A radical change is coming to Junior C hockey in an impending merger with what used to be Junior D.
There is no longer a Junior D level as Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League teams are to be absorbed into their areas’ Junior C leagues.
This season the SOJHL is operating as a separate Junior C entity.
The Ontario Hockey Association representative to the Western Junior C League John Kastner says Junior D clubs have wanted to make the move to Junior C.
Junior C executives meanwhile were looking for a formula that would promote local rivalries.
A move toward that goal sees each of the Junior C leagues play several so-called “interlock” games with SOJHL clubs this season.
In the Western league Goderich plays Lucan twice while Mitchell faces off twice against Exeter.
Kastner says another reason for the merger involves cost-effectiveness for teams who often have to use buses to transport their players to road games.
SOJHL clubs in Parkhill, Exeter, Lucan and Lambeth would likely become members of the Western C league.
Kastner tells us the champion of the Southern Ontario League will also compete for the Junior C championship against clubs from the Western, Great Lakes and Niagara District Leagues.