Central Junior A Hockey League
Current season or competition: 2016–17 CCHL season
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| Region(s) | Eastern Ontario |
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| CEO | Kevin Abrams |
| Deputy | Bruce Baskin |
| Former name(s) |
list
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| Founded | 1961 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Associated Title(s) |
Trophy list
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| Recent Champions | Carleton Place Canadians (2016) |
| Headquarters | Richcraft Sensplex 813 Shefford Rd. Ottawa, Ontario |
| Website | CCHL |
The Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) is a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey league operating in eastern Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Hockey Eastern Ontario and Hockey Canada and is a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The winner of the CCHL playoffs competes for the Fred Page Cup—the "Eastern Zone" championship of the Canadian Junior Hockey League—with the winners of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League and the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. The winner of the Fred Page Cup then moves on to compete for the national Royal Bank Cup.
In July 2013, the TheHockeyWriters.com listed the CCHL as one of the ten best developmental leagues, professional or amateur, in North America.
The league started in 1961 as the "Ottawa-Hull District Junior Hockey League", under the sponsorship of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, in hope of a better development program. The league has featured such NHL stars as Steve Yzerman and Larry Robinson, for which its two divisions are named. As this league was for the Ottawa District, teams out of the area were not allowed to compete, with one exemption: Pembroke. In the early years, any player in the league was automatically a member of the Montreal Canadiens, and were forced into a contract which would disallow them to sign with any other National Hockey League team if they were ever to achieve such greatness. The Canadiens also wanted the league to be strictly for development, allowing four 19-year-olds and five 18-year-olds per team with the rest of the players being 17 or younger. This was met with much anger and disappointment with players who had just reached their 20s, but the league substantially gained in popularity, and they were ignored. A remarkable alumnus of the league is 4-time Stanley Cup Champion Billy Smith of New York Islanders fame, a former member of the Smiths Falls Bears. In 1963, the Montreal Canadiens allowed the Chicago Blackhawks-sponsored Brockville Braves into the league.
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