The 2025–26 OHL season was the 46th season of operation (45th season of play) of the Ontario Hockey League. The league played a 68-game regular season which began on September 18, 2025, and concluded on March 22, 2026. The post-season began on March 26, 2026, and concluded on May 12, 2026.
The Kitchener Rangers won the J. Ross Robertson Cup and represented the Ontario Hockey League at the 2026 Memorial Cup, which was hosted by the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. The tournament was held at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Rangers won the Memorial Cup, as they defeated the Everett Silvertips in the final game of the tournament.
Off-season Interleague schedule On June 3, the OHL and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League announced four interleague games between the two leagues.
The Ottawa 67's hosted the Gatineau Olympiques on January 16 at TD Place Arena before making the trip to Gatineau, Quebec to face the Olympiques at Centre Slush Puppie on January 17. The 67's won both games, winning the first game 2–1 in Ottawa, followed by a 5–3 win in Gatineau.
The Sudbury Wolves hosted the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the Sudbury Community Arena on January 18. The two clubs played again in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec a week later at Aréna Glencore on January 25. The Wolves won both games, winning the first game 5–3 in Sudbury, followed by a 4-3 overtime victory in Rouyn-Noranda.
Rivalry week On June 13, the OHL announced its first ever OHL Rivalry Week, as it highlighted intense matchups in a four-day window from October 16 until October 19. The matchups featured a home-and-home between two familiar opponents.
The matchups included: Barrie Colts vs. North Bay Battalion Brampton Steelheads vs. Brantford Bulldogs Erie Otters vs. Niagara IceDogs Flint Firebirds vs. Saginaw Spirit Guelph Storm vs. Owen Sound Attack Kingston Frontenacs vs. Ottawa 67's Kitchener Rangers vs. London Knights Oshawa Generals vs. Peterborough Petes Sarnia Sting vs. Windsor Spitfires Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. Sudbury Wolves
Broadcasting rights On August 26, the OHL and FloSports entered into a seven-year media partnership that establishes FloHockey as the global home for live and on-demand streaming coverage of the OHL. All regular season games, playoff rounds and other marquee events are included in the deal.
Pre-season On July 7, 2025, the OHL announced the preseason schedule for the 2025–26 season. In total, there was 50 preseason games which began on August 29 and concluded on September 14.
This years schedule had a pre-season showcase at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium over Labour Day weekend that included the host team, the Kitchener Rangers, as well as the Brantford Bulldogs, Oshawa Generals and Saginaw Spirit.
Neutral site games include: Oshawa Generals vs. Saginaw Spirit at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario on August 29. Saginaw Spirit vs. Brantford Bulldogs at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario on August 30. Erie Otters vs. Peterborough Petes at the Lindsay Recreation Complex in Lindsay, Ontario on August 30. North Bay Battalion vs. Owen Sound Attack at Eddie Bush Memorial Arena in Collingwood, Ontario on August 31. Erie Otters vs. Peterborough Petes at the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre in Millbrook, Ontario on August 31. Brantford Bulldogs vs. Guelph Storm at the North Dumfries Community Complex in Ayr, Ontario on September 1. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. Sudbury Wolves at McIntyre Arena in Timmins, Ontario on September 3. Windsor Spitfires vs. Flint Firebirds at Flint Iceland Arena in Flint, Michigan on September 5. Kingston Frontenacs vs. Ottawa 67's at the North Grenville Municipal Centre in Kemptville, Ontario on September 5. North Bay Battalion vs. Sarnia Sting at the North Simcoe Sports & Recreation Centre in Midland, Ontario on September 5. London Knights vs. Erie Otters at the Western Fair Sports Centre in London, Ontario on September 6. Barrie Colts vs. Sarnia Sting at the North Simcoe Sports & Recreation Centre in Midland, Ontario on September 6. Barrie Colts vs. Owen Sound Attack at The Plex in Port Elgin, Ontario on September 7. Kingston Frontenacs vs. Peterborough Petes at the Asphodel-Norwood Community Centre in Norwood, Ontario on September 7. Windsor Spitfires vs. Saginaw Spirit at Chatham Memorial Arena in Chatham, Ontario on September 7. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. Saginaw Spirit at Midland Civic Arena in Midland, Michigan on September 12. Flint Firebirds vs. Erie Otters at William Allman Memorial Arena in Stratford, Ontario on September 12. Kitchener Rangers vs. Windsor Spitfires at the Atlas Tube Recreation Centre in Lakeshore, Ontario on September 13. Flint Firebirds vs. Windsor Spitfires at Vollmer Arena in La Salle, Ontario on September 14. Kingston Frontenacs vs. Sudbury Wolves at Stouffville Arena in Stouffville, Ontario on September 14.
