Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League

Niagara & District Junior "C" Hockey League

Head Office	Cambridge, Ontario
Official Website	NDJCHL
Operated	1974-2016

The Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League is a former Junior "C" ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association. The Champion of the Niagara competed for the All-Ontario Championship and the Clarence Schmalz Cup.

In the summer of 2016, the NDJCHL merged into the Provincial Junior Hockey League.

History

The Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League was formed in 1974. Although corresponding with the founding of the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League, the Niagara District league was actually founded by removing the Niagara-area teams from the Central Junior C Hockey League and placing them in the new Niagara District league. The Central league is now known as the Western Ontario Junior C Hockey League.

In 1984, the entire Western Division of the league broke away and formed the Southwestern Junior C Hockey League. The league only lasted one year before it was reabsorbed by the Niagara & District League. The Southwestern league comprised teams from Norwich, Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Simcoe, and New Hamburg. Local publications, like the Simcoe Reformer, did not recognize the Southwestern League as anything but the Western Division of the Niagara District league.

In the Spring of 2013, Junior C hockey in Ontario had its first major realignment since the creation of the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League in 1994. The 27 teams between the Niagara & District League and the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League were reshuffled. The Niagara & District League jumped from 12 to 18 teams, losing the Aylmer Spitfires, but gaining the Ayr Centennials, Burford Bulldogs, Delhi Travellers, Hagersville Hawks, Norfolk Rebels (Port Dover), Tavistock Braves, and Wellesley Applejacks.^[1] Not long after, the OHA split off the Western Division of the Niagara League to form the new Midwestern Junior C Hockey League, taking long time Niagara League members the Woodstock Navy-Vets, New Hamburg Firebirds, Norwich Merchants, and Paris Mounties with them.

Teams

Team	Centre	Founded
Dundas Blues	Dundas	1963
Dunnville Jr. Mudcats	Dunnville	1974
Glanbrook Rangers	Glanbrook	1975
Grimsby Peach Kings	Grimsby	1922
Hagersville Hawks	Hagersville	1992
Niagara Riverhawks	Niagara Falls	1987
Port Dover Sailors	Port Dover	1988
Simcoe Storm	Simcoe	1959

On hiatus:

St. George Dukes^[2]

2015-16 Playoffs

Winner moves on to the Clarence Schmalz Cup.

Quarter-final			Semi-final			Final

1	Glanbrook	4

8	Simcoe	0
			1	Glanbrook	4

			4	Hagersville	1
4	Hagersville	4

5	Niagara	1
						1	Glanbrook	3

						2	Grimsby	4
2	Grimsby	4

7	Port Dover	2
			2	Grimsby	4

			3	Dundas	3
6	Dunnville	0

3	Dundas	4

Niagara Junior "C" champions

Niagara District Junior C Champions are bolded. In a year that there is no bolded champion, there seems to have not been an overall Niagara District Champion and both division entered teams against different opponents at the provincial level. In 1985, the Western Division was known as the "Southwestern Junior C Hockey League".

Year	Champions	Finalists	Result in Provincials
1975	Dunnville Terriers		Lost semi-final vs. Lindsay (C)
1976	Dunnville Terriers		Won Championship vs. Essex (GL)
1977	Stoney Creek Warriors
1978	Flamborough Sabres	Glanbrook Rangers	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)

Year	East Champion	West Champion	Result in Provincials
1979	Stoney Creek Warriors
1980		Flamborough Colts	Lost semi-final vs. Leamington (GL)
1981	Dunnville Terriers	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)

Year	Can-Am Champion	Central Champion	West Champion	Result in Provincials
1982	Team Port Colborne	Flamborough Colts	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Bowmanville (C)

Year	East Champion	West Champion	Result in Provincials
1983	Dunnville Terriers	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Won Championship vs. Lindsay (C)
1984	Stoney Creek Warriors	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost final vs. Penetang (GB)
1985	Stoney Creek Warriors	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1986	Stoney Creek Warriors	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Bradford (MO)

Year	East Champion	Central Champion	West Champion	Result in Provincials
1987	Dundas Blues		Norwich Merchants	Lost final vs. Lakefield (C)

