The 2021–22 NOJHL season was the 44th season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The Soo Thunderbirds finished the regular season in first place overall and went on to win the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy.
The franchise formerly known as the Balfour Rayside Canadiens relocated to Greater Sudbury and was rebranded as the Greater Sudbury Cubs.
Referee Brandy Dewar-Beecroft became the first woman referee to officiate an NOJHL game on 20 February 2022 in a match between the Blind River Beavers and Elliot Lake Red Wings.
Regular season
The regular season ran from 16 September 2021 to 2 April 2022, with each team playing a 48-game schedule. The Soo Thunderbirds finished in first place overall and the Timmins Rock finished first in the East division. The top 5 teams in each division advanced to the playoffs.
|+ 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 Wins">OTW</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</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|Timmins Rock || 48 || 33 || 8 || 5 || 2 || 225 || 124 || 73 |- align=right | align=left|Hearst Lumberjacks || 48 || 35 || 11 || 2 || 0 || 217 || 139 || 72 |- align=right | align=left|Powassan Voodoos || 48 || 30 || 11 || 6 || 1 || 184 || 145 || 67 |- align=right | align=left|French River Rapids || 48 || 23 || 24 || 1 || 0 || 197 || 196 || 47 |- align=right | align=left|Kirkland Lake Gold Miners || 48 || 12 || 33 || 0 || 3 || 151 || 231 || 27 |- align=right | align=left|Cochrane Crunch || 48 || 2 || 43 || 1 || 2 || 91 || 270 || 7
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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 Wins">OTW</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</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 || 48 || 38 || 5 || 2 || 3 || 189 || 101 || 81 |-align=right | align=left|Soo Eagles || 48 || 33 || 11 || 2 || 2 || 178 || 148 || 70 |-align=right | align=left|Greater Sudbury Cubs || 48 || 27 || 17 || 3 || 1 || 171 || 131 || 58 |-align=right | align=left|Blind River Beavers || 48 || 25 || 17 || 6 || 0 || 151 || 159 || 56 |-align=right | align=left|Elliot Lake Red Wings || 48 || 17 || 29 || 1 || 1 || 149 || 192 || 36 |-align=right | align=left|Espanola Express || 48 || 13 || 31 || 4 || 0 || 150 || 217 || 30
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Post-season
The first, second and third-place teams from each division at the conclusion of the regular season advanced to the quarterfinals. The fourth and fifth-place teams from each division played each other in a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to play the first-place team from their division in the quarterfinals. The winners of the quarterfinals, semifinals and final were determined by best-of-seven series. The Soo Thunderbirds defeated the Hearst Lumberjacks in game 7 of the final round to win the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy and advance to the national championship 2022 Centennial Cup tournament in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
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National championship
In 2022, Hockey Canada eliminated regional inter-league championships and expanded the national championship tournament to 10 teams. The new format consisted of a 4-game round-robin with two groups of five teams, followed by a six-team single-elimination play-off.
The tournament took place at Affinity Place in Estevan, Saskatchewan from 18–29 May 2022. It was the first year the event had been played since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 tournaments.
The Soo Thunderbirds were eliminated from competition after losing four games in the round-robin phase. In the final round, the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL defeated the Pickering Panthers of the OJHL to win the tournament.
Round robin
The new format consisted of a 4-game round-robin with two groups of five teams, followed by a six-team single-elimination play-off. The top 3 teams from each group advanced to the playoffs, and the 1st place teams in each group had a bye to the semifinals.
Playoffs
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