The 2024–25 NOJHL season was the 47th season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The Greater Sudbury Cubs finished the regular season in first place, won the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy for the second year in a row and went on to represent the NOJHL at the Junior A national championship tournament in Calgary, Alberta.
Lucas Signoretti of the Greater Sudbury Cubs became the second player to be named league MVP two seasons in a row. The other was Marty Reynolds of the North Bay Trappers (1962–1982) in the 1964–65 and 1965–66 seasons. Darryl Moxam, Head Coach of the Greater Sudbury Cubs, was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
The league decided that matches that were tied after regulation time would play a 7-minute sudden-death overtime period. If neither team would score a goal in overtime, the game ended in a tie. In earlier seasons, the winner was determined by a shootout.
The Elliot Lake Vikings were placed on indefinite leave midseason due to the ongoing closure of the team's home arena that began in the 2023–24 NOJHL season. The team remained on leave through the 2025–26 NOJHL season, with the league commissioner stating, "We just don't know when the club will be able to resume activities as they wait for news on the status of their arena."
Regular season
The regular season ran from 12 September 2024 through 16 March 2025. Beginning this year, teams were no longer assigned to east and west divisions. The top 8 teams advanced to the playoffs. The Greater Sudbury Cubs finished in first place overall. Teams were scheduled to play a 52-game schedule, however, the Elliot Lake Vikings folded midseason and its remaining games were forfeit. The 2024 NOJHL showcase event took place at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in Greater Sudbury.
|+ style="background:#CDCCCB; border-top:#182E57 5px solid; border-bottom:#182E57 5px solid"| ! style=width:2.2em | Rank ! 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="Ties">T</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="Points">Pts</abbr title> |- align=right | align=center|1 || align=left|Greater Sudbury Cubs || 52 || 44 || 6 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 90 |- align=right | align=center|2 || align=left|Hearst Lumberjacks || 52 || 39 || 11 || 1 || 4 || 1 || 80 |- align=right | align=center|3 || align=left|Blind River Beavers || 52 || 34 || 14 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 72 |- align=right | align=center|4 || align=left|Timmins Rock || 52 || 33 || 16 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 69 |- align=right | align=center|5 || align=left|Soo Eagles || 52 || 32 || 17 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 67 |- align=right | align=center|6 || align=left|Soo Thunderbirds || 52 || 26 || 23 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 55 |- align=right | align=center|7 || align=left|Powassan Voodoos || 52 || 22 || 25 || 0 || 1 || 5 || 49 |- align=right | align=center|8 || align=left|Iroquois Falls Storm || 52 || 22 || 26 || 1 || 3 || 3 || 48 |- align=right | align=center|9 || align=left|Espanola Paper Kings || 52 || 21 || 27 || 3 || 1 || 1 || 46 |- align=right | align=center|10 || align=left|French River Rapids || 52 || 16 || 33 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 35 |- align=right | align=center|11 || align=left|Kirkland Lake Gold Miners || 52 || 9 || 39 || 1 || 1 || 3 || 22 |- align=right | align=center|12 || align=left|Elliot Lake Vikings || 52 || 7 || 44 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 15
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Playoffs
The top 8 teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs. Each round of the playoffs was a single-elimination best-of-seven series. In the final round, the defending championship Greater Sudbury Cubs defeated the Hearst Lumberjacks in seven games. The Cubs went on to compete for the national championship in Calgary at the 2025 Centennial Cup.
Quarterfinal: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Iroquois Falls Storm
The first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs swept the eighth-place Iroquois Falls Storm four games to none in the first round.
Quarterfinal: Blind River Beavers v. Soo Thunderbirds
The sixth-place Soo Thunderbirds defeated the third-place Blind River Beavers in seven games, winning the final game 6-3.
Quarterfinal: Hearst Lumberjacks v. Powassan Voodoos
The second-place Hearst Lumberjacks swept the seventh-place Powassan Voodoos in four straight games.
Quarterfinal: Timmins Rock v. Soo Eagles
The fourth-place Timmins Rock defeated the fifth-place Soo Eagles 4-2.
Semifinal: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Soo Thunderbirds
The Greater Sudbury Cubs swept the Soo Thunderbirds 4-0.
Semifinal: Hearst Lumberjacks v. Timmins Rock
The Hearst Lumberjacks defeated the Timmins Rock 4–1 to advance to the final round.
Final: Greater Sudbury Cubs v. Hearst Lumberjacks
The first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs won the league championship Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy after defeating the second-place Hearst Lumberjacks in game 7 of the final.
National championship
The 54th annual Junior A national championship tournament was hosted by the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, and included the championship teams from the 9 leagues that collectively make up the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The NOJHL was represented by the Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy championship Greater Sudbury Cubs. The Cubs were eliminated from competition after losing to the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, by a score of 7-1, in the quarterfinal.
Individual awards
Lucas Signoretti of the Greater Sudbury Cubs became the second player in NOJHL history to be named league MVP two seasons in a row. The other was Marty Reynolds of the North Bay Trappers (1962–1982) in the 1964–65 and 1965–66 seasons. Signoretti was also named Playoff MVP and league scoring champion. He scored 46 goals and 55 assists in the regular season, and 17 goals and 19 assists during his 15 playoff matches.
Adam Shillinglaw, team captain of the Hearst Lumberjacks, was named the league's best defenceman.
Dryden Riley, goaltender for Timmins Rock, received the award for having the best goals-against-average with 2.39 goals per 60 minutes played.
Jordan Mayo, the first-year forward of the Iroquois Falls Storm, was named Rookie of the Year. He scored 24 goals and 51 points overall in the regular season.
Darryl Moxam, head coach of the Greater Sudbury Cubs, was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Owen King of the Blind River Beavers set an all-time league record for game-winning goals with 12. He scored a total of 50 goals all season and incurred only four minor penalties. King received the Most Gentlemanly Player award.
Lincoln Moore of the Greater Sudbury Cubs was named Most Sportsmanlike Player of the 2025 Centennial Cup national championship tournament.
Other awards:
Most Improved Player: Cooper Fredericks of the Soo Eagles
Top Defensive Forward: Bronson Babyak of the Hearst Lumberjacks
Best Overall Team Player: Mathieu Comeau of the Hearst Lumberjacks
Executive of the Year: Jim Bruce of the Powassan Voodoos
Broadcaster of the Year: Dominic Turco and Anthony Valade of the Soo Thunderbirds
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References
Further reading