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33-663: In April 2008, it was announced that Minden had been chosen as a 2008-09 season expansion team within the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League . This marks the first time the region has received a team since nearby Haliburton had one in the 1970s. Minden played their first ever game on September 13, 2008 against the South Muskoka Shield in Gravenhurst. Despite the Riverkings leading most of

66-855: A Nipissing/Ville-Marie combined squad. The only loss for a GMHL team happened to the Toronto Canada Moose . In the summer of 2010, the GMHL expanded in two fashions internationally. First, Canada 's only All-Russian team in the Shelburne Red Wings and then late in the summer they expanded to the United States through the expansion of the Jamestown Jets . On September 17, 2010, the GMHL played its first international regulation game, in Jamestown, New York between

99-824: A regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era. Elliot Lake would win the game 8–2 in front of an estimated 400 fans. At the conclusion of the 2011–12 season, the league lost the Elliot Lake Bobcats to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League . Relocation of teams and expansion

132-469: A win the round-robin portion of the 2018 tournament. In August 2020, Ryan Leonard sold the Crunch to former Ontario Hockey League player Tom Nickolau. On April 29, 2023 the Crunch would apply for a potential relocation to Iroquois Falls. On May 9, 2023 the relocation of the Crunch would be approved by the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League . With the Crunch relocating, the team would rebrand; changing

165-518: Is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in the Greater Toronto Area , Central Ontario , Northeastern Ontario , and Quebec . As of December 2019, the league's alumni page lists 889 players from 2006 to 2019 who graduated from the GMHL to play for NCAA colleges, various professional leagues, major junior teams, or represented their country in various IIHF World Championships . The GMHL

198-592: Is an independent junior league and is not a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League or sanctioned by Hockey Canada . The league, founded by Bob Russell and Hockeyworks International Ltd., opened its doors in early 2006, with a unique concept and approach to improving the standard of developing young hockey players within a Junior 'A' league format setting. A draft showcase event took place from May 5 until May 7, 2006 with players from Canada, United States, and Europe taking up residence at

231-486: The Bradford Rattlers and South Muskoka Shield being thrown out in the semifinal round. An incident, both on-ice and later off-ice, involving a player from each team and later two more players and a parent from one team entering the altercation, resulted in a police investigation and one team refusing to continue. The league disqualified both teams after the game failed to continue. Since the 2012 tournament,

264-656: The Brock Bucks . At the same time, the Quebec -based Temiscaming Royals walked away from the league to join the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League , but were replaced within weeks by the Ville-Marie Dragons . In December 2008 and January 2009, eight teams of the GMHL hosted Kazakhstan 's Under-18 Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk squad. Victorious were the Elliot Lake Bobcats (twice), South Muskoka Shield , King Wild , Bradford Rattlers , Innisfil Lakers , and

297-791: The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League . The team was originally known as the Elliot Lake Bobcats in Elliot Lake, Ontario , until the 2014–15 season; where they moved to Cochrane, Ontario as the Cochrane Crunch until their move to Iroquois Falls in 2023. The Storm are the third NOJHL franchise to be located in Iroquois Falls after the Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis/Abitibi Eskimos (1999-2015) and Iroquois Falls Eskis (2015-17). The expansion of

330-467: The Jamestown Jets and Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks , both expansion teams to the league for the 2010–11 season. Jamestown won the game 4–3. In December 2010, the GMHL named Bob Bernstein commissioner. After serving as commissioner for seven days, Bernstein was relieved of his duties and Ken Girard later resumed as full-time commissioner. In mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario and its 500-seat outdoor arena would host

363-898: The King Wild and Richmond Hill Rams played two games each against the Mexico national ice hockey team . The Wild won both their games, while the Rams lost both of theirs. For the 2008–09 season, the GMJHL adopted much of the National Collegiate Athletic Association 's ice hockey rulebook. The GMJHL added the Minden Riverkings and the Oro-Medonte 77's to the mix, and the Dukes relocated to become