Year	East Champion	West Champion	Result in Provincials
1988	Stoney Creek Warriors	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Mooretown (GL)
1989	Caledonia Corvairs	Dundas Blues	Caledonia Lost quarter-final vs. Bradford (MO) Dundas Lost quarter-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1990	Port Dover Clippers	New Hamburg Spirit 83's	Port Dover Lost quarter-final vs. Orangeville (MO) New Hamburg Lost quarter-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1991	Port Dover Clippers	New Hamburg Spirit 83's	Port Dover Lost quarter-final vs. Orangeville (MO) New Hamburg Lost quarter-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1992	Chippawa Merchants	Dundas Blues	Lost semi-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1993	Dundas Blues	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Napanee Raiders (E)
1994	Rockton Real McCoys	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Rockton Lost final vs. Belle River (GL) Woodstock Lost quarter-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1995	Chippawa Merchants	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Belle River (GL)
1996	Glanbrook Rangers	Paris Mounties	Won Championship vs. Napanee (E)
1997	Glanbrook Rangers	Paris Mounties	Won Championship vs. Belle River (GL)
1998	Glanbrook Rangers	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Kincardine (W)
1999	Glanbrook Rangers	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Won Championship vs. Wallaceburg (GL)
2000	Chippawa Riverhawks	Norwich Merchants	Lost semi-final vs. Lakefield (C)
2001	Chippawa Riverhawks	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Belle River (GL)
2002	Chippawa Riverhawks	Woodstock Navy-Vets	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)
2003	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Georgina (C)
2004	Grimsby Peach Kings	Simcoe Storm	Won Championship vs. Wingham (W)
2005	Grimsby Peach Kings	Simcoe Storm	Lost final vs. Essex (GL)
2006	Grimsby Peach Kings	Simcoe Storm	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)
2007	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)
2008	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)
2009	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)
2010	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Lost semi-final vs. Belle River (GL)
2011	Grimsby Peach Kings	Norwich Merchants	Won Championship vs. Alliston (GMO)
2012	Grimsby Peach Kings	New Hamburg Firebirds	Won Championship vs. Alliston (GMO)
2013	Grimsby Peach Kings	New Hamburg Firebirds	Lost semi-final vs. Essex (GL)

Year	Champion	Finalist	Result in Provincials
2014	Grimsby Peach Kings	Dunnville Jr. Mudcats	Lost semi-final vs. Lakefield (C)
2015	Grimsby Peach Kings	Dundas Blues	Lost quarter-final vs. Ayr (MW)
2016	Grimsby Peach Kings	Glanbrook Rangers	Lost quarter-final vs. Ayr (MW)