OHL training camps began in late August in preparation of the 2025–26 season, which started on September 18, 2025.
Regular season Final standings Note: DIV = Division; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched conference title
Eastern conference Rank Team 1 z-Brantford Bulldogs East 68 48 10 8 2 106 46 296 190 2 y-Barrie Colts Central 68 45 14 5 4 99 39 246 194 3 x-Ottawa 67's East 68 47 15 3 3 100 44 265 160 4 x-Peterborough Petes East 68 40 24 1 3 84 38 235 231 5 x-North Bay Battalion Central 68 38 26 3 1 80 33 237 215 6 x-Kingston Frontenacs East 68 33 30 3 2 71 31 212 209 7 x-Niagara IceDogs Central 68 32 30 4 2 70 29 211 253 8 x-Sudbury Wolves Central 68 27 39 2 0 56 25 211 262 9 Brampton Steelheads Central 68 19 38 6 4 48 18 164 246 10 Oshawa Generals East 68 19 45 3 1 42 19 177 273
Western conference Rank Team 1 z-Kitchener Rangers Midwest 68 47 14 5 2 101 46 261 179 2 y-Windsor Spitfires West 68 44 15 6 3 97 41 264 173 3 x-Flint Firebirds West 68 44 17 4 3 95 41 261 199 4 x-London Knights Midwest 68 40 23 4 1 85 36 242 207 5 x-Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds West 68 39 23 1 5 84 34 251 204 6 x-Owen Sound Attack Midwest 68 27 32 4 5 63 26 243 279 7 x-Guelph Storm Midwest 68 28 35 2 3 61 26 225 263 8 x-Saginaw Spirit West 68 26 34 4 4 60 24 228 292 9 Sarnia Sting West 68 21 38 8 1 51 18 205 289 10 Erie Otters Midwest 68 18 41 5 4 45 16 179 289
Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team Nikita KlepovSaginaw Spirit 67 37 60 97 43Nathan AspinallFlint Firebirds 65 33 61 94 42Jake O'BrienBrantford Bulldogs 53 28 65 93 28Egor BarabanovSaginaw Spirit 68 28 63 91 79Jack PridhamKitchener Rangers 65 46 44 90 54Marco MignosaSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 65 35 54 89 33Kieron WaltonSudbury / Peterborough 62 40 48 88 26Cole BeaudoinBarrie Colts 54 33 55 88 29Dylan EdwardsErie / Kitchener 67 40 47 87 39Christian HumphreysKitchener Rangers 63 27 58 85 33
Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
Player Team Ryder FetterolfOttawa 67's 41 2,436 29 9 2 1 84 6 0.923 2.07Joey CostanzoWindsor Spitfires 50 2,829 32 11 4 1 102 4 0.908 2.16Jaeden NelsonOttawa 67's 29 1,671 18 6 1 2 65 1 0.915 2.33Sebastian GattoLondon Knights 38 2,075 24 8 2 0 82 3 0.916 2.37Christian KirschKitchener Rangers 41 2,382 27 10 2 1 96 4 0.899 2.42
Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game On January 14, the top NHL entry draft eligible prospects participated in the Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario in a matchup of the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference.
Alessandro Di Iorio of the Sarnia Sting and Adam Novotný of the Peterborough Petes were named captains for their respective conferences.
Nikita Klepov of the Saginaw Spirit scored a goal and added two assists, leading the Western Conference to a 4-3 win in front of 3,697 fans.
