Northwestern Ontario Junior Hockey League

The Northwestern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NWOJHL) was a Canadian Junior ice hockey league in the Northwestern Ontario region of Ontario. The league ran from 1964 until 1970 as members of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association in direct competition for the Memorial Cup the Grand Championship of Canadian junior hockey.

Founded in 1964, the NWOJHL was a Junior A hockey league. In the playoffs, after the league champions were determined, the winner of the NWOJHL would face the champion of the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League for the right to move on in the Memorial Cup playoffs. The NWOJHL shared many centres with the North Shore Intermediate Hockey League which competed for the Hardy Cup.

The most prominent team in the league was the Schreiber North Stars, who would later gain fame as one of the top Junior B teams in Ontario and for competing at early Keystone Cups.

In 1970, junior hockey was realigned across Canada. As early as 1969, the NWOJHL dropped to Junior B. It is possible that the NWOJHL became the Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League in 1970, as it had many of the same teams. The TBJBHL lasted until 1977 when Junior hockey in Thunder Bay all but collapsed. It migrated Eastward and became the North Shore Junior B Hockey League.

NWOJHL

Thunder Bay Jr. B

North Shore Jr. B

...
Wikipedia