The OJHL announced today that they have canceled the rest of the 2020-21 season. The league’s Board of Governors voted in favor of canceling the season with the province of Ontario currently under a 28-day stay-at-home order. Hockey Canada also officially ends the season on May 31.
“Week after week, the OJHL has adjusted the league plan with the goal of getting any type of possible season in for our players,” said OJHL Commissioner, Marty Savoy. “With Ontario currently in a 28-day Stay at Home order and the end of the Hockey Canada season fast approaching, the league’s Board of Governors have made the very difficult decision to officially conclude the 2020-2021 OJHL season and turn our attention and planning for the upcoming 2021-2022 season. While this past year has been difficult for everyone, our immediate focus is to lean in to our 2021-2022 planning with a continued focus on health & safety, along with exciting operational enhancements we have been working towards for our league, which we will have details on soon.”
The league was able to complete 58 exhibition games among six teams.
The league additionally announced that once the current order expires, teams that are permitted to play will be able to compete in exhibition games together.
“The OJHL has studied every possible scenario to get our players back on the ice and, unfortunately, with the current state of the pandemic and provincial guidelines, we are unable to conduct the 2020-2021 season,” stated OJHL Chairman Marc Mercier. “As a Governor of a team within the league, I realize the disappointment and impact this decision has on our players. The league will continue to look at other possible programming for our teams and players, however the official 2020-2021 season has been concluded and all of our attention has been set upon a safe and exciting upcoming season. On behalf of our Governors, our board of Directors and our players, we’d like to thank the tireless efforts of our front line workers, our sponsors, volunteers and most importantly, our fans. We’re all looking forward to our Province healing and coming together very soon to play the game we love”