Top Prospects East vs. Top Prospects West
Attendance
TeamArenaHome GamesAvg. AttendanceCapacityCap. PercentageLondon Knights Canada Life Place 34 9,051 9,061 99.9%Kitchener Rangers Kitchener Memorial Auditorium 34 6,762 7,131 94.8%Oshawa Generals Tribute Communities Centre 34 5,382 6,152 87.5%Windsor Spitfires WFCU Centre 34 5,178 6,450 80.3%Guelph Storm Sleeman Centre 34 4,555 4,715 96.6%Erie Otters Erie Insurance Arena 34 4,064 6,716 60.5%Ottawa 67's TD Place Arena 34 4,033 9,500 42.5%Saginaw Spirit Dow Event Center 34 3,881 5,527 70.2%Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds GFL Memorial Gardens 34 3,848 4,928 78.1%Barrie Colts Sadlon Arena 34 3,581 4,195 85.4%Peterborough Petes Peterborough Memorial Centre 34 3,490 3,729 93.6%Sarnia Sting Progressive Auto Sales Arena 34 3,463 4,118 84.1%Sudbury Wolves Sudbury Community Arena 34 3,273 4,640 70.5%Flint Firebirds Dort Financial Center 34 3,223 4,365 73.8%Kingston Frontenacs Slush Puppie Place 34 3,222 5,614 57.4%Niagara IceDogs Meridian Centre 34 3,156 5,300 59.5%Brantford Bulldogs TD Civic Centre 34 3,151 2,952 106.8%Owen Sound Attack Bayshore Community Centre 34 2,719 3,500 77.7%North Bay Battalion Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens 34 2,645 4,262 62.1%Brampton Steelheads CAA Centre 34 2,238 5,000 44.8%
Playoffs
Conference quarterfinals Eastern conference quarterfinals (1) Brantford Bulldogs vs. (8) Sudbury Wolves
(2) Barrie Colts vs. (7) Niagara IceDogs
(3) Ottawa 67's vs. (6) Kingston Frontenacs
(4) Peterborough Petes vs. (5) North Bay Battalion
Western conference quarterfinals (1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (8) Saginaw Spirit
(2) Windsor Spitfires vs. (7) Guelph Storm
(3) Flint Firebirds vs. (6) Owen Sound Attack
(4) London Knights vs. (5) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Conference semifinals Eastern conference semifinals (1) Brantford Bulldogs vs. (5) North Bay Battalion
(2) Barrie Colts vs. (3) Ottawa 67's
Western conference semifinals (1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (5) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
(2) Windsor Spitfires vs. (3) Flint Firebirds
Conference finals Eastern conference finals (1) Brantford Bulldogs vs. (2) Barrie Colts
Western conference finals (1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (2) Windsor Spitfires
J. Ross Robertson Cup finals (W1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (E2) Barrie Colts
J. Ross Robertson Cup Champions Roster 2025-26 Kitchener Rangers Goaltenders
Defencemen
Wingers
Centres
Coach: Jussi Ahokas General Manager: Mike McKenzie
Playoff scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team Cole BeaudoinBarrie Colts 15 10 19 29 17Sam O'ReillyKitchener Rangers 18 17 11 28 12Emil HemmingBarrie Colts 21 15 13 28 6Kashawn AitchesonBarrie Colts 19 8 19 27 25Caleb MalhotraBrantford Bulldogs 15 13 13 26 4Dylan EdwardsKitchener Rangers 18 14 11 25 8Jake O'BrienBrantford Bulldogs 15 6 17 23 4Ben WilmottBarrie Colts 20 11 11 22 6Christian HumphreysKitchener Rangers 18 9 13 22 6Adam JiříčekBrantford Bulldogs 15 7 15 22 6
Playoff leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
Player Team Easton RyePeterborough Petes 6 427 2 4 16 0 0.930 2.25Mason VaccariFlint Firebirds 8 476 4 4 18 1 0.921 2.27Christian KirschKitchener Rangers 18 1,163 16 2 45 1 0.900 2.32Carter GeorgeSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 10 635 5 5 25 1 0.910 2.36Ryerson LeendersBrantford Bulldogs 14 895 10 4 36 1 0.906 2.41
Awards