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Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League

Head Office	Cambridge, Ontario
Official Website	SOJHL
Convenor	Wayne Smith
Chairman	John Simmons
Operated	1960-2016

The Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League (SOJHL) is a former Canadian Junior ice hockey league sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association based out of Southwestern Ontario. Prior to the 2012-13 season, the SOJHL was promoted to the Junior C level.^[1]

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

History

Founded in the 1960s as the Shamrock Junior D Hockey League. In 1969, the League would change its name to the Western Junior D Hockey League and its champion would go on to win eleven of the next nineteen provincial championships. In the Summer of 1985, the North Junior D Hockey League would fold, leaving the Western League and the Southern Counties Junior D Hockey League. In 1988, the SCJDHL would fold and its remaining teams joined the Western League. Bloated to nineteen teams, the league would continue on as the only Junior D league in Ontario. In 1991, the league became the OHA Junior Development League. In 2006, in an attempt to gain promotion to Junior C, the league dropped any reference of Junior D or Development and renamed itself the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

During the summer of 2006, the Yeck Conference applied to break off from the league and start their own Junior C league, but were turned down by the OHA. A talented and entertaining league, the SOJHL has a long-standing tradition of the OHA in the Southwestern Ontario region.

The SOJHL downsized extensively for the 2008-09 season, losing Mitchell, West Lorne, and Central Elgin. The league also reformatted into three divisions.

The SOJHL saw the Central Elgin franchise return, this time as the Port Stanley Sailors, for the 2009-2010 season.^[2]

As of 2012, the SOJHL is in talks with the OHA as to the future of the league. The 2012-13 season will be played at the Junior C level and the league will be folded and divided up into other leagues in the summer of 2013.

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 Junior C Hockey League and the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League were reshuffled. The SOJHL went from 15 to 9 teams, gaining the Aylmer Spitfires, but losing their reigning champion Ayr Centennials, the Burford Bulldogs, Delhi Travellers, Hagersville Hawks, Norfolk Rebels, Tavistock Braves, and Wellesley Applejacks.^[3] That summer the Niagara League would divide in half, forming the Midwestern Junior C Hockey League with its former Western Division.

The Teams

Team	Centre	Founded
Aylmer Spitfires	Aylmer	1974
Dorchester Dolphins	Dorchester	2012
Exeter Hawks	Exeter	1961
Lambeth Lancers	Lambeth	1987
Lucan Irish	Lucan	1968
Mount Brydges Bulldogs	Mount Brydges	1975
North Middlesex Stars	Parkhill	1993
Port Stanley Sailors	Port Stanley	2009
Thamesford Trojans	Thamesford	1976

2015-16 Playoffs

Winner moves on to the Clarence Schmalz Cup.

Quarter-final			Semi-final			Final

1	Dorchester	4

8	Lambeth	0
			1	Dorchester	4

			4	Mount Brydges	0
4	Mount Brydges	4

5	Lucan	1
						1	Dorchester	4

						2	Exeter	3
2	Exeter	4

7	Port Stanley	0
			2	Exeter	4

			3	Aylmer	0
3	Aylmer	4

6	Thamesford	0

Champions

League Title

From 1989 on, the winner of the league was also provincial champions and was awarded the OHA Cup. Bolded are league champions, italicized are runners-up in years with three divisions.

Year	Champion	Finalist	Result in Provincials
Shamrock Jr. D
1963	Strathroy Rockets	Forest Lakesides	Won OHA Cup vs. Uxbridge (E)
1964	Hensall-Zurich Flyers		Won OHA Cup vs. Stouffville (E)
1965
1966	Belmont Sunsets		Lost SF vs. Blenheim (BW)
1967	Mitchell Hawks		Lost Final vs. Tweed-Madoc (E)
1968	Mitchell Hawks		Won OHA Cup vs. Bobcaygeon (E)
1969	Lambeth Flyers		Lost SF vs. Caledonia (SC)
Western Jr. D
1970	Exeter Hawks	Zurich Dominions	Lost SF vs. Norwich (SC)
1971	Exeter Hawks	Belmont Sunsets	Lost Final vs. Haliburton (C)
1972	Exeter Hawks		Won OHA Cup vs. Bancroft (E)
1973	Mitchell Hawks		Lost Final vs. Bradford (SCL)
1974	Belmont Bombers		Lost Final vs. Stayner (SCL)
1975	Belmont Bombers		Won OHA Cup vs. Stayner (SCL)
1976	Belmont Bombers		Lost Final vs. Stayner (SCL)
1977	Exeter Hawks		Won OHA Cup vs. Stayner (MO)
Year	North	South	Result in Provincials
1978	Exeter Hawks		Lost Final vs. Lakefield (C)
1979
1980		Belmont Bombers	Won OHA Cup vs. Fergus (N)
1981		Belmont Bombers	Won OHA Cup vs. Delhi (SC)
1982	Lucan Irish		Won OHA Cup vs. Langton (SC)
1983	Tavistock Braves		Won OHA Cup vs. St. George (SC)
1984	Exeter Hawks	Mount Brydges Bulldogs	Won OHA Cup vs. Grand Valley (N)
1985
1986	Seaforth Centenaires		Won OHA Cup vs. Delhi (SC)
1987		Lucan Irish	Won OHA Cup vs. Tavistock (SC)
1988	Exeter Hawks	Lambeth Lancers	Won OHA Cup vs. Exeter

