the CPJHL decided to suspend the team for the season.
Standings Final standings Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Pct = Points percentage; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title.
Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters Almonte, Ontario 34 8 1 2 206 94 71 0.789 Glengarry Highlanders Maxville, Ontario 23 19 1 5 192 177 52 0.542 O-Town Rebels Ottawa, Ontario 23 19 0 2 170 153 48 0.545 Norwood Nemesis Norwood, Ontario 7 37 2 1 89 247 17 0.181 Muskoka Wild Port Carling, Ontario 35 7 3 3 197 110 76 0.792 Essa Stallions Angus, Ontario 29 13 1 5 204 138 64 0.667 Grey Highlands Hawks Markdale, Ontario 29 18 1 0 216 149 59 0.615 Seaforth Generals Seaforth, Ontario 3 44 1 0 96 298 7 0.073
Playoffs All teams qualify for the playoffs and seeded one through eight, with the highest seed facing the lowest remaining seed in the first round. The first round is a two-game series with a total goal aggregate. After the first round, the four remaining teams play a round robin with the top two teams meeting in a championship game.
First round (1) Muskoka Wild vs.(8) Seaforth Generals Team March 10 March 12 Total Goals Wild 8 6 14 Generals 0 5 5 (2) Almonte Jr. Sharpshootersvs. (7) Norwood Nemesis Team March 11 March 12 Total Goals Jr. Sharpshooters 3 9 12 Nemesis 1 1 2 (3) Essa Stallions vs.(6) O-Town Rebels Team March 8 March 11 Total Goals Stallions 7 — 7 Rebels 3 Forfeit 3 (4) Grey Highlands Hawks vs.(5) Glengarry Highlanders Team March 10 March 12 Total Goals Hawks 9 4 13 Highlanders 3 6 9
Round Robin Team W L OTL Muskoka Wild 3 0 0 16 4 +12 Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters 2 1 0 9 9 0 Essa Stallions 1 1 1 9 12 -3 Grey Highlands Hawks 0 2 1 8 17 -9
President's Cup Championship game TeamPeriodFinal 1st 2nd 3rd OTJr. Sharpshooters 2 1 0 1 4Wild 0 0 3 0 3
References
External links CPJHL website