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.
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.
The Cochrane Crunch and the Town of Cochrane, Ontario hosted the 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup regional championship tournament.
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. Masternak recorded a total of 18 shutouts during his NOJHL career, more than any goalie in league history.
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.
|+ style="background:#CDCCCB; border-top:#182E57 5px solid; border-bottom:#182E57 5px solid"| ! style=width:15em | Team ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Games Played">GP</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Wins">W</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Losses">L</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Shootout Losses">SOL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Goals For">GF</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Goals Against">GA</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Points">Pts</abbr title> |- align=right | align=left|Hearst Lumberjacks || 56 || 33 || 16 || 6 || 1 || 210 || 159 || 73 |- align=right | align=left|Kirkland Lake Gold Miners || 56 || 33 || 17 || 3 || 3 || 194 || 156 || 72 |- align=right | align=left|Powassan Voodoos || 56 || 33 || 19 || 3 || 1 || 206 || 172 || 70 |- align=right | align=left|Timmins Rock || 56 || 33 || 20 || 3 || 0 || 186 || 156 || 69 |- align=right | align=left|Cochrane Crunch || 56 || 31 || 20 || 1 || 4 || 200 || 186 || 67 |- align=right | align=left|French River Rapids || 56 || 14 || 39 || 2 || 1 || 155 || 244 || 31
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|+ style="background:#CDCCCB; border-top:#182E57 5px solid; border-bottom:#182E57 5px solid"| ! style=width:15em | Team ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Games Played">GP</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Wins">W</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Losses">L</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Shootout Losses">SOL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Goals For">GF</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Goals Against">GA</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Points">Pts</abbr title> |- align=right | align=left|Soo Thunderbirds || 56 || 44 || 11 || 0 || 1 || 221 || 145 || 89 |-align=right | align=left|Rayside Balfour Canadians || 56 || 31 || 20 || 2 || 3 || 194 || 169 || 67 |-align=right | align=left|Soo Eagles || 56 || 28 || 24 || 3 || 1 || 208 || 185 || 60 |-align=right | align=left|Blind River Beavers || 56 || 25 || 24 || 5 || 2 || 201 || 185 || 57 |-align=right | align=left|Elliot Lake Wildcats || 56 || 21 || 32 || 1 || 2 || 152 || 224 || 45 |-align=right | align=left|Espanola Express || 56 || 10 || 43 || 0 || 3 || 145 || 291 || 23
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Post-season
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.
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Regional championship
The 2019 Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada regional championship tournament took place in Cochrane, Ontario. 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.
Preliminary round
Playoffs
References
Sources