History
Formed in 1989 as the Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League, the league had to change its name in 1995 to avoid ongoing confusion with the neighbouring Ottawa District Hockey Association's long running Eastern Ontario Junior C Hockey League. The forerunner of the EBJCHL was the Quinte-St. Lawrence Junior C Hockey League, which merged into the Central Junior C Hockey League in 1986.
The league features six franchises, which are located through Central-eastern Ontario in Amherstview, Campbellford, Frontenac (near Godfrey), Napanee, Port Hope, and Picton. The Port Hope Panthers is the new name of the transferred Colborne Cobras franchise.
The Gananoque Islanders of the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League are a potential future 7th team of the league. Gananoque neighbours the city of Kingston, Ontario, but has special permission to compete within the neighbouring Ottawa district, the Ottawa District Hockey Association.
The teams play a 40-game regular season, with four home and away dates against each of the other Empire B teams, and the top four teams make the playoffs — two rounds of best-of-seven play. The Empire playoff champions will advance to the OHA quarterfinals against the Central champions and compete for an All-Ontario Championship and the Clarence Schmalz Cup. In its 20-year history, only one Empire B team, the 1993 Napanee Raiders, has won the Schmalz Cup. The Raiders also advanced to the finals in 1996 and recently returned to the semifinals in 2008.
The Empire league has had a number of winners of the OHA Junior C player of the year award. Most recently, Napanee's Pete Sergeant took the honours in 2008-2009. Among the previous winners are Jason Sutton (Napanee), Adam Walsh (Picton), Joe Curry (Campbellford), and Ryan Zufelt (Amherstview). It is a remarkable accomplishment.
Though just entering its 21st season, the league has had a few graduates make it to the NHL. In 2006, Carolina's Justin Williams became the league's first graduate to hoist the Stanley Cup. He played with the former Colborne/Brighton franchise. Former Amherstview Jets defencemen Jay McKee (Pittsburgh), Bryan Allen (Florida), and Kip Brennan (New York Islanders) have also skated in the pro league.
Read more about this topic: Empire B Junior C Hockey League
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