| 2023–24 OEHL season | |
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| League: | Ontario Elite Hockey League |
| Sport: | Hockey |
| Duration: | Regular season October 6, 2023 – February 4, 2024 Playoffs February 9, 2024 – March 30, 2024 |
| Finals Champ: | OEHL Cup - Minto 81's McLean Cup - Georgian Bay Applekings |
| No Of Teams: | 11 |
| Seasonslistnames: | OEHL |
| Prevseason Year: | 2022–23 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2024–25 |
The 2023–24 OEHL season was the first season of the Ontario Elite Hockey League. The league played a 20-game regular season which began in October 2023 and concluded in February 2024. The post-season began in February 2024 and concluded in March 2024.
The Minto 81's won the OEHL Cup Championship, defeating the Tavistock Royals in the final round of the playoffs.[1]
The Ontario Elite Hockey League (OEHL) was established on August 17, 2023, by the Ontario Hockey Association. The league took ten members of the WOAA Senior AA Hockey League, plus one pending expansion team, as well as another team as being formed in the announcement for the formation of a new league.[2]
The ten former WOAA teams were the Creemore Coyotes, Durham Thundercats, Lucknow Lancers, Milverton Four Wheel Drives, Minto 81's, Ripley Wolves, Saugeen Shores Winterhawks, Seaforth Centenaires, Shelburne Muskies and Tavistock Royals. The expansion team brought from the WOAA was the Georgian Bay Applekings. The Erin Outlaws were also announced as a new team to the league.[3]
The Shelburne Muskies took a leave of absence for the 2023–24 season.[4]
| 2023-24 Ontario Elite Hockey League | |||||
| Team | City | Arena | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creemore Coyotes | Creemore, Ontario | Creemore & District Recreation Centre | |||
| Durham Thundercats | Durham, Ontario | Durham & District Community Centre | |||
| Erin Outlaws | Erin, Ontario | Erin Community Centre | |||
| Georgian Bay Applekings | Thornbury, Ontario | Beaver Valley Community Centre | |||
| Lucknow Lancers | Lucknow, Ontario | Lucknow Arena | |||
| Milverton Four Wheel Drives | Milverton, Ontario | Perth East Recreational Complex | |||
| Minto 81's | Palmerston, Ontario | Palmerston & District Community Centre | |||
| Ripley Wolves | Ripley, Ontario | Ripley-Huron Community Centre Arena | |||
| Saugeen Shores Winterhawks | Saugeen Shores, Ontario | Port Elgin Plex | |||
| Seaforth Centenaires | Seaforth, Ontario | Seaforth & District Community Centre | |||
| Tavistock Royals | Tavistock, Ontario | Tavistock & District Recreation Centre | |||
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Green shade = Clinched playoff spot
[5]
| Rank | Ontario Elite Hockey League | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 107 | 53 | ||
| 2 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 99 | 66 | ||
| 3 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | 97 | 69 | ||
| 4 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 26 | 87 | 69 | ||
| 5 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | 83 | 73 | ||
| 6 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 82 | 52 | ||
| 7 | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 78 | 54 | ||
| 8 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 71 | 104 | ||
| 9 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 12 | 59 | 108 | ||
| 10 | 20 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 66 | 105 | ||
| 11 | 20 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 42 | 118 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes[6]
| width:30%;" | Player | width:30%;" | Team | width:7.5%;" | width:7.5%;" | width:7.5%;" | width:7.5%;" | width:7.5%;" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett Meurs | Ripley Wolves | 19 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 36 | |||||||
| Luke Richardson | Durham Thundercats | 20 | 14 | 25 | 39 | 0 | |||||||
| Kyler Nixon | Durham Thundercats | 19 | 13 | 26 | 39 | 2 | |||||||
| JD Falconer | Creemore Coyotes | 19 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 6 | |||||||
| Ben Hughes | Creemore Coyotes | 20 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 6 | |||||||
| Kaden Hoggarth | Ripley Wolves | 19 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 46 | |||||||
| Sean Kienapple | Tavistock Royals | 17 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 14 | |||||||
| Dennis Dewar | Milverton Four Wheel Drives | 19 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 2 | |||||||
| Dan Nicoloff | Ripley Wolves | 16 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 28 | |||||||
| Caleb Warren | Minto 81's | 19 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 16 |
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[7]
| width:25%;" | Player | width:25%;" | Team | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | width:5%;" | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Hutcheson | Seaforth Centenaires | 10 | 557 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0.897 | 1.94 | |||||||||||
| Clayton Fritsch | Saugeen Shores Winterhawks | 7 | 400 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0.899 | 2.25 | |||||||||||
| Josh Hamilton | Ripley Wolves | 18 | 1094 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 4 | 0.909 | 2.52 | |||||||||||
| Daniel DeKoening | Minto 81's | 8 | 480 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0.879 | 2.63 | |||||||||||
| Malcolm Young | Durham Thundercats | 6 | 361 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0.920 | 2.66 |
The top eight teams qualify for the OEHL Cup playoffs. Each series is a best-of-seven.
Note: Game seven was played at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex in Shelburne, Ontario.
The non-OEHL Cup playoff qualifiers played in a home and home round robin with the top two teams in the round robin advancing to the best-of-seven McLean Cup championship series.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Green shade = Clinched championship series berth
| McLean Cup round robin | GP | W | L | Pts | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 14 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 24 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 25 |
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Note: Game seven was played at the Meaford & St. Vincent Community Centre in Meaford, Ontario.