The 2022–23 NOJHL season was the 45th season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The franchise formerly known as the Espanola Express was rebranded as the

Espanola Paper Kings The Espanola Paper Kings are a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey team based out of Espanola, Ontario. They are members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) and play their home games at the Espanola Regional Recreational Complex. ...

. The

Powassan Voodoos The Powassan Voodoos are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team based out of Powassan, Ontario. They are members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and play their home games at the Powassan Sportsplex. History The Voodoos were founded i ...

named Peter Goulet as its new head coach following the resignation of Marc Lafleur.

Regular season

The regular season ran from 8 September to 19 March with teams playing a 58-game schedule. The Timmins Rock finished the regular season in first place overall, while the

Greater Sudbury Cubs The Greater Sudbury Cubs are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Sudbury, Ontario. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). History The Sudbury Northern Wolves came into the league in 2000 and were present up until t ...

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Hearst Lumberjacks The Hearst Lumberjacks are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior "A" ice hockey team from Hearst, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). As the Powassan Hawks, the team won two Dudley Hewitt Cups (19 ...

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Kirkland Lake Gold Miners The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior "A" ice hockey team from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. History Manitoulin Founded in 2003 as the Manitoulin W ...

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Blind River Beavers The Blind River Beavers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Blind River, Ontario Blind River is a town situated on the North Channel (Ontario), North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. The town, named after the n ...

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Soo Thunderbirds The Soo Thunderbirds are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior "A" ice hockey team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). History Soo Thunderbirds first came into being as a ju ...

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Soo Eagles The Soo Eagles are an American junior ice hockey team from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan that plays in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). In 2012, the Eagles bought the North American Hockey League franchise rights of the Traverse ...

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Post-season

The top four teams from each division at the end of the regular season advanced to the playoffs. In the final round, the Timmins Rock defeated the defending championship

in six games to win the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy and advanced to the national championship in

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (exactly ...

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National championship

The national championship tournament took place at

Stride Place Stride Place, formerly known as the ''Portage Credit Union Centre'', is a multipurpose sports and recreation complex located in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. The facility opened in February 2010 and features two ice hockey arenas, an aquat ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

from 11–21 May 2023. The tournament included the championship teams from each of the 9 leagues that collectively make up the

Canadian Junior Hockey League The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) is an association of Canadian junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey leagues and teams and was formed in November 1993, emerging from the Canada West Association of Junior 'A' Hockey. The champi ...

and the hosting

Portage Terriers The Portage Terriers are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. History The Portage Terriers were foun ...

. The

and the City of Portage la Prairie had been selected to host the

2020 Centennial Cup The 2020 Centennial Cup was to be the 50th Canadian junior A ice hockey national championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and the 50th consecutive year the national championship was awarded to this skill level since the breakaway ...

tournament, which was cancelled due to public health restrictions related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The team had previously hosted, and won, the

2015 Royal Bank Cup The 2015 Royal Bank Cup was the 45th Canadian junior A Ice Hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It was the 45th consecutive year a national championship was awarded to this skill level since the breakaway of Major Jun ...

, as the tournament was then known. Multiple corporate sponsors, including the title sponsor,

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, Doughnut, donuts, sandwiches, Breakfast sandwich, breakfast egg mu ...

, withdrew their support for the tournament in response to the

Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal Junior ice hockey players have been the subject of sexual assault investigations by police fifteen times since 1989. In 2022, Police were investigating three sexual assault allegations that happened in 2003 and the 2018 Hockey Canada controversy ...

. The

were eliminated from competition in the preliminary round. The

Brooks Bandits The Brooks Bandits are a Junior ice hockey team in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) based in Brooks, Alberta. The teams plays its home games at the Centennial Regional Arena. The team was formerly in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (A ...

of the

AJHL The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 t ...

ultimately won the championship after defeating the

Battlefords North Stars The Battlefords North Stars are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, that plays in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The team was founded in 1973 as the Battlefords Barons and has been known as the N ...

in the final.

Individual awards

;Most valuable player of the regular season: Nicolas Pigeon, Timmins Rock ;Best defenceman: Alex Little,

;Rookie of the year: Kyloe Ellis,

;Most improved player: Caleb Minns,

;Top defensive forward: Dharan Cap,

;Best goals-against-average for a goaltender: Jacob Brown, Timmins Rock ;Team goaltending award: Patrick Boivin & Jacob Brown, Timmins Rock ;League scoring champion: Nicolas Pigeon, Timmins Rock ;Most gentlemanly player: Mathieu Comeau,

;Best overall team player: Lucas Signoretti,

;Coach of the year: Peter Goulet,

;Executive of the year: Ted Gooch, Timmins Rock

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:NOJHL

NOJHL The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Junior ice hockey league with eleven teams in Northeastern Ontario and Upper Michigan. The league is a constituent member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and is governed by the N ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...