The league was founded in 1961 under the sponsorship of the
Montreal Canadiens in hope of a better development program. The league has featured such NHL stars as
Steve Yzerman and
Larry Robinson, for which its two divisions are named. As this league was for the Ottawa District, teams out of the area were not allowed to compete, with one exemption:
Pembroke. In the early years, any player in the league was automatically a member of the Montreal Canadiens, and were forced into a contract which would disallow them to sign with any other NHL team if they wanted to play in the NHL. The Canadiens also wanted the league to be strictly for development, allowing four 19-year-olds and five 18-year-olds per team with the rest of the players being 17 or younger. This was met with much anger and disappointment with players who had just reached their 20s, but the league substantially gained in popularity and did not step back from the changes. In 1963, the Montreal Canadiens allowed the
Chicago Blackhawks-sponsored
Brockville Braves into the league. The league rebranded itself as the
Central Junior A Hockey League (CJHL) starting with the 1964–65 season. In February 1966, players from the Hawkesbury Braves went on strike over coaching issues. The Braves brought in replacement players from midget and Jr. B leagues for a game against the CJHL's perennial champions, the
Cornwall Royals. The Royals went on to win 43–0, which still stands as the highest margin of victory in the league. As CJHL champions, the Royals represented the league at the playdowns for the
1966,
1967 and
1968 Memorial Cup national junior hockey championships. They applied to enter into the stronger
Ontario Hockey Association (today's OHL) but were turned away; they next applied to join the new
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and were accepted as one of the inaugural teams for the 1969–70 season. In 1973, the
Hull Festivals, also departed for the QMJHL. In 1975, the Canadian Hockey Association informed the league that they had to allow 20-year-olds into their league, matching what all other leagues of their calibre were doing. After the ruling that allowed 20-year-olds to play in the league, teams began attempting to "buy" championship teams by going after former Major Junior players. The effect of this resulted in the labeling of the league as a "goon league" or "
bush league" as the league got more violent. The fan base dwindled, and by 1984 there were only five teams left in the league, all on the verge of bankruptcy. On May 8, 2011, at the
2011 Royal Bank Cup in
Camrose, Alberta, the
Pembroke Lumber Kings defeated the
BCHL's
Vernon Vipers 2–0 to win the CCHL's second ever National Title during the league's 50th anniversary season. Prior to the 2014–15 season, the CCHL announced it was adapting the
American Hockey League's overtime format. • Following tied games, teams will remain at the 3rd period ends and 7:00 minutes will be placed on the clock after a 30-second break. Each team will receive 1 point. • The first 3 minutes of over time will be played 4 on 4. At the first whistle after 3 minutes (i.e. if the clock reads 4:00 or less) the teams will play 3 on 3. The same penalty regulations apply. The games are again sudden victory with the first team to score collects an additional point. • In the event the game remains tied after the conclusion of seven minutes of overtime, a 30-second break during which the team coaches will provide a list of 3 shooters will precede a shoot out. Home teams shall determine if they shoot first or second. If the score after 3 rounds of shooters remains tied, there will be a continued sudden death single round shoot out until a winner is declared. • No shooter may shoot twice until all eligible shooters have shot once. • Players in the penalty box at the conclusion of overtime shall not be eligible to participate in the shoot out. In the 2013–14 season, 69 CCHL regular season games were tied after regulation. The outcome of 30 games was determined in the over time session and 39 games required a shoot out. For the 2015–16 the CCHL made a significant move to the development model for the league. The EOJHL was aligned directly with the CCHL to establish direct affiliations and specific guidelines for players to move up and down between leagues. The EOJHL also took on a re-branding to become the
CCHL Tier 2. The development model is also to be extended to affiliation with midget (under18) teams. In fall 2016, the Gloucester Rangers were sold to new ownership, who relocated the team to
Clarence-Rockland to become the
Rockland Nationals starting at the 2017–18 season.
David Frost incident David Frost, the agent of former
St. Louis Blues player
Mike Danton, was banned from all CJHL games and events in fall 2005 after Frost entered an off-limits-to-fans area at the Jim Durrell Arena, home to the Ottawa Jr. Senators, in which Frost "accosted, harassed and threatened an official of the CJHL". League commissioner Mac MacLean stated "We don't want him around period". The Lumber Kings were fined $1,000 for David Frost's actions, because the league considered Frost to be associated with owner
Sheldon Keefe. MacLean sent posters to each league arena to help security staff identify Frost if he were to show up at games, and to refuse entry to Frost. Weeks later, the ban was lifted after Mac MacLean was relieved of his duties of CJHL commissioner. Newly appointed commissioner John Comerford lifted the ban, stating "We can't stop David Frost from entering the rink and I haven't received any complaints from anybody about him". David Frost had no affiliation with the Pembroke Lumber Kings hockey organization. He was allowed to attend league games, but was barred from restricted areas. Frost disregarded the advisement not to enter restricted areas, and was seen getting off the Lumber Kings team bus by
CBC Fifth Estate film crew, and was filmed following the team to a dressing room during a playoff game in
Nepean. At the end of the season, Frost severed un-affiliated ties with the league and informed that he would not attend any more league games or events. ==Teams==