SUDBURY – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League announced today its format and timeline for the upcoming playoffs.
Postseason action will commence in the NOJHL East with a best-of-three quarter-final series that gets underway next week between No. 4 divisional seed Powassan against No. 5 Mattawa.
From there all remaining league playoff series will be best-of-seven affairs.
Divisional semifinal play is scheduled to run March 13-25.
In the East, No. 1 Kirkland Lake will take on the winner of the Powassan – Mattawa series while Cochrane and Abitibi will meet in the other division semi, with home ice still to be determined in that one.
Over in the NOJHL West No. 1 Sault Ste. Marie takes on No. 4 Blind River and No. 2 Elliot Lake will square off against No. 3 Sudbury.
The respective division finals are then slated to be played between March 27 and April 8.
From there the two winners will compete for the Copeland Cup-McNamara Trophy and the NOJHL championship.
The dates for the league final range from April 10-23 with the highest remaining seed earning home ice advantage in the quest for the title.
Once a NOJHL champion is crowned, that team will move on to represent the league at the 2015 Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Jr. A Championship , April 28 through May 2 in Fort Frances, Ont.
That four-team event will feature the title holders from the NOJHL, Ontario Junior Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League and the host Fort Frances Lakers of the SIJHL.
Should the Lakers repeat as SIJHL champions, then that league’s finalist will also advance to the Dudley-Hewit Cup.
The Dudley-Hewitt Cup winner will then head to Portage la Prairie, Man., to represent the region and take part in the 2015 RBC Cup Canadian Jr. A Championship, May 9-17.
Hosted by the Portage Terriers (MJHL), currently the No. 1 rated club in the 129-team Canadian Junior Hockey League, the RBC Cup will also feature the Dudley-Hewitt titleists along with the winners of the Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian Jr. A event as well as the champion and finalist of the Crescent Point Energy Western Canadian tourney.
NOJHL PLAYOFF TIMELINE
East quarter-final
Dates: March 9-12
Best-of-three series
Powassan vs. Mattawa
Schedule T.B.A.
East semifinals
Best-of-seven series
Dates: March 13-25
No. 1 Kirkland Lake vs. Quarter-final winner (No. 4 Powassan or No. 5 Mattawa)
Cochrane vs. Abitibi (Seeding still to be determined)
Schedules T.B.A.
West semifinals
Best-of-seven series
Dates: March 13-25
No. 1 Sault Ste. Marie vs. No. 4 Blind River
No. 2 Elliot Lake vs. No. 3 Sudbury
Schedules T.B.A.
East & West Finals
Best-of-seven series
Dates: March 27-April 8
Schedules T.B.A.
NOJHL Final for the Copeland Cup-McNamara Trophy
Best-of-seven series
Dates: April 20-23
Schedule T.B.A.
Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Jr. A Championship
Ice for Kids Arena – Fort Frances, Ont.
Dates: April 28 – May 2
Competing Teams
Host: Fort Frances Lakers (SIJHL)
NOJHL
OJHL
SIJHL
Schedule
Tuesday, April 28
NOJHL vs. SIJHL 3 p.m.
OJHL vs. Fort Frances 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 29
OJHL vs. SIJHL 3 p.m.
Fort Frances vs. NOJHL 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 30
NOJHL vs. OJHL 3 p.m.
SIJHL vs. Fort Frances 8:30 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Semifinal: 2nd round robin vs. 3rd round robin 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Final: 1st round robin vs. Semifinal winner 8:30 p.m.
RBC Cup Canadian Jr. A Championship
PCU Centre – Portage la Prairie, Man.
Dates: May 9-17
Competing Teams
Host: Portage Terriers (MJHL)
Central (Dudley-Hewitt Cup champion)
East (Fred Page Cup champion)
West 1 (Crescent Point Energy Cup champion)
West 2 (Crescent Point Energy Cup finalist)
Schedule
Saturday, May 9
West 1 vs. Portage 3 p.m.
Central vs. East 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 10
West 2 vs. West 1 3 p.m.
Portage vs. East 8 p.m.
Monday, May 11
West 2 vs. Central 8 p.m.
Tuesday, May 12
East vs. West 1 3 p.m.
Central vs. Portage 8 p.m.
Wednesday, May 13
East vs. West 2 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 14
West 1 vs. Central 2 p.m.
Host vs. West 2 8 p.m.
Friday
CJHL Awards Banquet
Saturday, May 16
Semifinal 1: 3 p.m.
Semifinal 2: 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 17
Final: 8 p.m.