Regular Season Champions

Season	Champion	Record	Points
1974-75	Dunnville Terriers	24-3-3-0	51
1975-76	Dunnville Terriers	29-3-4-0	62
1976-77	Hagersville Flyers	21-4-5-0	47
1977-78	Flamborough Sabres	23-9-4-0	50
1978-79	Hagersville Flyers	26-11-3-0	55
1979-80	Stoney Creek Warriors	30-4-1-0	61
1980-81	Stoney Creek Warriors	30-7-3-0	63
1981-82	Norwich Merchants	26-5-1-0	53
1982-83	Dunnville Terriers	24-6-2-0	50
1983-84	Port Colborne Sailors	30-7-3-0	63
1984-85	Stoney Creek Warriors	26-7-1-0	53
1985-86	Stoney Creek Warriors	28-6-2-0	58
1986-87	Dundas Blues	25-6-3-0	53
1987-88	Norwich Merchants	27-5-4-0	58
1988-89	Dundas Blues	27-6-3-0	57
1989-90	Norwich Merchants	25-7-4-0	54
1990-91	Dundas Blues	26-5-3-0	55
1991-92	Flamborough Gamblers	27-5-1-0	55
1992-93	Woodstock Navy-Vets	29-2-5-0	63
1993-94	Paris Mounties	25-5-6-0	56
1994-95	Chippawa Merchants	31-2-2-0	64
1995-96	Glanbrook Rangers	32-3-1-0	65
1996-97	Woodstock Navy-Vets	32-4-3-1	68
1997-98	Glanbrook Rangers	37-1-4-0	78
1998-99	Glanbrook Rangers	33-2-1-0	67
1999-00	Chippawa Riverhawks	32-4-0-0	64
2000-01	Chippawa Riverhawks	31-0-4-1	67
2001-02	Woodstock Navy-Vets & Chippawa Riverhawks	25-9-1-1	52 (tie)
2002-03	Grimsby Peach Kings	30-2-3-1	64
2003-04	Grimsby Peach Kings	28-5-2-1	59
2004-05	Grimsby Peach Kings	28-5-3-0	59
2005-06	Grimsby Peach Kings	33-3-0-0	66
2006-07	Grimsby Peach Kings	28-7-0-1	57
2007-08	Grimsby Peach Kings	32-2-2-0	66
2008-09	Grimsby Peach Kings	26-8-0-2	54
2009-10	Simcoe Storm	29-5-0-2	60
2010-11	Norwich Merchants	32-2-0-2	66
2011-12	Grimsby Peach Kings	32-4-0-0	64
2012-13	New Hamburg Firebirds	32-4-0-2	66
2013-14	Grimsby Peach Kings	26-8-0-1	53
2014-15	Grimsby Peach Kings	31-7-0-4	66
2015-16	Glanbrook Rangers	31-10-0-1	63

Please note: Through much of the 1980s and 1990s, the divisions of the league were semi-autonomous and would often have different numbers of games in their schedules. The winners, in that case, are chosen by winning percentage. The 2001-02 ended up with the two division leaders with exact records, therefore a tie.

Former teams

References

External links

[1] "ONTARIO HOCKEY ASSOCIATION APPROVES JUNIOR C REALIGNMENT FOR START OF 2013-14 SEASON | Ontario Hockey Association".

[2] ttps://www.brantnews.com/sports/st-george-dukes-suspend-hockey-operations/ ^{[dead link‍]}

[1]

[2]

v t e Provincial Junior Hockey League
Carruthers	Alliston Hornets Huntsville Otters Innisfil Spartans Midland Flyers Muskoka Bears Orillia Terriers Penetang Kings Stayner Siskins (See also: GMOHL)
Pollock	Fergus Whalers Goderich Flyers Hanover Barons Kincardine Bulldogs Mitchell Hawks Mount Forest Patriots Walkerton Capitals Wingham Ironmen (See also: WOJCHL)
Bloomfield	Dundas Blues Dunnville Jr. Mudcats Glanbrook Rangers Grimsby Peach Kings Hagersville Hawks Niagara Riverhawks Port Dover Sailors Streetsville Derbys (See also: NDJCHL)
Doherty	Dorchester Dolphins Hespeler Shamrocks New Hamburg Firebirds Norwich Merchants Paris Titans Tavistock Braves Wellesley Applejacks Woodstock Navy-Vets (See also: MWJCHL)
Orr	Caledon Golden Hawks Clarington Eagles Georgina Ice Little Britain Merchants Port Perry Lumberjacks Schomberg Cougars Uxbridge Bruins (See also: COJCHL)
Tod	Amherstview Jets Campbellford Rebels Frankford Huskies Lakefield Chiefs Napanee Raiders North Kawartha Knights Picton Pirates Port Hope Panthers (See also: EBJCHL)
Stobbs	Amherstburg Admirals Blenheim Blades Dresden Jr. Kings Essex 73's Lakeshore Canadiens Mooretown Flags Walpole Island Wild Wheatley Sharks (See also: GLJCHL)
Yeck	Aylmer Spitfires Exeter Hawks Lucan Irish Mount Brydges Bulldogs North Middlesex Stars Petrolia Flyers Port Stanley Sailors Thamesford Trojans (See also: SOJHL)
Seasons	2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Former teams	Ayr Centennials Burford Bulldogs Delhi Travellers Gananoque Islanders Lambeth Lancers
Clarence Schmalz Cup Ontario Hockey Association Ontario Hockey Federation Hockey Canada