There will be no new Midwestern Conference championship banners ever hung in the William Allman Memorial Arena for the Stratford Warriors, as they’re packing their bags and heading west along with three other rivals as the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League announced conference realignment recently.
In addition to the Warriors, Elmira, Listowel and Kitchener-Waterloo will all head to the former Western Conference to join the likes of St. Marys, Chatham, LaSalle and more starting in 2024-25.
The move had been in discussions for some time, according to Warriors General Manager Nick Parr, going back to at least 2021 when he joined the team’s board.
“The league looked to get away from the three-team round robin (in the Sutherland Cup playoffs) and work to have two conference winners play for the Cup,” Parr said last week when the realignment became official. “It sounds like the season will stay at 50 games - you’ll play four times against each team in the conference, then two showcase games and four crossover games against teams in the ‘Horseshoe Loop’. Playoffs will be the top eight teams in each conference and play best four of seven series.”
Tim Simmons, the interim GM of the GOJHL, said realignment became a focal point due to the Golden Horseshoe league having just seven teams - something he called an less-than-ideal situation.
“Teams have been divided geographically, and we’re currently working on a schedule,” he said. “There were a few driving factors for this in addition to the one league being short a team: player safety issues that arose from teams playing each other too much, and now all teams don’t make the playoffs by default. The regular season will be significantly tougher and have a purpose. And with a top-eight playoff setup, that eliminates the three-team round robin in the Sutherland Cup playoffs.”
Simmons said that teams did have some input during the realignment process but it was largely handled by the league. Being one of the teams located on the geographical extreme of their new conference, Stratford will be looking at some long road trips. Parr sees only positives in the move, as it’s going to increase the competition level on the ice and help with team building off of it.
“The longer trips will provide us with more time for the players to enjoy each other and build bonds that will only make us stronger on the ice,” he said. “As teams all build to get stronger and the quality increases, it should also increase the product fans get to watch each night and hopefully bring more people out. That will add to the atmosphere in the building and add to the experience and enjoyment for the players each night.”
Parr added that increased costs is a downside to the move with added long-distance road trips, but the community support enjoyed by the Warriors is something he points out will help offset those costs.
It also doesn’t hurt that the club’s longtime rivals are making the move with them, while also adding their closest geographic competitor - reigning Western Conference champion St. Marys - to the mix four times a year.
“Having them on the schedule is exciting with how close we are to each other - players are generally familiar with each other and the pride in those games will increase the intensity level,” he said. “I believe we will see similar effects with London. And looking ahead, there aren’t going to be any easy nights: Chatham, LaSalle and Strathroy all had strong programs last season, and I expect them to be strong again. The first loop through will be a learning curve for us, and we’re excited to get it going and adjust accordingly to continue bringing the fans what they expect from our program year in and year out.”
Heading to the former Golden Horseshoe league are Ayr, Caledon, Cambridge and Brantford.
