Central Canada Hockey League

The league was founded in 1961 under the sponsorship of the Montreal Canadiens in hope of a better development program. The league has featured such NHL stars as Steve Yzerman and Larry Robinson, for which its two divisions are named. As this league was for the Ottawa District, teams out of the area were not allowed to compete, with one exemption: Pembroke. In the early years, any player in the league was automatically a member of the Montreal Canadiens, and were forced into a contract which would disallow them to sign with any other NHL team if they wanted to play in the NHL. The Canadiens also wanted the league to be strictly for development, allowing four 19-year-olds and five 18-year-olds per team with the rest of the players being 17 or younger. This was met with much anger and disappointment with players who had just reached their 20s, but the league substantially gained in popularity and did not step back from the changes.^[8] In 1963, the Montreal Canadiens allowed the Chicago Blackhawks-sponsored Brockville Braves into the league. The league rebranded itself as the Central Junior A Hockey League (CJHL) starting with the 1964–65 season.

In February 1966, players from the Hawkesbury Braves went on strike over coaching issues. The Braves brought in replacement players from midget and Jr. B leagues for a game against the CJHL's perennial champions, the Cornwall Royals. The Royals went on to win 43–0, which still stands as the highest margin of victory in the league. As CJHL champions, the Royals represented the league at the playdowns for the 1966, 1967 and 1968 Memorial Cup national junior hockey championships. They applied to enter into the stronger Ontario Hockey Association (today's OHL) but were turned away; they next applied to join the new Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and were accepted as one of the inaugural teams for the 1969–70 season. In 1973, the Hull Festivals, also departed for the QMJHL. In 1975, the Canadian Hockey Association informed the league that they had to allow 20-year-olds into their league, matching what all other leagues of their calibre were doing.^[8]

In 1976, Bryan Murray took over as head coach of the Rockland Nationals. With Murray at the wheel, the Nationals won the league, the region, and then went on to win the Junior A National Championship Centennial Cup. The financial cost of the playoff run was too much for the team's backers to handle and they declared bankruptcy one disappointing season after winning it all.^[8] The Nationals have resurrected since then as a member of the Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League.^[9]

After the ruling that allowed 20-year-olds to play in the league, teams began attempting to "buy" championship teams by going after former Major Junior players. The effect of this resulted in the labeling of the league as a "goon league" or "bush league" as the league got more violent. The fan base dwindled, and by 1984 there were only five teams left in the league, all on the verge of bankruptcy.^[8] The owners of the five teams approached the owners of Ottawa's Talisman Hotel and asked them to purchase the league. Through new management and rule changes, the league barred 20-year-olds from the Major Junior ranks, created a limit of five 20-year-olds (homegrown from the CJHL), and banned the paying of players. The new rules worked, and the league was once again successful.^[8] The league then approached the Canadian Hockey Association, and requested a new system. After the fall of the Rockland Nationals, the league realized there was a revenue problem amongst its teams. The league demanded longer regular seasons and a shorter National playdown schedule to determine the National Champion. This new system was guaranteed to increase revenue amongst all teams nationwide as they were allowed to have more home games, increasing revenue through ticket sales, and decreased the travel expenditures that forced the Rockland Nationals to fold soon after they won the National Championship.^[8]

The league began flourishing, and by the early 1990s, had more than doubled. Teams that had folded during the "dark days" of the late 1970s and early 1980s came back. The league even allowed for the expansion of their first American hockey team, the Massena Americans. Also, now a member of the OHL, the Cornwall Royals moved from Cornwall. In response, the CJHL allowed the Massena Americans to move to Cornwall, hoping the Cornwall Colts could help the city fill its competitive hockey "void".^[8]

The Gloucester Rangers hosted the last Centennial Cup tournament in 1995 before it was transformed into the Royal Bank Cup. The Rangers boosted NHL stars like Mathieu Dandenault and Robert Esche. The Gloucester Rangers were seconds away from defeating the Calgary Canucks in the final, until the Canucks scored a last-minute goal and won it all in overtime, to continue the drought of a CJHL team winning the National Junior A Championship.

On April 26, 2010, the league changed its name to the Central Hockey League. A league by the same name already existed, a minor professional league below the ECHL, which was 15 teams throughout the mid-western United States. In January 2011, the league rebranded itself as the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL).^[10]

On May 8, 2011, at the 2011 Royal Bank Cup in Camrose, Alberta, the Pembroke Lumber Kings defeated the BCHL's Vernon Vipers 2–0 to win the CCHL's second ever National Title during the league's 50th anniversary season.

Prior to the 2014–15 season, the CCHL announced it was adapting the American Hockey League's overtime format.

