The 2025–26 NOJHL season is the 48th season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
The Greater Sudbury Cubs won their third consecutive league championship. The Cubs' ownership subsequently announced during the off-season that it was withdrawing from the league. They cited several reasons for the decision, specifically, "The changing landscape of Junior Tier 2 hockey, including the unfettered movement of players, open recruitment from other leagues, exodus of players to southern leagues for more exposure and the dwindling number of players in the game due to the high cost of participation has made it untenable to operate in the NOJHL."
The Elliot Lake Vikings franchise remained on a leave of absence due to the protracted closure of Rogers Arena, the team's official home in Elliot Lake. The team was forced to vacate the building, which is owned by the City of Elliot Lake, due to "structural concerns" at the beginning of the 2023–24 season. As a temporary solution, the team relocated to the Massey and District Community Centre some away in Blind River. In December 2024, after the Elliot Lake city council delayed the reopening of its arena until the 2025–26 season, the league placed the Vikings on leave for the rest of the 2024–25 season. In May 2025, the Vikings extended its leave of absence through the 2025–26 season. League commissioner, Robert Mazzuca, stated "We just don't know when the club will be able to resume activities as they wait for news on the status of their arena." On 19 March 2026, the NOJHL announced the Vikings' immediate reinstatement and return for the 2026–27 NOJHL season.
The league debuted a new logo that was designed by Paul Ainsworth, a graphic designer and NOJHL alumnus.
Regular season
The regular season ran from 11 September 2025 through 15 March 2026. Each team played 52 games, including 25 at home, 25 away and two as part of the annual NOJHL showcase, which was held 7–8 October at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in Sudbury.
The first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs were awarded the James Aspen Trophy as the Regular Season Champions for the second consecutive year. The top eight teams advanced to the playoffs.
|+ style="background:#CDCCCB; border-top:#182E57 5px solid; border-bottom:#182E57 5px solid"| ! style=width:2.2em | Rank ! style=width:15em | Team ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Games Played">GP</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Wins">W</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Losses">L</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Ties">T</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Points">Pts</abbr title> |- align=right | align=center|1 || align=left|Greater Sudbury Cubs || 52 || 39 || 8 || 3 || 2 || 83 |- align=right | align=center|2 || align=left|Powassan Voodoos || 52 || 36 || 13 || 1 || 2 || 75 |- align=right | align=center|3 || align=left|Hearst Lumberjacks || 52 || 36 || 13 || 0 || 3 || 75 |- align=right | align=center|4 || align=left|Timmins Rock || 52 || 34 || 14 || 0 || 4 || 72 |- align=right | align=center|5 || align=left|Soo Thunderbirds || 52 || 32 || 15 || 3 || 2 || 69 |- align=right | align=center|6 || align=left|Espanola Paper Kings || 52 || 27 || 21 || 1 || 3 || 58 |- align=right | align=center|7 || align=left|Soo Eagles || 52 || 23 || 26 || 2 || 1 || 49 |- align=right | align=center|8 || align=left|Kirkland Lake Gold Miners || 52 || 17 || 28 || 0 || 7 || 41 |- align=right | align=center|9 || align=left|Blind River Beavers || 52 || 17 || 31 || 0 || 4 || 38 |- align=right | align=center|10 || align=left|Iroquois Falls Storm || 52 || 15 || 32 || 2 || 3 || 35 |- align=right | align=center|11 || align=left|French River Rapids || 52 || 4 || 46 || 0 || 2 || 10
Source:
Playoffs
The top 8 teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs. Each round of the playoffs is a single-elimination best-of-seven series. The Greater Sudbury Cubs swept all three rounds to win their third consecutive league championship and advance to the 2026 Centennial Cup national championship tournament in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Source:
Quarterfinal: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
The first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs swept the eighth-place Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in four straight games.
Quarterfinal: Powassan Voodoos v. Soo Eagles
The seventh-place Soo Eagles swept the second-place Powassan Voodoos in four straight games. The Voodoos appealed the result of game 4, citing an error by the on-ice officials that gave the Eagles a power play in overtime. The league and the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA) both rejected the appeal and the result was upheld.
Quarterfinal: Hearst Lumberjacks v. Espanola Paper Kings
The third-place Hearst Lumberjacks swept the sixth-place Espanola Paper Kings in four straight games.
Quarterfinal: Timmins Rock v. Soo Thunderbirds
The 4th-place Timmins Rock defeated the 5th-place Soo Thunderbirds in four games to three.
Semifinal: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Soo Eagles The Greater Sudbury Cubs swept the Soo Eagles and advanced to the final round.
Semifinal: Hearst Lumberjacks v. Timmins Rock Timmins Rock swept the Hearst Lumberjacks and advanced to the final round.
Final: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Timmins Rock The Greater Sudbury Cubs swept Timmins Rock and advanced to the 2026 Centennial Cup national championship.
National championship
The Greater Sudbury Cubs advanced to the national championship 2026 Centennial Cup tournament in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. They were eliminated from competition after losing three out of four matches in the prelimary round.
Individual awards
Mathieu Comeau of the Hearst Lumberjacks was named Most Valuable Player of the regular season and NOJHL Scoring Champion with 33 goals and 69 assists.
Spencer Horgan of the Greater Sudbury Cubs was named Best Defenceman. He finished the 2025–26 season as the highest scoring defenceman with 72 points. He is also the NOJHL's all-time scoring leader among defencemen with 228 points.
Owen Smith of the Espanola Paper Kings was named Rookie of the Year. He scored the most points among rookies with 24 goals and 30 assists.
Frederic Cousineau of the Timmins Rock and Matthew Vahramian of the Greater Sudbury Cubs received the Wayne Chase Memorial Award for the Best Goals-Against Average. Both goaltenders finished the season with a GAA of 2.14.
Peter Goulet, head coach of the Powassan Voodoos, was named NOJHL Coach of the Year.
References
Sources