2008–09 GMHL season

2008–09 GMHL season
League	Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League
Sport	Hockey
Duration	Regular season 2008-09 – 2009-02 Playoffs 2009-02 – 2009-04
Number of teams	15
Finals champions	South Muskoka Shield

The 2008–09 GMHL season was the third season of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). The fifteen teams of the GMHL played 43-game schedules.

In February 2009, the top teams of the league played down for the Russell Cup, emblematic of the grand championship of the GMHL. Since the GMHL is independent from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League, this is where the GMHL's season ended. The South Muskoka Shield won their first Russell Cup beating the Deseronto Storm 4-games-to-2.

Changes

• Douro Dukes moved and become Brock Bucks
• Richmond Hill Rams become Ontario Lightning Rams
• Oro-Medonte 77's joined the league
• Ville-Marie Dragons joined the league
• Minden Riverkings joined the league
• Temiscaming Royals left the league for Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
• Ville-Marie Dragons folded mid-season (January)
• Tamworth Cyclones folded mid-season (January)

With fifteen team starting the season, the league was split into a Northern Division (8 teams) and Southern Division (7 teams).

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SL = Shootout Losses; GF = Goals For.

Northern Division Team Centre W–L–T-OTL GF GA Points South Muskoka Shield Gravenhurst 38-4-0-1 303 128 77 Elliot Lake Bobcats Elliot Lake 31-8-0-4 276 119 66 Nipissing Alouettes Sturgeon Falls 29-13-0-1 233 157 59 Oro-Medonte 77's Guthrie 22-15-0-6 205 165 50 Minden Riverkings Minden Hills 18-24-0-1 172 219 37 Brock Bucks Beaverton 15-26-0-2 191 242 32 x-Espanola Kings Espanola 8-34-0-1 110 334 17 x-Ville-Marie Dragons Ville-Marie, PQ 2-24-0-0 71 286 4 Southern Division Team Centre W–L–T-OTL GF GA Points Innisfil Lakers Innisfil 36-6-0-1 286 130 73 Bradford Rattlers Bradford 34-6-0-3 284 132 71 Deseronto Storm Deseronto 29-11-0-3 224 121 61 King Wild King City 26-15-0-2 241 200 54 Toronto Canada Moose Thornhill 18-21-0-4 205 204 40 Ontario Lightning Rams Richmond Hill 13-30-0-0 174 258 26 x-Tamworth Cyclones Tamworth 3-24-0-2 86 290 8

Tamworth and Ville-Marie folded for the remainder of the season. Their remaining games are scored as 3-0 forfeit victories to their opponent.

(x-) denotes elimination from playoffs.

Teams listed on the official league website.

Standings listed on official league website.

2008–09 Russell Cup Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Division Finals

Russell Cup Championship

N1

South Muskoka

3

N6

Brock

0

N1

South Muskoka

3

N3

Nipissing

0

N3

Nipissing

3

N4

Oro-Medonte

0

N1

South Muskoka

4

North

N2

Elliot Lake

1

N2

Elliot Lake

3

N5

Minden

0

N2

Elliot Lake

--

Bye

N1

South Muskoka

4

S3

Deseronto

2

S1

Innisfil

3

S6

Ontario

1

S1

Innisfil

--

Bye

S1

Innisfil

2

South

S3

Deseronto

4

S2

Bradford

3

S5

Toronto

2

S2

Bradford

1

S3

Deseronto

3

S3

Deseronto

3

S4

King

0

Playoff results are listed on the official league website.

Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk exhibition series

In late December 2008 and early January 2009, the teams of the GMHL played a series of exhibition games against the Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk Under-18 team of Oskemen, Kazakhstan.

South Muskoka Shield 5 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 4

Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 8 - Toronto Canada Moose 5

Innisfil Lakers 5 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 3

Bradford Rattlers 6 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 5

Elliot Lake Bobcats 5 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 3

Nipissing/Ville-Marie 8 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 5

King Wild 5 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 4 (OT)

Elliot Lake Bobcats 5 - Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 1

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Andre Leclair Nipissing Alouettes 41 49 61 110 111 Dylan Sontag South Muskoka Shield 40 52 41 93 10 Travis Saltz South Muskoka Shield 41 41 52 93 102 Maxwell Douglas Innisfil Lakers 36 24 65 89 58 Brian Davidson Innisfil Lakers 34 47 38 85 48 Connor Hendry Innisfil Lakers 35 31 54 85 83 Robin Mendolsohn Nipissing Alouettes 41 25 58 83 38 Jeff Morris Deseronto Storm 38 29 49 78 50 Brendan Farrugia King Wild 34 49 28 77 80 Steve Wicklum King Wild 34 28 46 74 41

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes Played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime Losses; SL = Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average

Player Team GP Mins W L GA SO GAA Shane Buckley Elliot Lake Bobcats 19 1067 12 7 44 3 2.47 Travis Elvin Deseronto Storm 12 718 7 5 34 2 2.84 Geoffrey Sadjadi Innisfil Lakers 17 930 14 3 45 1 2.90 Jens Kensell Deseronto Storm 21 1284 14 7 62 0 2.90 Eric Pye South Muskoka Shield 28 1636 26 2 81 2 2.97

Awards

• Most Valuable Player - Brett Meyers (Minden Riverkings)
• Top Scorer - Adam Palm (Bradford Rattlers)
• Top Defenceman - Mitch Kriz (Elliot Lake Bobcats)
• Top Goaltender - Nikolajs Zurkovs (Brock Bucks)
• Top Forward - Travis Saltz (South Muskoka Shield)
• Rookie of the Year - Andre Leclair (Nipissing Alouettes)
• Most Heart - Matt Marchese (King Wild)
• Most Sportsmanlike Player - Dylan Sontag (South Muskoka Shield)
• Top Defensive Forward - Chad Meagher (South Muskoka Shield)
• Coach of the Year - Matt Barnhardt (Deseronto Storm)
• Official of the Year - Dave Avery

See also

• 2008 in ice hockey
• 2009 in ice hockey

External links

• Official website of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League