2024–25 OHL season
| 2024–25 OHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Ontario Hockey League |
| Sport | Hockey |
| Duration | Preseason August 30, 2024 – September 22, 2024 Regular season September 25, 2024 – March 23, 2025 Playoffs March 2025 – May 2025 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| TV partner(s) | Rogers TV YourTV TSN |
| 2024–25 CHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Canadian Hockey League |
| Sport | Hockey |
| Duration | OHL September 2024 – May 2025 QMJHL September 2024 – May 2025 WHL September 2024 – May 2025 |
| Number of teams | 60 |
| TV partner(s) | RDS TSN Rogers TV |
The 2024–25 OHL season is the 45th season of operation (44th season of play) of the Ontario Hockey League. The league is playing a 68-game regular season which began on September 25, 2024 and concludes on March 23, 2025. The post-season will begin in March 2025 and conclude in May 2025.
The team who wins the championship will win the J. Ross Robertson Cup and will represent the Ontario Hockey League at the 2025 Memorial Cup, which will be hosted by the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The tournament will be held at Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Quebec.[1]
Off-season
[edit]Commissioner
[edit]On June 12, 2024, the OHL appointed Bryan Crawford as Incoming Commissioner of the league. He began his tenure on August 6, 2024. Crawford took over for David Branch, who held the position since 1979.[2]
Relocation
[edit]On June 13, 2024, the OHL Board of Governors approved the relocation of the Mississauga Steelheads to Brampton. The team will be rebranded as the Brampton Steelheads and will play out of the CAA Centre.[3]
Brampton previously hosted an OHL team, as the Brampton Battalion played in the league from 1998 to 2013. The Battalion relocated to North Bay and are currently the North Bay Battalion.[4]
The Steelheads played their ever regular season game in Brampton on September 27, 2024 against the Brantford Bulldogs. Porter Martone scored the first goal for the Steelheads and was named the first star of the game, as he scored a goal and added three assists. Jack Ivankovic stopped all 21 shots he saw, as the Steelheads shutout the Bulldogs 7-0 in front of 2,277 fans.[5]
Affiliation
[edit]On July 17, 2024, the Erie Otters announced an affiliation agreement with the GOJHL's Port Colborne Sailors.
Pre-season
[edit]On June 27, 2024, the OHL announced the preseason schedule for the 2024–25 season. In total, there will be 45 preseason games which began on August 30th and concluded on September 22nd.
This year's 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, Erie Otters and Saginaw Spirit.
Neutral site games include:
- Brantford Bulldogs at Saginaw Spirit at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario on August 30th.
- Erie Otters at Brantford Bulldogs at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario on August 31st.
- Erie Otters at Saginaw Spirit at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario at September 1st.
- Niagara IceDogs at Peterborough Petes at the Jack Burger Sports Complex in Port Hope, Ontario on September 1st.
- London Knights at Erie Otters at the Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, Ontario on September 7th.
- Sudbury Wolves at Peterborough Petes at the Asphodel-Norwood Community Centre in Asphodel-Norwood, Ontario on September 8th.
- Windsor Spitfires at Flint Firebirds at Flint Iceland Arena in Flint, Michigan on September 8th.
- Flint Firebirds at Windsor Spitfires at Vollmer Recreation Centre in LaSalle, Ontario on September 19th.
- Oshawa Generals at Erie Otters at Dunnville Memorial Arena in Dunnville, Ontario on September 20th.
- Kingston Frontenacs at Ottawa 67's at the Cornwall Civic Complex in Cornwall, Ontario on September 21st.
- Guelph Storm at Peterborough Petes at the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre in Millbrook, Ontario on September 21st.
- Niagara IceDogs at Windsor Spitfires at the Atlas Tube Recreation Centre in Belle River, Ontario.
