The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) announced Tuesday, February 17th its timeline for the upcoming 2026 playoffs in the quest for the Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy.
At the conclusion of the regular season, which is scheduled to end on Sunday, March 15, the top eight teams, in terms of points, in the NOJHL standings will qualify for the postseason.
The Greater Sudbury Cubs; Hearst Lumberjacks; Timmins Rock; Powassan Voodoos; Soo Thunderbirds and Espanola Paper Kings have already secured berths, while the Soo Eagles; Kirkland Lake Gold Miners; Blind River Beavers and Iroquois Falls Storm remain in contention for the final two places.
The French River Rapids have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.
Each of the four best-of-seven quarter-final series, are slated to be held between March 19 and April 1.
There, the No. 1 seed will take on the eighth-place side; No. 2 will meet No. 7; No. 3 goes up against No. 6, and No. 4 will square off against No. 5.
Next will see the quarter-final winners moving on to semifinal competition with the highest remaining seed meeting the lowest, while the two others still in contention will face-off, in a pair of best-of-seven match-ups that are slated to run from April 3-16.
The two finalists will then vie for the Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy league championship in a best-of-seven affair, that will be held between April 18 through May 1.
Awaiting the NOJHL title holder will be a trip to Summerside, P.E.I., to represent the league and compete in the 2026 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons, Canadian Junior A Championship, which goes May 7-17 at Consolidated Credit Union Place.
Joining them will be the Centennial Cup-host Summerside Westen Capitals (MHL) along with the other Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) champions at the 10-team event.
Should Summerside go on to capture the Maritime Hockey League crown, then their league finalist will also take part.
All four upcoming NOJHL quarter-final series schedules will be released once they are determined and finalized.
Each NOJHL playoff game will be streamed live, and on demand, via FLOHockey.tv, its official online broadcast partner.
NOJHL PLAYOFF TIMELINE
Quarter-finals
March 19 – April 1
Best-of-seven series
Series A: No. 1 vs. No. 8
Series B: No. 2 vs. No. 7
Series C: No. 3 vs. No. 6
Series D: No. 4 vs. No. 5
Semifinals
April 3-16
Best-of-seven series
Series E: Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed
Series F: 2nd highest remaining seed vs. 3rd highest remaining seed
Final
April 18 – May 1
Best-of-seven series
Series G: Semifinal winners
Centennial Cup
Presented by Tim Hortons
May 7-17
Consolidated Credit Union Place, Summerside, P.E.I.
NOJHL champion Centennial Cup schedule
Thursday, May 7
NOJHL vs. OJHL 1 p.m. ET
Friday, May 8
NOJHL vs. MHL 8:30 p.m. ET
Monday, May 11
SJHL vs. NOJHL 1 p.m. ET
Tuesday, May 12
LHJAAAQ vs. NOJHL 1 p.m. ET
Friday, May 15
Quarter-final No. 1: T.B.A. vs. T.B.A. 5 p.m. ET
Quarter-final No. 2: T.B.A. vs. T.B.A. 8:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 16
Semifinal No. 1: T.B.A. vs. T.B.A. 5 p.m. ET
Semifinal No. 2: T.B.A. vs. T.B.A. 8:30 p.m. ET
(No. 1 overall seed earns choice of time in which semifinal they’ll play in.)
Sunday, May 17
Final: T.B.A. vs. T.B.A. 8 p.m. ET