• Following tied games, teams will remain at the 3rd period ends and 7:00 minutes will be placed on the clock after a 30-second break. Each team will receive 1 point.
• The first 3 minutes of over time will be played 4 on 4. At the first whistle after 3 minutes (i.e. if the clock reads 4:00 or less) the teams will play 3 on 3. The same penalty regulations apply. The games are again sudden victory with the first team to score collects an additional point.
• In the event the game remains tied after the conclusion of seven minutes of overtime, a 30-second break during which the team coaches will provide a list of 3 shooters will precede a shoot out. Home teams shall determine if they shoot first or second. If the score after 3 rounds of shooters remains tied, there will be a continued sudden death single round shoot out until a winner is declared.
• No shooter may shoot twice until all eligible shooters have shot once.
• Players in the penalty box at the conclusion of overtime shall not be eligible to participate in the shoot out.

In the 2013–14 season, 69 CCHL regular season games were tied after regulation. The outcome of 30 games was determined in the over time session and 39 games required a shoot out.

For the 2015–16 the CCHL made a significant move to the development model for the league. The EOJHL was aligned directly with the CCHL to establish direct affiliations and specific guidelines for players to move up and down between leagues. The EOJHL also took on a re-branding to become the CCHL Tier 2. The development model is also to be extended to affiliation with midget (under18) teams.

In fall 2016, the Gloucester Rangers were sold to new ownership, who relocated the team to Clarence-Rockland to become the Rockland Nationals starting at the 2017–18 season.^[11]

David Frost incident

David Frost, the agent of former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton, was banned from all CJHL games and events in fall 2005 after Frost entered an off-limits-to-fans area at the Jim Durrell Arena, home to the Ottawa Jr. Senators, in which Frost "accosted, harassed and threatened an official of the CJHL".^[12] League commissioner Mac MacLean stated "We don't want him around period". The Lumber Kings were fined $1,000 for David Frost's actions, because the league considered Frost to be associated with owner Sheldon Keefe. MacLean sent posters to each league arena to help security staff identify Frost if he were to show up at games, and to refuse entry to Frost. Weeks later, the ban was lifted after Mac MacLean was relieved of his duties of CJHL commissioner. Newly appointed commissioner John Comerford lifted the ban, stating "We can't stop David Frost from entering the rink and I haven't received any complaints from anybody about him".^[13] David Frost had no affiliation with the Pembroke Lumber Kings hockey organization. He was allowed to attend league games, but was barred from restricted areas.^[14] Frost disregarded the advisement not to enter restricted areas, and was seen getting off the Lumber Kings team bus by CBC Fifth Estate film crew, and was filmed following the team to a dressing room during a playoff game in Nepean. At the end of the season, Frost severed un-affiliated ties with the league and informed that he would not attend any more league games or events.^[15]

Robinson Division
Team	Arena (Capacity)	Joined	EOJHL Affiliate
Brockville Braves	Brockville Memorial Civic Centre (1,350)	1963	Brockville Tikis
Carleton Place Canadians	Carleton Place Arena (660)	2009	Carleton Place Jr. Canadians
Kemptville 73's	North Grenville Municipal Centre (1,620)	2007
Pembroke Lumber Kings	Pembroke Memorial Centre (2,250)	1961	Whitewater Kings
Renfrew Wolves	MyFM Centre (634)	2020	Ottawa Canadians
Smiths Falls Bears	Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre (1,500)	1961	Smiths Falls Jr. Bears
Yzerman Division
Team	Arena (Capacity)	Joined	EOJHL Affiliate
Cornwall Colts	Cornwall Civic Complex (4,639)	1992
Hawkesbury Hawks	Robert Hartley Sports Complex (700)	1976
Navan Grads	Navan Memorial Centre (737)	2017	Carleton Place Jr. Canadians
Nepean Raiders	Nepean Sportsplex (2,200)	1972	Ottawa West Golden Knights / Winchester Hawks
Ottawa Jr. Senators	Jim Durrell Recreation Centre (2,000)	1979	Ottawa Canadians
Rockland Nationals	Clarence-Rockland Arena (2,068)	2017

Timeline^[16]

• 1961 – Cornwall Royals join league
• 1961 – Hawkesbury Braves join league
• 1961 – Hull Hawks join league
• 1961 – Ottawa Primrose join league

