New Brunswick Junior B Hockey League
The New Brunswick Junior B Hockey League (NBJBHL) is a Canadian Junior ice hockey league in the Province of New Brunswick founded in 2009. The NBJBHL is a member of Hockey New Brunswick and competes for the Don Johnson Cup at the interprovincial level.
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History
In 2003, the original New Brunswick Junior B Hockey League folded. The league was formed in the 1980s from the five regional Jr. B leagues of New Brunswick when the New Brunswick Junior Hockey League folded in 1983.
The void, in 2003, was filled by the New Brunswick Junior C Hockey League. In 2007-08, the league attempted to service both Jr. B and Jr. C needs in the province. A year later, the league elected to only send Jr. C champions to interprovincial play, sending that year's Junior C Champions, the Hampton Hurricanes to Atlantics.
In the summer of 2009, five of the top teams of the NBJCHL broke away formed their own Jr. B league, the NBJBHL. These teams were the Moncton Vito's, Grand Lake Wild Moose, Port City Ice Dawgs, Tri-County River Cats, and Black's Harbour Silver Kings.
As New Brunswick no longer has a formal Junior C league, bottom tier teams of the NBJBHL collectively make-up the Junior C division, with the winner competing at the Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Championship.
In the Spring of 2012, the Moncton Vito's dropped the fifth game of the NBJBHL final to Tri-County to give them their third provincial title. Just like in 2010, the River Cats unceremoniously dropped the right to play for the Don Johnson Cup, the Atlantic Junior B Championship. The Vito's went in their place and with a 1-3-0 record in the round robin, advanced to the playoff rounds. In the semi-final, the Vito's defeated the 4-0-0 host St. John's Jr. Caps 5-4 in overtime. In the final, the Vito's defeated the 4-1-0 East Hants Penguins of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League 2-1 in overtime to become the first New Brunswick team to win the Atlantica Junior B Champion in a decade and the first Atlantic Championship for the new NBJBHL.
For the 2013-14 season, the league lost the Miramichi River Maniacs but gained the Kent Coyotes and Fundy Cobras. For the 2014-15 season, the league accepted another pair of new teams, the Sackville Storm and the Sunny Corner Thunder.
The 2015-16 season saw the league split into the Don Johnson (Junior "B") with some interlocking games against the PEI junior B league, and the Maritime Hockey North (Junior "C") league.
Don Johnson Cup Teams
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Maritime Hockey North Teams
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Former teams
- Black Harbour Silver Kings
- Fredericton Jr. Caps (folded 2017)
- Fundy Cobras
- Grand Lake Moose
- Miramichi River Maniacs
- Port City Ice Dawgs
- Sackville Storm
- St. Andrews Whalers
Champions
Junior B
- 2010 Tri-County River Cats
- 2011 Tri-County River Cats
- 2012 Tri-County River Cats
- 2013 Moncton Vito's
- 2014 Fredericton Caps
- 2015 Moncton Vito's
- 2016 Moncton Vito's
- 2017 Cap-Pele Predators
- 2018 Moncton Vito's
- 2019 Moncton Vito's
Junior C
- 2018 Tri-County River Cats
- 2019 Tri-County River Cats
Don Johnson Cup Atlantic Champions
- 2012 Moncton Vito's
- 2015 Moncton Vito's
- 2017 Cap-Pele Predators
Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Champions
- 2013 Hampton Hurricanes
- 2016 Western Valley Panthers
- 2017 Southern Sting
- 2019 Tri-County River Cats