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396-561: The King Wild and the Richmond Hill Rams . The final result was a 6–0 victory for the Rams, despite being badly outshot by the Wild. The first goal in the league's history was scored by the Rams' Darren Archibald (future Vancouver Canucks prospect) on the power play during the first period. Rams' goaltender Daniel Jones picked up the historical first victory, as well as the league's first shutout in history. On November 15, 2006,

429-706: The Powassan Voodoos in four games to become East Division champions. On March 1, 2018, the NOJHL announced that the Crunch would host the 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup , their first time hosting the Central Canadian Junior A championship tournament. On April 24, 2018, the Crunch defeated the Rayside-Balfour Canadians for the NOJHL championship and made their first appearance in a Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament. They finished without

462-767: The Seguin Huskies . The Force and Schooners both folded during the season without winning a game. After one season following the Islanders merge, the Seguin Huskies folded in 2018. The GMHL also added two teams originally in the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals and Ottawa Sharpshooters for 2018–19. The Wiarton Schooners returned but folded midseason for

495-680: The 2011 championship. On September 7, 2012, the Bobcats played their first game in the NOJHL. They played the North Bay Trappers and lost 8–0. On September 21, 2012 the Bobcats won their first NOJHL game 6–2 over the Blind River Beavers . The Bobcats moved to Cochrane, Ontario , for the 2014–15 NOJHL season and became the Cochrane Crunch. In April 2015, the Crunch qualified for the league finals by sweeping

528-776: The 2013–14 season, and were renamed the Shelburne Stars. However, the Stars did not play in 2014–15 and changed their name to the Shelburne Sharks and began play in 2015–16. In May 2015, the Rama Aces took a leave of absence but never returned. In November 2015, the Brantford Steelfighters suspended their operations after 18 games. The Shelburne Sharks returned as the Shelburne Stars in June 2016, but

561-541: The Bobcats made them the tenth team in the independent Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) and one of six 2007 expansion teams. The Bobcats were Elliot Lake's first Junior "A" team since the folding of the Elliot Lake Ice in 1999. On September 7, 2007, the Elliot Lake Bobcats played their first game, at home, against the Espanola Kings . The Bobcats also picked up their first win as they defeated

594-463: The Bobcats won the 2011 Russell Cup Championship over the South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 with an 8–5 victory. The Bobcats were down 3-games-to-1 in the series, but came back with three straight victories to win their first league title. The Bobcats are the first GMHL team that did not participate in the inaugural 2006–07 season to win the Russell Cup. In 2011–12, the Bobcats finished fifth in

627-520: The GMHL. The Bobcats played the Bobcaygeon Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Bucks 2-games-to-1. In the league quarter-final, their season ended losing 3-games-to-1 to the South Muskoka Shield . In April 2012, the Elliot Lake Bobcats became members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League , leaving the GMHL after five seasons, two regular season titles, and winning

660-651: The GMJHL announced its affiliation with the World Hockey Association and creation of the National Junior Hockey Alliance . The affiliation resulted in a national championship between the GMJHL playoff champion and the winner of the WHA Junior West Hockey League after the 2006–07 season. The first ever regular season of the GMJHL concluded on February 25, 2007 with the Bradford Rattlers leading

693-527: The Hockeyworks' World Hockey Centre near Shelburne, Ontario to take part in the league's first tryout camp. As of September 2006, it became clear that the league would operate its first season with seven teams. The original seven were the Bradford Rattlers , Deseronto Thunder , King Wild , Nipissing Alouettes , Richmond Hill Rams , South Muskoka Shield , and Toronto Canada Moose . The league's first ever game took place on September 8, 2006 between

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726-585: The Kings 3–2. On January 1, 2008, the Bobcats hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 9–2. This was the third game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMHL clubs. The Bobcats played against Kazakhstan 's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 squad on January 8, 2009, in an international exhibition game. The Bobcats won

