It may be August, but some local hockey fans already have their sights set on the coming junior-B season.
The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) released its 2019-2020 regular-season schedule Thursday morning, beginning with the annual GOJHL Showcase.
All of the teams in the Western Conference, which covers teams in an area from Windsor to London to Sarnia, will have a chance to show their skills to a wider audience when they participate in the Showcase from September 6 to 8 at the Meridian Community Centre in Pelham, near Niagara Falls. These games will count in the regular-season standings. The complete schedule for the showcase can be found on the official GOJHL schedule webpage.
The first Western Conference team to have a season opener in their home arena will be the LaSalle Vipers, who will host the four-time defending conference champion London Nationals on September 11 at the Vollmer Complex. LaSalle, meanwhile, travels to St. Marys to help the Lincolns open their home season on September 13.
The Leamington Flyers kick off their home schedule on September 12 when they host the St. Thomas Stars. They will complete a home-and-away series the following evening in St. Thomas.
The Sarnia Legionnaires welcome the Chatham Maroons to Sarnia Arena on September 12. The Maroons welcome back their own fans on September 15 with their home opener against London.
The Komoka Kings start things off on September 14 when they face the Strathroy Rockets. Strathroy's home opener is a week later, on September 21, when St. Marys comes to town.
The Nationals have yet to release the home portion of their schedule.
The entire GOJHL is on a winter holiday break from December 23, 2019, to January 1, 2020. The regular season will conclude on February 23, 2020, with the playoff schedule to be determined soon after.
For the complete schedule of your favourite teams, visit the official schedule page of the GOJHL website.