Tuesday, July 19, 2011

OJHL POSITIONED LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Press Release

The Ontario Junior Hockey League had another season of great change in 2010-11 and due to strong leadership and a hard-working, forward-thinking membership; the OJHL has better positioned the league more so than it has been in a number of years. Fewer teams, combined with a number of new initiatives and an improved relationship with the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) have left the OJHL as not only the largest Junior ‘A’ league in the CJHL, but one of the strongest in the country.

Dropping to 31 teams entering the 2010-11 season and reinforced following a season of separation, the OJHL undertook a number of steps, and continue to do so, that have made the OJHL a development leader. Below is a snippet of what the OJHL accomplished over this past season:

• To date, 138 OJHL players from the 2010-11 season have confirmed their commitments to advance their hockey careers at the next level. The breakdown of commitments is as follows:
o NCAA Division I 56
o NCAA Division III 45
o CIS 18
o CHL 19

• Two OJHL players were selected in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft
o Brennan Serville of the Stouffville Spirit was selected in the 3rd round, 78th overall by the newly named Winnipeg Jets, the highest selected CJHL player
o Scott Wilson of the Georgetown Raiders was selected in the 7th round, 209th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

• OJHL is better positioned than ever before at the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) table, including:
o More active and working closer with other CJHL partners in growing Junior ‘A’ Hockey in Canada
o Worked to make changes with the Team Canada East (World Junior ‘A’ Challenge) selection process to be run similar to Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence
o Naming of Team Canada East Head Coach, Curtis Hodgins from the Whitby Fury
o Won CJHL Player-of-the-Year (Zach Hyman) for only the second-time in league history

• Now have a positive working relationship with the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), including with the OHF’s Junior Council representative.

• Resolution of dispute with the OHA and an agreement of understanding now in place. This will lead in the future to many positive changes, including:
o OJHL now using the Hockey Canada Registry
o Development of the OJHL Operations Manual, of which a number of key sections are complete in motion

• A reduction in member clubs from 37 teams in 2008-09 to 27 teams for 2011-12 has strengthened the Board of Governors and led to a number of key positive changes.
o Board of Governor meetings are more effectively managed
o OJHL Planning and Strategy weekend took place, leading to the creation of the OJHL Strategic Map (see Operations Manual below)
o Individual franchise value is at an all-time high in league history
o Development of the OJHL Licensing Program

• Draft ‘Table of Contents’ completed for the OJHL Operations Manual, which will drive all aspects of the league’s operational standards in the future. Sections already completed include:
o First draft of a ‘Franchise Agreement’
o First draft of a ‘Governors’ Showcase Operations Manual’ completed
o Full set of job descriptions for all OJHL positions

• OJHL ran a ‘League-Wide’ promotion for the first time in league history, in conjunction with the Hockey Hall of Fame, where people who attended the Hockey Hall of Fame received a complementary ticket to any OJHL regular season game.

• Creation of an OJHL ‘Media Pass’ credential to assist local media when attending ‘out-of-market’ games and to assist the league in tracking media exposure.

• League-wide average attendance was up for the first time in a number of years with an increase of 9.5% during the regular season and 41% during the playoffs.

• The OJHL is a ‘Player-First’ operation with player promotion paramount and at an all-time high, including:
o Player-of-the-Month awards and on-ice presentations
o Year-end Awards Ceremony for the first-time in league history
o First time ever an OJHL Playoff MVP was selected
o Creation of seven more year-end OJHL Awards, including the ‘Fan Favourite’ as selected by the fans
o Presentation and on-ice recognition of Team Canada East members (World Junior ‘A’ Challenge)
o Full story/biography on each Team Canada East member posted on website leading up to tournament (recognized by Hockey Canada as the only league to promote its players in this way)
o Presentation and on-ice recognition of Team Ontario members (World Under-17 Challenge)
o Full story/biography on each Team Ontario member posted on website leading up to tournament
o RBC Scholarship on-ice presentation
o All NCAA (DI and DIII) and CIS commitments are posted as a feature story on the OJHL website for the first-time in league history
o OJHL Alumni Research program underway (on-going) within the NHL, Minor Pro Leagues, NCAA and CIS
o Approximately 250 stories posted on OJHL website over the past year, more than five times the amount of any previous season
o Launched the OJHL’s Facebook page with a Twitter account in the works for 2011-12 season
o Process for creating an OJHL Photo Archive started during 2010-11 season, which is planned to lead into a ‘Photographers Committee/Association’

CJHL Chairman Kirk Lamb has clearly been impressed with the direction the CJHL’s largest league is heading, saying, “The Ontario Junior Hockey League is a very important partner in the CJHL’s membership and it is obvious to everyone that they have made tremendous strides to improve the league’s position over the past season. Under the leadership of Commissioner Marty Savoy, I am extremely impressed with all they have accomplished, as well as the direction that is now in place and I think I speak for everyone in saying that we all look forward to seeing what will come next from the OJHL during the upcoming season.”

As busy as things were for the OJHL in 2010-11, the 2011-12 season promises to be even busier with more exciting improvements on the way. Here are just a few new implementations to look forward to this upcoming season:

• Reduction in member clubs from 31 teams to 27 teams
• Introduction of a ‘Waiver System’ of player movement
• OJHL “Code of Conduct Declaration” to be signed by all managers and players
• First-ever OJHL Media Guide
• OJHL Promotional Brochure/Educational package
• Formation of an Educational Committee to help prepare a presentation that will be taken to each member club (beginning with 2012-13)
• Formation of a Photographers Committee to expand and improve OJHL Photo Archive
• Work closely with Rogers Television to expand the “Junior A This Week” program
• Formation of a Webcasting Policies & Procedures Manual
• Completion of a league-wide Marketing Survey
• Finding a location for an official OJHL office
• Finalize various league-wide licensing agreements
• Continuation of OJHL Contraction process
• Formation of OJHL Branding process, including:
o Official OJHL game pucks
o Official OJHL member club practice jerseys
o Official OJHL online merchandise
• Launch of the OJHL Twitter account
• Formation of an OJHL Awards Committee
• Start the process of creating actual OJHL perpetual trophies for each award, recognizing history of each award
• Creation of seven new OJHL Year-End Awards, including:
o Top Prospect Award
o Scholastic Player-of-the-Year
o Humanitarian-of-the-Year
o Volunteer-of-the-Year
o Trainer-of-the-Year
o Executive-of-the-Year
o Fan Favourite Award

“The goal going into the 2010-2011 season was to set a foundation for the OJHL from a National level all the way down. Key relationships with our governing bodies such as the CJHL, OHF, and the OHA allows for the OJHL to not only drive improvement of the league, but to also serve as leaders at the Junior A level.” stated OJHL Commissioner, Marty Savoy. “The promotion of our players is paramount and there was a concentrated effort this season to ensure that we recognized the successes the players in the OJHL had during the season, both inside and outside the league.”

“When we look back over the past season there have been a number of great achievements by the league. We recognize that there is still a lot of work ahead for the OJHL to get the league where the Governors want it to be, but I am confident that as we move things forward, the league will continue to improve in all areas.” Savoy continued by saying, “We have strong ownership within the league that are working together in developing key initiatives that will see continued improvement and success of the league. There are a number of exciting projects that are in development that will allow for the continued success of the OJHL.”


(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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