Locally we are set to kick-off another season of exciting hockey action in the lower mainland as well as the province of BC, but now we are hearing that changes are set to unfold in the Western Conference with the Golden Horseshoe conference  having a new look.

One of the 15 teams of the GOJHL are the St. Catharines Falcons and the horseshoe’s only team with a  proposal plan to play in their own separate conference for the upcoming season.

They (Falcons) would play in the division with Kitchener, Cambridge, Stratford, Waterloo, Elmira, and Listowel.

The other division would see Strathroy, Sarnia, Leamington, Chatham, LaSalle, Komoka, St. Marys and St. Thomas with both divisions making up one conference.

A third division would play in a separate conference with clubs from the remaining Golden Horseshoe teams Welland, Thorold, Lockport, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Hamilton and Pelham.

Additions would be London (West) and Brampton and Brantford (Midwest) while interlocking games would no longer exist with the winners of each conference meet for the Sutherland Cup.

Board member (Curtis Clairmont) of the GOJHL.Inc. mentions the 15 teams have petitioned to operate as a 15-team conference within the OHA in the junior B category, with the original petition was denied.

The ruling has been appealed to the Ontario Hockey Federation. Junior B operating budgets range from $175,000 to $400,000 annually, but Clairmont did not say how much the average league fee would be for the upcoming season.

The OHA put out a schedule Monday afternoon but a little too soon hearing that the appeal has yet to be heard.

This year’s Showcase Tournament will be held at the Seymour Hannah Sports Complex in St. Catharines (Sept. 7-9) and they may or may not count as regular-season games as in the past.

It’s reported that in July 2013, TheHockeyWriters.com listed the GOJHL as the eighth best developmental league, professional or amateur, in North America. The GOJHL was the only Junior B league to make their list.

We’ll have to wait to see how this plays out!!