• 1961 – Pembroke Ironmen join league
• 1961 – Smiths Falls Bears join league

• 1963 – Brockville Braves join league and are sponsored by the Chicago Blackhawks
• 1963 – Ottawa Montagnards join league
• 1965 – Ottawa Primrose leave league
• 1965 – Ottawa Montagnards leave league
• 1965 – Arnprior Packers join league
• 1965 – Pembroke Ironmen become the Pembroke Lumber Kings
• 1967 – Arnprior Packers leave league to join the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League
• 1968 – Ottawa M.&W. Rangers join league
• 1969 – Cornwall Royals leave league to join Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
• 1970 – Hawkesbury Braves leave league
• 1972 – Nepean Raiders join league
• 1973 – Hull Hawks leave league to join the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
• 1973 – Ottawa M.&W. Rangers become the Gloucester Rangers
• 1973 – Rockland Nationals join league
• 1976 – Hawkesbury Hawks join league
• 1976 – Smiths Falls Bears leave league
• 1977 – Rockland Nationals leave league
• 1979 – Ottawa Senators join league
• 1979 – Pembroke Lumber Kings are expelled from the league for failing to remain in good standing
• 1979 – Pembroke Royals play their first and only season in 1979–80
• 1980 – Pembroke Lumber Kings reapply for a franchise and are accepted into the league
• 1985 – Smiths Falls Bears rejoin league
• 1987 – Kanata Valley Lasers join league
• 1988 – Massena Turbines join league
• 1990 – Massena Turbines become the Massena Americans
• 1991 – Cumberland Grads join league from the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League
• 1992 – Massena Americans relocate to Cornwall to become the Cornwall Colts to fill in the void for the Cornwall Royals, who moved to Newmarket
• 1992 – Ottawa Senators re-brand to Ottawa Jr. Senators because of new the NHL expansion team Ottawa Senators
• 2000 – Smiths Falls Bears relocate to Perth and become the Lanark Thunder
• 2002 – Kanata Valley Lasers become the Kanata Stallions
• 2002 – Lanark Thunder suspends operations and team is returned to Smiths Falls as the Bears
• 2005 – Gloucester Rangers become the Orleans Blues
• 2007 – Kemptville 73's join league from the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League
• 2008 – Orleans Blues become the Gloucester Rangers after league refuses permit to move team to Orleans
• 2009 – Carleton Place Canadians join league from the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League
• 2014 – Kanata Stallions become the Kanata Lasers
• 2017 – Gloucester Rangers relocate to Clarence-Rockland and become the Rockland Nationals
• 2021 – Kanata Lasers relocate to Renfrew and become the Renfrew Wolves

Note: League champion is bolded

Notable players who have played or are playing in the NHL:

• Best record: 2013–14 Carleton Place Canadians (54–6–2)
• Worst record: 1987–88 Smiths Falls Bears (4–52–0)
• Most wins, season: 2013–14 Carleton Place Canadians (54)
• Most points, season: 2013–14 & 2017–18 Carleton Place Canadians (110)
• Most consecutive wins: 2009–10 Brockville Braves & 2025–26 Rockland Nationals (26)
• Highest win percentage: 2025–26 Rockland Nationals (0.945)
• Lowest win percentage: 1987–88 Smiths Falls Bears (0.071)
• Largest margin of victory: Cornwall Royals 43 – Hawkesbury Braves 0 in February 1966
• Most goals, one season: Luc Chabot (101) – 1985–86 Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most assists, one season: Peter White (136) – 1987–88 Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most points, one season: Peter White (226) – 1987–88 Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most penalty minutes, one season: Frank Manson (416) – 1992–93 Ottawa Senators
• Most goals, career: Luc Chabot (255) – Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most assists, career: George Dupont (332) – Nepean Raiders/Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most points, career: Luc Chabot (490) – Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Most penalty minutes, career: Travis Albers (942) – Nepean/Cornwall/Kanata/Brockville
• Most minutes played, one season: Francis Marotte (3,220) – 2015–16 Nepean Raiders
• Most wins, one season: Pete Karvouniaris (40) – 2010–11 Cornwall Colts
• Lowest goals against average, one season: Devon Levi (1.47) – 2019–20 Carleton Place Canadians
• Highest save percentage, one season: Devon Levi (0.941) – 2019–20 Carleton Place Canadians
• Most shutouts, one season: Henry Johnson (9) – 2015–16 Brockville Braves
• Most minutes played, career: Mark Byrne (11,143) – Nepean Raiders
• Most wins, career: Grant Robb (87) – Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Highest attendance, game: 5,262 – Pembroke Lumber Kings in April 1962
• Lowest attendance, game: 11 – Nepean Raiders in December 2005
• Highest attendance, season: 55,703 – 1980–81 Pembroke Lumber Kings
• Lowest attendance, season: 2,071 – 2018–19 Kanata Lasers