Year	North	Central	South
1989	Lucan Irish	Lambeth Lancers	Paris Mounties
1990	Lucan Irish	Thamesford Trojans	Ayr Centennials

Year	Eastern	Western
1991	Thamesford Trojans	Lucan Irish
OHA Jr. Development League
1992	Thamesford Trojans	Lucan Irish
1993	Thamesford Trojans	Mitchell Hawks
1994	Port Stanley Sailors	Mitchell Hawks
1995	Thamesford Trojans	Port Stanley Lakers
Year	McConnell	Yeck
1996	Wellesley Applejacks	Exeter Hawks
1997	Wellesley Applejacks	Mount Brydges Bulldogs
1998	Wellesley Applejacks	Exeter Hawks
1999	Wellesley Applejacks	Lucan Irish
2000	Burford Bulldogs	Port Stanley Lakers
2001	Wellesley Applejacks	Mount Brydges Bulldogs
2002	Tavistock Braves	Exeter Hawks
2003	Wellesley Applejacks	Thamesford Trojans
2004	Tavistock Braves	Exeter Hawks
2005	Hagersville Hawks	Mount Brydges Bulldogs
Southern Ontario Jr. D
2006	Delhi Travellers	Lucan Irish
2007	Delhi Travellers	Mitchell Hawks
2008	Tavistock Braves	Thamesford Trojans

Year	McConnell	Bauer	Yeck
2009	Delhi Travellers	Thamesford Trojans	North Middlesex Stars
2010	Delhi Travellers	Thamesford Trojans	Exeter Hawks

Year	McConnell	Yeck
2011	Ayr Centennials	Thamesford Trojans
2012	Hagersville Hawks	Thamesford Trojans

Year	McConnell	Yeck	Result in Provincials
Southern Ontario Jr. C
2013	Ayr Centennials	Lambeth Lancers	Lost CSC QF vs. Essex (GL)
Year	Champion	Finalist	Result in Provincials
2014	Dorchester Dolphins	Lambeth Lancers	Lost CSC QF vs. Essex (GL)
2015	Exeter Hawks	Dorchester Dolphins	Lost CSC QF vs. Essex (GL)
2016	Dorchester Dolphins	Exeter Hawks	Lost CSC QF vs. Essex (GL)

Regular Season Champions

This chart starts at the unification of the Junior D leagues, through the SOJHL's ascension to Junior C, until its merger into the Provincial Junior Hockey League in 2016.

Season	Champion	Record	Points
Western Jr. D League
1988-89	Lucan Irish	30-6-0-0	60
1989-90	Lucan Irish	25-4-6-0	56
1990-91	Thamesford Trojans	34-1-2-2	72
OHA Junior Development League
1991-92	Thamesford Trojans	26-7-1-1	54
1992-93	Lucan Irish	33-3-2-1	69
1993-94	Port Stanley Lakers	36-2-2-0	74
1994-95	Thamesford Trojans	34-2-3-0	71
1995-96	Exeter Hawks	30-4-4-0	64
1996-97	Mount Brydges Bulldogs	34-3-0-1	69
1997-98	Wellesley Applejacks	28-7-1-1	58
1998-99	Wellesley Applejacks	30-7-1-0	61
1999-00	Port Stanley Lakers	31-9-0-0	62
2000-01	Port Stanley Lakers	29-8-1-2	61
2001-02	Exeter Hawks	30-6-3-1	64
2002-03	Exeter Hawks	29-8-3-0	61
2003-04	Hagersville Hawks	28-4-3-5	64
2004-05	Hagersville Hawks	31-7-2-0	64
2005-06	Delhi Travellers	29-6-3-0	61
Southern Ontario Jr. D League
2006-07	Tavistock Braves	34-7-0-1	69
2007-08	Mount Brydges Bulldogs	36-3-0-1	73
2008-09	Mount Brydges Bulldogs	33-6-0-1	67
2009-10	North Middlesex Stars	30-4-0-2	62
2010-11	Tavistock Braves	26-6-0-3	55
2011-12	Thamesford Trojans	26-6-0-4	56
Southern Ontario Jr. C League
2012-13	Lambeth Lancers	29-5-0-3	61
2013-14	Lambeth Lancers	31-8-0-1	63
2014-15	Lambeth Lancers	31-7-0-2	64
2015-16	Dorchester Dolphins	35-5-0-0	70