OHL training camps began in late August in preparation of the 2024-25 season, which began on September 25, 2024.[6]
Regular season
[edit]Season standings
[edit]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
Standings as of January 12, 2025[7]
Eastern conference
[edit]| Rank | Team | DIV | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niagara IceDogs | Central | 41 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 24 | 173 | 168 |
| 2 | Oshawa Generals | East | 41 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 22 | 162 | 140 |
| 3 | Barrie Colts | Central | 39 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 23 | 139 | 115 |
| 4 | Sudbury Wolves | Central | 39 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 49 | 22 | 150 | 136 |
| 5 | Kingston Frontenacs | East | 39 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 49 | 20 | 163 | 138 |
| 6 | Brantford Bulldogs | East | 40 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 18 | 152 | 143 |
| 7 | Brampton Steelheads | Central | 39 | 18 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 42 | 16 | 171 | 160 |
| 8 | Ottawa 67's | East | 40 | 14 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 13 | 128 | 160 |
| 9 | North Bay Battalion | Central | 38 | 15 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 14 | 109 | 150 |
| 10 | Peterborough Petes | East | 41 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 9 | 103 | 156 |
Western conference
[edit]| Rank | Team | DIV | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Knights | Midwest | 39 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 29 | 179 | 105 |
| 2 | Windsor Spitfires | West | 41 | 30 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 63 | 30 | 187 | 127 |
| 3 | Kitchener Rangers | Midwest | 41 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 62 | 27 | 149 | 109 |
| 4 | Saginaw Spirit | West | 40 | 21 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 19 | 173 | 150 |
| 5 | Erie Otters | Midwest | 37 | 19 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 19 | 135 | 135 |
| 6 | Flint Firebirds | West | 41 | 17 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 15 | 133 | 149 |
| 7 | Sarnia Sting | West | 42 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 37 | 13 | 120 | 171 |
| 8 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | West | 40 | 16 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 14 | 116 | 154 |
| 9 | Guelph Storm | Midwest | 40 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 12 | 135 | 173 |
| 10 | Owen Sound Attack | Midwest | 40 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 12 | 115 | 153 |
Scoring leaders
[edit]Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes[8]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Misa | Saginaw Spirit | 37 | 35 | 37 | 72 | 23 |
| Liam Greentree | Windsor Spitfires | 40 | 30 | 42 | 72 | 30 |
| Kieron Walton | Sudbury Wolves | 39 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 28 |
| Ilya Protas | Windsor Spitfires | 38 | 29 | 37 | 66 | 16 |
| Beckett Sennecke | Oshawa Generals | 35 | 28 | 35 | 63 | 36 |
| Nick Lardis | Brantford Bulldogs | 39 | 34 | 28 | 62 | 16 |
| Porter Martone | Brampton Steelheads | 30 | 22 | 40 | 62 | 45 |
| Ryan Roobroeck | Niagara IceDogs | 41 | 28 | 29 | 57 | 8 |
| Patrick Thomas | Brantford Bulldogs | 40 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 6 |
| Henry Mews | Ottawa / Sudbury | 40 | 12 | 43 | 55 | 44 |
Leading goaltenders
[edit]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[9]
| Player | Team | GP | MINS | W | L | OTL | SOL | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Parsons | Kitchener Rangers | 33 | 1956 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 69 | 4 | 0.925 | 2.12 |
| Ben Hrebik | Barrie Colts | 18 | 1038 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 0.932 | 2.37 |
| Austin Elliott | London Knights | 17 | 1034 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 | 0.913 | 2.38 |
| Aleksei Medvedev | London Knights | 21 | 1174 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 0.921 | 2.56 |
| Joey Costanzo | Windsor Spitfires | 33 | 1873 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 85 | 3 | 0.903 | 2.72 |
Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game
[edit]On October 30, the OHL announced a brand new one-game event, the Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game. The top NHL Draft eligible prospects will participate in the game on January 15 at the Brantford Civic Centre in Brantford, Ontario in a matchup of the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference.[10]
Jake O'Brien of the Brantford Bulldogs and Michael Misa of the Saginaw Spirit were named captains for their respective conferences.[11]
Porter Martone of the Brampton Steelheads scored the overtime winning goal, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 5-4 in front of a sold out crowd of 3,195 fans.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Blouin, Maxime. "Rimouski selected to host the 2025 Memorial Cup". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ "OHL Appoints Golf Canada Executive Bryan Crawford as Incoming Commissioner". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ "OHL Board of Governors Approves Relocation of Mississauga Steelheads Franchise to Brampton". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ "OHL announces Mississauga Steelheads' official relocation to Brampton". Sportsnet. Canadian Press. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ Rumbolt, Ryan. "Back-to-back wins open the Steelheads' first season in Brampton". Insauga. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ Sweetland, Josh. "OHL Announces 2024-25 Preseason Schedule". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "OHL Standings". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
- ^ "Canadian Hockey League – Official Site of the Canadian Hockey League".
- ^ "Canadian Hockey League – Official Site of the Canadian Hockey League".
- ^ "Inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game presented by Enbridge Gas coming to Brantford on January 15, 2025". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
- ^ "Misa, O'Brien named captains for inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game presented by Enbridge Gas". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
- ^ "Top Prospects West at Top Prospects East". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
Sources
[edit]- "EDITORIAL: Changes to NCAA, junior hockey will have lasting impact". Rocky Mountain Outlook. Great West Media. December 2, 2024. Retrieved December 2, 2024.