1996–97 OPJHL season
Introduction The '''1996–97 OPJHL season''' is the fourth season of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL). The twenty-two teams of the MacKenzie, MacKinnon, Phillips, and Ruddock Divisions competed in a 51-game schedule. The top 4 teams of each division make the playoffs.The winner of the OPJHL playoffs, the Milton Merchants, lost the 1997 Buckland Cup and Dudley Hewitt Cup to the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Changes *Royal York Royals become the Vaughan Vipers. *Stouffville Clippers become the Stouffville Spirit.
Final standings ''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched conference title''  '''MacKenzie Division''''''Team'''	'''GP'''  '''W'''  '''L'''  '''T'''  '''GF'''  '''GA'''  '''P'''Bramalea Blues	                        51	36	12	3	263	154	76Brampton Capitals	                        51	35	14	2	280	183	73Mississauga Chargers               	51	29	19	3	234	220	62St. Michael's Buzzers              	51	26	22	3	210	173	59Streetsville Derbys                	51	19	26	6	212	222	45Vaughan Vipers                      	51	16	33	2	179	272	35'''MacKinnon Division''''''Team'''	'''GP'''  '''W'''  '''L'''  '''T'''  '''GF'''  '''GA'''  '''P'''Milton Merchants     	51	37	9	5	319	169	81Hamilton Kilty	51	32	14	5	286	218	70Oakville Blades                    	51	22	28	1	218	233	50Burlington Cougars                 	51	14	34	3	188	273	32Georgetown Raiders                 	51	3	47	1	140	375	10'''Phillips Division''''''Team'''	'''GP'''  '''W'''  '''L'''  '''T'''  '''GF'''  '''GA'''  '''P'''	Newmarket 87's	51	43	5	3	313	135	89Collingwood Blues                  	51	28	18	5	249	206	62Orillia Terriers	50	25	21	4	201	194	56Lindsay Muskies                    	51	17	29	5	188	247	42Stouffville Spirit                 	50	8	41	1	167	295	19'''Ruddock Division''''''Team'''	'''GP'''  '''W'''  '''L'''  '''T'''  '''GF'''  '''GA'''  '''P'''Kingston Voyageurs                 	51	42	7	2	313	138	87Peterborough Jr. Petes	51	29	19	3	219	182	64Ajax Axemen                	51	21	28	2	212	258	45Bowmanville Eagles                 	51	15	31	5	215	285	37Trenton Sting             51	16	32	3	192	278	36Cobourg Cougars                       	51	11	35	5	190	278	29
1996-97 OPJHL Playoffs '''''Division Semi-final''''':'''Newmarket 87's''' defeated Bowmanville Eagles ''4-games-to-2'':'''Kingston Voyageurs''' defeated Ajax Axemen ''4-games-to-none'':'''Peterborough Jr. Petes''' defeated Lindsay Muskies ''4-games-to-2'':'''Collingwood Blues''' defeated Orillia Terriers ''4-games-to-2'':'''Milton Merchants''' defeated Streetsville Derbys ''4-games-to-none'':'''Brampton Capitals''' defeated St. Michael's Buzzers ''4-games-to-2'':'''Mississauga Chargers''' defeated Hamilton Kiltys ''4-games-to-2'''''''Division Final''''':'''Newmarket 87's''' defeated Collingwood Blues ''4-games-to-none'':'''Kingston Voyageurs''' defeated Peterborough Jr. Petes ''4-games-to-1'':'''Milton Merchants''' defeated Mississauga Chargers ''4-games-to-none'':'''Bramalea Blues''' defeated Brampton Capitals ''4-games-to-2'''''''Semi-final''''':'''Newmarket 87's''' defeated Kingston Voyageurs ''4-games-to-1'':'''Milton Merchants''' defeated Bramalea Blues ''4-games-to-3'''''''Final''''':'''Milton Merchants''' defeated Newmarket 87's ''4-games-to-3''
OHA Buckland Cup and [[Dudley Hewitt Cup]] Championship ''Best-of-7'':'''Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats''' (NOJHL) defeated Milton Merchants ''4-games-to-1''::'''Milton''' 4 - Rayside-Balfour 0::'''Rayside-Balfour''' 4 - Milton 3 OT::'''Rayside-Balfour''' 5 - Milton 3::'''Rayside-Balfour''' 9 - Milton 2::'''Rayside-Balfour''' 4 - Milton 1
Scoring leaders ''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''   Player Team GP G A PtsRyan Vince 	Kingston Voyageurs   51 	54 	81 	135Scott Cameron 	Kingston Voyageurs   48 	51 	61 	112Eric Ellis 	Hamilton Red Wings    50 	50 	62 	112Dan Kerluke  	Brampton Capitals    51 	62 	48 	110Ron Baker  	Milton/Bowmanville   49 	43 	62 	105Scott Stephens 	Newmarket 87's       44 	43 	60 	103Chris Stevenson 	Hamilton Red Wings        51 	51 	49 	100Darren Haydar 	Milton Merchants     51 	32 	68 	100
See also * 1997 Royal Bank Cup* Dudley Hewitt Cup* List of OJHL seasons* Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League* Superior International Junior Hockey League* Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League* 1996 in ice hockey* 1997 in ice hockey
References
External links *  Official website of the Ontario Junior Hockey League*  Official website of the Canadian Junior Hockey League