The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) has released the schedule for the 2021-22 regular season.
The Board of Governors voted in June to return to a full 52-game, balanced schedule for the upcoming season for a total of 312 games. It includes cross-divisional games between the teams in the Eastlink North and Eastlink South. Each team will play 26 home and away games, with four home and away games against every team in their own division and one home and away game against every opponent in the opposite division.
The 2021-22 season begins Thursday, September 30th with two games as the Edmundston Blizzard travel to face the Miramichi Timberwolves and the South Shore Lumberjacks are on the road to face the Pictou County Weeks Crushers. The October schedule features a cross-divisional weekend, where twelve matchups from October 21st to 24th will be Eastlink North versus Eastlink South. Coming out of the Christmas Break, there will be three games on December 30th and five matchups on January 2nd. The regular season ends on Sunday, March 13th.
The MHL is also returning to the previous format where the top four teams in each division at the end of the regular season qualify for the Canadian Tire Cup Playoffs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, every team qualified for the playoffs in the 2020-21 season.
The road to the Centennial Cup, the National Junior A Championship, runs through the MHL this season as Summerside will host the Fred Page Cup from May 10th to 15th, 2022. The Western Capitals will welcome the champions of the CCHL, LHJQ, and a second team from the MHL. Should Summerside reach the Canadian Tire Cup Final, the team they play in the league final will advance regardless of the result of the series. If the Western Capitals do not reach the Canadian Tire Cup Final, only the league champion will advance to the Fred Page Cup as Summerside has an automatic berth as the tournament host.
Pre-season games will be added to the MHL website as they become available. Visit themhl.ca for the full regular season schedule and the latest information.
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Media Contact:
James Faulkner
Director of Communications
Maritime Hockey League
jfaulkner@themhl.ca