2016–17 GMHL season explained

2016–17 GMHL season
Color:	007AC2
Color Text:	FFFFFF
League:	Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League
Sport:	Hockey
Duration:	Regular season September 6, 2016 – February 16, 2017 Playoffs February 15, 2017 – present
Finals Champ:	Niagara Whalers
Seasonslistnames:	GMHL
Prevseason Year:	2015–16
Nextseason Year:	2017–18

The 2016–17 GMHL season is the eleventh season of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). The teams of the GMHL played 42-game schedules.

In February 2017, the top teams of the league play for the Russell Cup, the playoff championship of the GMHL. Since the GMHL is independent from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League, this is where the GMHL's season ends.

League changes

Once all the membership changes were completed and the games were scheduled there were 28 teams. The league realigned then from three divisions to two 14-team North and South Divisions. By the start of the Russell Cup playoffs, there were 21 teams with 10 teams in the North Division and 11 teams in the South Division.

Expansion

• Expansion granted to Tillsonburg Hurricanes.^[1]
• Expansion granted to Lincoln Mavericks of Lincoln, Ontario.

Relocation or renamed

• Alliston Coyotes rebranded as New Tecumseth Civics after ownership change.^[2]
• Colbourne Chiefs rebranded as Northumberland Stars after ownership change.
• Grey Highlands Bravehearts relocated to Wiarton, Ontario as the Wiarton Rock.^[3]
• Shelburne Sharks re-brand as Shelburne Stars.
• Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks returned to league. The team changed ownership and re-branded as the West Nipissing Lynx.

Folded

• During the previous season, the Brantford Steelfighters folded and was removed from the league schedule on November 5, 2015. The Steelfighters had their membership revoked at the end of the season.
• In March 2016, the league announced Bobcaygeon Storm, Coldwater Falcons, Grey County Grizzlies, and Haliburton Wolves were no longer league members.^{[4] [5]}
• Shelburne Stars folded prior to the start of the season.
• Toronto Blue Ice Jets were removed from the schedule in the first week of the season.
• Bracebridge Blues were removed from the schedule after playing five games and forfeiting the sixth.
• Komoka Dragons folded on October 21 after playing 12 games.
• First year team, the Lincoln Mavericks, withdrew from the league on November 21.
• The Wiarton Rock folded mid-season on December 14.
• Orangeville Ice Crushers suspended operations in January. Three of the team's owners had been arrested for drug distribution in November 2016 and were suspended by the league. The league transferred control to another shareholder who ceased operations of the team after two months.

On hiatus

• The Norfolk Vikings chose to sit out the 2016–17 season.

Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Tie; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; q = relegated to qualifier round; y = clinched division title; z = clinched league title

GMHL
Team	Centre	W–L–OTL	GF–GA	Points
North Division
New Tecumseth Civics		37-5-0	252-101	74
Parry Sound Islanders		34-7-1	273-114	69
South Muskoka Shield		26-10-6	248-142	58
Bradford Rattlers		28-14-0	254-185	56
Temiscaming Titans		27-15-0	221-163	54
Almaguin Spartans		24-15-3	167-154	51
Bradford Bulls		19-20-3	181-172	41
Knights of Meaford		18-21-3	191-176	39
West Nipissing Lynx		13-28-1	184-268	27
Seguin Huskies		13-28-1	153-290	27
Orangeville Ice Crushers		7-26-0	108-210	14
Wiarton Rock		1-24-1	69-243	3
Bracebridge Blues		0-6-0	15-71	0
South Division
Niagara Whalers		38-3-1	311-112	77
St. George Ravens		33-7-2	287-122	68
Kingsville Kings		29-8-5	239-148	63
North York Renegades		29-10-3	197-133	61
London Lakers		26-12-4	221-175	56
Toronto Attack		22-20-0	207-195	44
Toronto Predators		19-17-6	174-201	44
Oshawa Riverkings		14-25-3	154-249	31
Tottenham Steam		11-28-3	161-303	25
Northumberland Stars		11-29-2	150-257	24
Tillsonburg Hurricanes		10-30-2	154-300	22
Lincoln Mavericks		3-13-3	57-101	9
Komoka Dragons		3-10-0	60-70	6

Teams listed on the official league website.^[6]

Standings listed on official league website.^[7]

Teams in gray folded midseason.

2017 Russell Cup playoffs

8th Place Qualifiers

North Division

South Division

Playoff results are listed on the official league website.^[8]

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player Team GP Mins W L T GA SO Sv% GAA

Awards

• Top Scorer: Carl Lyden (South Muskoka Shield)^[9]
• Most Valuable Player: North — Stepan Timofeyev (Bradford Rattlers); South — Manny Manns (Niagara Whalers)
• Rookie of the Year: North — Zach Lefebvre (Temiscaming Titans); South — Noah Battaglia (Toronto Predators)
• Top Forward: North — Carl Lyden (South Muskoka Shield); South — Regan Yew (London Lakers)
• Top Defenceman: North — Zakk Bekolay (Bradford Bulls); South — Zach Wright (Oshawa Riverkings)
• Top Goaltender: North — TJ Sherwood (New Tecumseth Civics); South — Ryan Purcell (St. George Ravens)
• Top Defensive Forward: North — Carmine Vietri (New Tecumseth Civics); South — Blake Naida (Kingsville Kings)
• Most Sportsmanlike Player: North — Tom Stanislavski (Almaguin Spartans); South — Brody Dyck (Northumberland Stars)
• Most Heart: North — Connor Annett - (Knights of Meaford); South — Ryan Dasilva (Tottenham Steam)
• Top Coach: North — Doug Raymond (Parry Sound Islanders); South — Ryan Ramsay (North York Renegades)

See also

• 2016 in ice hockey
• 2017 in ice hockey

External links

• Official website of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League

Notes and References

1. Web site: Junior hockey returns to Tillsonburg. nurun.com. Tillsonburg News. 2016-04-24.
2. Web site: New Tecumseth, Alliston, Beeton, Tottenham local news. Madhunt Publishing Company. madhunt.com. 2017-02-16.
3. Web site: No Name for Wiarton Team. www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca. 2016-04-24.
4. Web site: President Statement: 2016-17 Season. 8 March 2016. gmhl.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116083423/http://gmhl.net/component/content/article/45-2011-2012/715-president-statement-2016-17-season. 16 January 2017. dead.
5. Web site: Is the end of the GMHL near?. The Junior Hockey News. 18 April 2016.
6. Web site: Teamlist - Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League . 2010-08-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100124162426/http://gmhl.net/teamlist.php . 2010-01-24 .
7. Web site: Standings - Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League . 2010-08-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100124092810/http://gmhl.net/standings.php . 2010-01-24 .
8. Web site: Playoffs - Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League . 2010-08-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090416042148/http://gmhl.net/page.php?page=playoffs . 2009-04-16 .
9. Web site: 2017 GMHL Award Winners . GMHL . February 21, 2017 . February 21, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170222111144/http://gmhl.net/component/content/article/45-2011-2012/800-2017-gmhl-award-winners . February 22, 2017 . dead .