The US-based North American Hockey League (NAHL) and the Canadian-based Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) each recently have received very positive publicity in the hockey world. This bolsters the already sterling reputation both leagues have in offering a high level of hockey to aspiring junior hockey players.
The NAHL is a Tier II rated Junior A league sanctioned by USA Hockey. It has functioned to send players directly to college, or to higher levels of junior hockey. That higher level primarily has been the United States Hockey League (USHL), the only Tier I rated Junior A league sanctioned by USA Hockey. With players competing in the CHL (the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec & Maritimes Junior Hockey League) now being permitted to play college hockey thereafter, NAHL alumni have both the USHL and CHL as options in which to compete while maintaining their NCAA eligibility. The best recent evidence of this option being utilized is the NHL’s 2025-26 Preliminary Players to Watch list, which accurately reports that projected first round pick and NAHL alum Chase Reid now plays for Sault Ste. Marie in the OHL. The first attachment is the aforementioned list, and the second attachment details the ten current or former NAHL players on that list.
Like the NAHL, the GOJHL is a high-caliber league whose 23 teams are all based in Ontario. Hockey Canada classifies the GOJHL as Junior B. However, due to its quality of play, on several occasions the GOJHL has petitioned the Ontario Hockey Association (Ontario’s governing body for amateur hockey) to be reclassified as a junior A league. The OHA has denied such a reclassification to this point, the sticking point presumably being that the GOJHL is a pay-to-play league, whereas junior A hockey does not require its players to pay the team for which it competes. However, the GOJHL’s belief in its on-ice product recently was affirmed by the OHL’s decision to make the GOJHL its official development league. Although the OHL still is working on similar agreements with junior A leagues in Ontario, it is telling that the GOJHL takes priority. The third attachment contains details pertaining to this announcement.
It should be noted that each league also is subject to restrictions to entry for players hoping to compete there. For example, the NAHL “import” rule permits only four non-US citizens to occupy roster spots (unless a non-citizen has played in the US for four seasons). With respect to the GOJHL, Hockey Canada does not permit the recruitment of players under 18 years of age who reside outside the province of Ontario.
For full disclosure, I do enjoy it when these leagues receive positive publicity. With respect to the NAHL, I served as a general manager in that league for the now-defunct Port Huron Fighting Falcons (subsequently the Keystone Ice Miners). Thereafter, I scouted for the Sarnia Legionnaires (formerly the Sarnia Bees) of the GOJHL. Even prior to the GOJHL’s formal development agreement with the OHL, for years the Legionnaires/Bees have been the primary spot to play for prospects of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting.
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