759-550: The National Junior Hockey League (NJHL). Bolded are overall regular season champions. Bolded are overall champions, Italics are finalist. Since 2009, the GMHL has had a mid-season prospect tournament. Generally, the top seven teams of the league compete in the tournament with an eighth team, the GMHL Selects representing the other teams in the league. The 2012 tournament featured both

792-441: The game 5–3. In mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario , and its 500-seat outdoor arena would host a regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era. Elliot Lake won the game 8–2 in front of an estimated 400 fans. On April 2, 2011,

825-649: The game, the Shield crept back in late to tie the game and won it in a five-man shootout 1-0 to win the game 6-5. On September 20, 2008, the Riverkings recorded their first ever victory by defeating the Ville-Marie Dragons 6-3 at a showcase weekend in Thornhill, Ontario . On November 11, 2009, the GMHL announced that the Minden Riverkings had ceased operations. Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League ( GMHL )

858-444: The league changed the format to a prospect weekend with no championship rounds. *Min. 11 games, except 2020-21 due to COVID-19 (6 games). *Records reflect teams playing full 42-game schedule. Elliot Lake Bobcats The Iroquois Falls Storm are a Canadian Junior "A" Hockey team based out of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada . They currently play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of

891-656: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and no champion was named. The following 2020–21 season did not take place as scheduled due to pandemic restrictions in Ontario and Quebec, with six teams playing only two games each in December 2020. The four teams in the GMHL West were able to play a partial season and a playoff in May 2021. In 2023, all teams from the GMHL West were removed by the league, which then formed their own league called

924-662: The season. The Orangeville Ice Crushers would also suspend operations in January 2017 and all remaining games against Orangeville were considered forfeits. For 2017–18, the league added the Fergus Force, Ville-Marie Pirates, Wiarton Schooners, and Windsor Aces while losing the Toronto Attack . In late August 2017, the Parry Sound Islanders announced they were taking a leave of absence and merged with

957-668: The second consecutive season, and third consecutive midseason GMHL team folding in the town of Wiarton. In 2019, the league added the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA) as a Western Division in the GMHL for the 2019–20 season, which then rebranded as the GMHL West. The WPHA had played the previous season in the Western States Hockey League as the Provinces Division. The 2020 playoffs were then curtailed by

990-819: The team folded soon afterwards. The Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks re-branded as the West Nipissing Lynx, but remained in Sturgeon Falls. Early into the 2016–17 season, the Toronto Blue Ice Jets were removed from the schedule in the first week, the Bracebridge Blues in the fifth week, the Komoka Dragons in the seventh week, the Lincoln Mavericks in the twelfth week, and Wiarton Rock in the fifteenth week of

1023-786: The team was transferred to the town. The team is now known as the Deseronto Storm . On December 11, 2007, the GMJHL announced a seven-game challenge series versus a Russian team known as the Moscow Selects. In late December and early January, the top seven teams of the GMJHL will compete against the Moscow Selects—a mixture of top Top Junior talent from the City of Moscow . The Selects played seven games, against Bradford, Innisfil, Temiscaming, Elliot Lake, Richmond Hill, Deseronto, and South Muskoka, winning each game. In March 2008,

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1056-744: The way as regular season champs with a record of 37 wins, 1 regulation loss, and 4 overtime losses. In the playoffs, the Rattlers beat the Deseronto Thunder in six games, and then the King Wild in five games to win the first ever Russell Cup as playoff champions. In September 2007, the GMJHL started its second season with six new teams, the Douro Dukes , Elliot Lake Bobcats , Espanola Kings , Innisfil Lakers , Tamworth Cyclones , and Temiscaming Royals . The Deseronto Thunder ran into financial trouble after their first season and ownership of

1089-416: Was busier than ever in 2014. The Mattawa Voyageurs moved to Sundridge to make way for an NOJHL team. The Powassan Eagles moved to Parry Sound to make way for an NOJHL team. The league expanded rapidly with a total of 15 new teams in the off-season of 2014 and 2015. There was a total of 30 teams, with a total of six teams playing in the same market (two teams per town). The Shelburne Red Wings were sold after

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