The St. John's Junior Hockey League is a Junior B ice hockey league in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, sanctioned by

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. It was founded in 1980. In 2022, the name of the league championship was changed from the President's Cup to the Taylor Cup in honour of the late founder, Gerry Taylor.

History

Founded in 1980, the SJJHL competed as a Junior A league from 1989 until 1991. In that time period, they were eligible for the

Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of Junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey. It consists of a ten-team ...

Canadian National championship of Junior A hockey. Every other year the SJJHL has operated at the Junior B level and its champion represents the league in the Veitch Memorial Cup playdowns against the winner of the

Central/West Junior Hockey League The Central West Junior Hockey League was an ice hockey league in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The league consists three teams that compete against each other in an 18-game season. The playoffs include two rounds, the first round is a best o ...

for the right to play at the

Don Johnson Cup The Don Johnson Memorial Cup, formerly Don Johnson Cup, is the Junior B ice hockey championship for Atlantic Canada, including Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island as of 2014. From 1982 until 1990 and 1997 until 2013, ...

. In the 1970s, there was another league known as the St. John's Junior Hockey League. Much like the Corner Brook League, Southern Shore League, amongst other leagues, the old SJJHL was a junior-aged town league. Although the St. John's Jr. Capitals were a top team in this town league, they would represent St. John's for the

Veitch Memorial Trophy The Veitch Memorial Trophy is the Junior ice hockey, Junior ice hockey Grand Championship of Newfoundland and Labrador. The trophy is awarded by Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador. History The trophy is named after Cyril Veitch a former executive o ...

as an all-star team of players from the old SJJHL. On one such occasion, in 1972, the Jr. Capitals entered into the first-year Newfoundland Jr. A playdowns, only to win and compete in the 1972 Centennial Cup National Playdowns. The St. John's Junior Hockey league did not have a team attend the Don Johnson Memorial Tournament, emblematic of the Maritime Jr. B hockey champion.

Teams

The SJJHL is made up of 8 teams:

Defunct teams

*Brother Rice Celtics 1980-1982 * St. John's Guards 1980-1982 *St. John’s PWC 1980-1981 *St. John’s Jr. Shamrocks 1980-1987 *St. John’s Gonzaga 1981-1982 *

St. John's Jr. 50's The St. John's Jr. 50's were a Canadian Junior ice hockey club from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. They were members of the St. John's Junior Hockey League, the first ever 3-time Don Johnson Cup Atlantic Junior B Champions and one-time New ...

1982-1993 *Conception Bay South Raiders 1982-1995 *Clarenville Jr. Caribous 1983-1989 * St John's Jr. Celtics 1984-2014 *St John’s Jr. Canadiens 1985 *St John’s AAA Midgets 1988-2000 *Bay Arena Rovers 1988-1989 *Bell Island Jr. Blues 1996-2010 *Conception Bay South Coachman 1998-2001 *Northeast Jr. Eagles 1998-2002 *Avalon Pacers 1999-2000 *St John’s AAA Maple Leafs 2000-2007 *Goulds Pacers 2001 * Mount Pearl Jr. Wild 2013-2014 * Northeast Celtics 2014-2016 *Trinity-Placentia Flyers 2011-2021

Champions

*1981 St. John's Jr. Shamrocks *1982 ''St. John's Br. Rice Celtics'' *1983 St. John's Jr. Shamrocks *1984 St. John's Jr. Shamrocks *1985 ''

'' *1986 '' Mount Pearl Jr. Blades'' *1987 ''

'' *1988

*1989 Avalon Jr. Capitals *1990 Avalon Jr. Capitals *1991

*1992

*1993

*1994 St. John's Jr. Celtics *1995 ''St. John's Jr. Celtics'' *1996 Avalon Jr. Capitals *1997 ''Bell Island Jr. Blues'' *1998 ''Bell Island Jr. Blues'' *1999 St. John's Jr. Caps *2000 St. John's Jr. Celtics *2001 ''St. John's Jr. Celtics'' *2002 '' St. John's Jr. Caps'' *2003 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *2004 Conception Bay North Jr. Stars *2005 ''Trinity-Placentia Jr. Flyers'' *2006 ''Conception Bay North Jr. Stars'' *2007 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *2008 ''St. John's Jr. Celtics'' *2009 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *2010 '' St. John's Jr. Caps'' *2011 ''St. John's Jr. Celtics'' *2012 '' St. John's Jr. Caps'' *2013 St. John's Jr. Caps *2014 Avalon Jr. Capitals *2015 St. John's Jr. Caps *2016 Conception Bay North Jr. Stars *2017 Southern Shore Jr. Breakers *2018 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *2019 CBR Jr. Renegades *2020 ''No Playoffs - covid'' *2021 ''No Playoffs - covid'' *2022 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *2023 CBN Stars *2024 St. John's Jr. Caps *2025 CBN Stars ''Italics'' represent

Champions Bold represents Provincial Junior A Champions In 2022, the League renamed the SJJHL Championship from the President's Cup to the Taylor Cup in honour of the late Gerry Taylor, the founding father of the SJJHL who was affectionately known as Mr. Junior Hockey in

. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SJJHL did not award the championship in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Non-league provincial champions

''These teams won the

without winning the SJJHL playoffs.'' *1984

*1996 Avalon Jr. Capitals *2000 Conception Bay North Jr. Stars *2003 St. John's Jr. Celtics *2007 Bell Island Jr. Blues *2009 St. John's Jr. Caps

Atlantic Jr. B Champions

''These teams won the

as Atlantic Junior B Champions.'' *1982 St. John's Br. Rice Celtics *1985

*1986 Mount Pearl Jr. Blades *1987

*1988

*2009 St. John's Jr. Caps

Executive

The league is governed by an elected executive with ten members, nine of whom are voting members.

External links

League Website
{{Junior Hockey Ice hockey leagues in Newfoundland and Labrador B