2025–26 SIJHL season

2025–26 SIJHL season
LeagueSIJHL
SportIce hockey
DurationRegular season
September–March
Playoffs
March–April
Teams7
Streaming partnersijhl.tv

The 2025–26 SIJHL season is the 25th season of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL).

The field of competition was reduced to seven teams as the Kenora Islanders, which debuted as an expansion franchise in 2023, remained indefinitely suspended.[1] The Islanders suspended operations midseason in January 2025 and announced they were seeking a new owner to take over the franchise, citing a conflict with the SIJHL board of governors.[2][3]

The league announced that it was installing a multi-angle, offline video review system in all seven arenas, which would be used by officials and coaches during live gameplay.[4] The system provided three camera angles, overhead and both goal lines, frame-by-frame navigation, video annotation tools and a bench-side iPad flagging system.[4][5]

Dean Thibodeau was appointed as the new league commissioner following the departure of Darrin Nicholas, who held the role since 2020.[6][7]

Bill Salonen, general manager of the 2001–02 Dryden Ice Dogs, and namesake of the SIJHL championship trophy, died on 18 October 2025 at the age of 90.[8]

References

  1. ^ Davidson, Tim (19 September 2025). "SIJHL season begins tonight". Your Kenora. Acadia Broadcasting. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  2. ^ Dunick, Leith (30 January 2025). "SIJHL's Kenora Islanders suspend operations". NWONewsWatch.com. Dougall Media. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  3. ^ Moore, Jacob (30 January 2025). "Kenora junior A team says it suspended play over league conflict". Kenora Online. Acadia Broadcasting. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b Dunick, Leith (30 July 2025). "SIJHL introducing instant replay in 2025–26". tbnewswatch.com. Dougall Media. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  5. ^ "SIJHL Partners with GameStrat to Implement League-Wide Instant Replay" (Press release). Superior International Junior Hockey League. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  6. ^ Villagracia, Reuben (1 May 2024). "SIJHL willl have change at the top". The Chronicle-Journal. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  7. ^ Punkari, Lucas (27 August 2024). "New SIJHL commissioner excited for opportunity". NWONewsWatch.com. Dougall Media. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  8. ^ "SIJHL trophy namesake dies". Fort Frances Times. 22 October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.

Sources

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