2018–19 NOJHL season
41st season of the NOJHL
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The 2018–19 NOJHL season was the 41st season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The Hearst Lumberjacks won the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy after defeating the first-place Soo Thunderbirds in game 7 of the final.
| 2018–19 NOJHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September–March |
| Games | 336 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Finals champions | Hearst Lumberjacks |
The league instituted a new overtime format. In case of a tie at the end of regulation time, the two sides would play a five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period. If still tied, the winner would be determined by a shootout.[1]
The Cochrane Crunch and the Town of Cochrane, Ontario hosted the 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup regional championship tournament.[2]
Timmins Rock goalie, Tyler Masternak, set a league record with 6 shutouts in a single season. He subsequently broke his own record with 8 shutouts during the 2019–20 NOJHL season.[3] Masternak recorded a total of 18 shutouts during his NOJHL career, more than any goalie in league history.[4][5]
Regular season
The regular season ran from 7 September 2018 to 7 March 2019 with each team playing 56 games, including 4 or 5 games against the teams in their division, and 2 games against teams in the other division.[1]
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearst Lumberjacks | 56 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 210 | 159 | 73 |
| Kirkland Lake Gold Miners | 56 | 33 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 194 | 156 | 72 |
| Powassan Voodoos | 56 | 33 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 206 | 172 | 70 |
| Timmins Rock | 56 | 33 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 186 | 156 | 69 |
| Cochrane Crunch | 56 | 31 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 200 | 186 | 67 |
| French River Rapids | 56 | 14 | 39 | 2 | 1 | 155 | 244 | 31 |
Source: "2018–19 NOJHL standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soo Thunderbirds | 56 | 44 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 221 | 145 | 89 |
| Rayside Balfour Canadians | 56 | 31 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 194 | 169 | 67 |
| Soo Eagles | 56 | 28 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 208 | 185 | 60 |
| Blind River Beavers | 56 | 25 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 201 | 185 | 57 |
| Elliot Lake Wildcats | 56 | 21 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 152 | 224 | 45 |
| Espanola Express | 56 | 10 | 43 | 0 | 3 | 145 | 291 | 23 |
Source: "2018–19 NOJHL standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
Post-season
| Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 8 March – 24 April 2019 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Defending champions | Cochrane Crunch |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Hearst Lumberjacks |
| Runners-up | Soo Thunderbirds |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 46 |
| Goals scored | 278 (6.04 per game) |
| Attendance | 25,104 (546 per game) |
The first, second and third place teams in each division advanced to the quarterfinals. The fourth and fifth place teams in each division played off in a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals.
| First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Hearst Lumberjacks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Timmins Rock | 2 | Timmins Rock | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Cochrane Crunch | 0 | Hearst Lumberjacks | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Powassan Voodoos | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Powassan Voodoos | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Kirland Lake | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Hearst Lumberjacks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Soo Thunderbirds | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Soo Thunderbirds | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Blind River Beavers | 2 | Blind River Beavers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Elliot Lake Wildcats | 0 | Soo Thunderbirds | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Rayside Balfour | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Rayside Balfour | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Soo Eagles | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Source: "2018–19 NOJHL playoff results". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
Regional championship
| Dudley Hewitt Cup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| City | Cochrane, Ontario |
| Dates | 30 April - 4 May 2019 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Host team | Cochrane Crunch |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Oakville Blades |
| Runners-up | Hearst Lumberjacks |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 52 (6.5 per game) |
The 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada regional championship tournament took place in Cochrane, Ontario.[6] The field of competition included the championship Hearst Lumberjacks of the NOJHL; the Oakville Blades of the OJHL; the Thunder Bay North Stars of the SIJHL; and host team the Cochrane Crunch of the NOJHL. The format consisted of a preliminary round-robin, followed by the single-elimination semifinal and final rounds. The Thunder Bay North Stars were the first team eliminated after losing three straight games in the round-robin. The Hearst Lumberjacks and the Cochrane Crunch met in the semifinals, with the Lumberjacks winning by a score of 6-0. The Lumberjacks were defeated in the final by the Oakville Blades by a score of 2-0. The Blades went on to the 2019 National Junior A Championship tournament in Brooks, Alberta and made it into the semifinals before they were eliminated by the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL.[7]
Preliminary round
| Round robin | OB | CC | HL | TN | |
| 1 | Oakville Blades | 6-2 | 4-2 | 9-4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Cochrane Crunch | 2-6 | 5-4 | 4-1 | |
| 3 | Hearst Lumberjacks | 2-4 | 4-5 | 3-0 | |
| 4 | Thunder Bay North Stars | 4-9 | 1-4 | 0-3 |
Playoffs
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||
| Oakville | 2 | ||||||
| Cochrane | 0 | Hearst | 0 | ||||
| Hearst | 6 | ||||||