PJHL moving Dolphins to new division

  The junior hockey team not in agreement in forced move

  February 14, 2024

By Rob J. Ross 

DORCHESTER, Ont. - The Dorchester Dolphins will moving east to a new division next season.

Maybe someone should have informed the Dolphins.

That's not exactly how things rolled out, but the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) announcing changes to its divisions for the 2024-25 season has the Dolphins steaming.

The league plans to move the Dolphins from the Yeck Division to the Doherty Division, joining Woodstock, Norwich, Tavistock and teams as far east as Paris and Hespeler.

"We've known this has been on the books for awhile and we've been pushing back for a few months," said Dolphins' co-owner Chris Willsie. "Then they did a media release (Feb.8) and that's when everyone else found out about it.

"We're not happy with it."

The PJHL announced changes to their divisional structure, aiming to have eight teams in each of its eight divisions. Five teams, including Dorchester will be on the move.

"We have discussed alignment for a couple years trying to find a competitive balance of seven or eight teams in each division,” said PJHL Commissioner Terrence Whiteside in the press release Feb. 8. "It allows for better scheduling balance and for all teams to play a similar playoff path to get to the Schmalz Cup. We are hopeful that our changes in alignment will create some new rivalries and opportunities for balance within the divisions."

With the addition of Petrolia this season, the Yeck division has nine teams.

"This discussion have been in the motion for awhile," said Mitchell Giamou, Social Media and Marketing Manager for the PJHL. "We had discussions with division leaders and the teams themselves and this is what we decided on, to create a balance. We are always evaluating our structure as the league grows."

Giamou stayed away from if Dorchester was agreeable or not on the move.

"This decision was made with our division leaders," said Giamou. "They all agree on this, with the idea of creating that balanced structure for playoff paths. Every team was informed."

Willsie says there was no consultation with the Dolphins about a move, only an online vote for what teams will move.

"We didn't get to present our case to anybody. It was kind of an anonymous online vote," said Willsie. "We're going to exhaust every avenue to appeal it. We don't think there was a process in choosing who goes. It was flawed."

It seems the team to move from the Yeck division was Dorchester or Thamesford.

"We're not wishing for Thamesford to move. It's a good rivalry," said Willsie.

That's something that will be lost with the move Willsie points out, rivalries with Thamesford, Aylmer, Mt Brydges and the fans who come to see those games.

"There are a lot of things that happen when you get moved to a different division. More travel. Higher budget. Less revenue because there are teams coming in that aren't as close," Willsie said. "We took a look over (at the Doherty division) and there are a lot teams that play home games Friday nights. We'd have to change and ice is hard to get here (Dorchester)."

An online petition against the move has been created, with comments ranging from players who wouldn't play for the Dolphins because the travel would be too much, to sponsors who would pull support because the team would be out of their local area.

"We tend to put up a fight to see if we can stay in the Yeck division," Willsie said. "It's named after Don Yeck, who was one of the instrumental figures in giving our expansion team here back 10 years ago. We feel honoured to play in the division named after him."

Willsie is good with having nine teams in the Yeck.

"I like having nine because one team doesn't make the playoffs," Willsie said. "There was a game this week between Lucan and Aylmer (fighting for that eighth spot) and it meant something. Otherwise it wouldn't be mean something."

Caledon, Schomberg, North Kawartha and Lakefield are the other four clubs on the move.

The Muskoka Bears are a new team joining the league.

"This decision was made with our division leaders. They all agree on this with the idea of creating that balanced structure for playoff paths. We want to have that consistency across our league." Giamou said. "We believe these decisions will make a more competitive landscape, new story lines for the fan base."