Not a real big fan of expansion. It’s hard enough now getting to see all the teams. But for kicks, here’s my suggestion for a 24 team OHL. For this exercise, I’ve added teams in Belleville, Cornwall, Muskegon, and Youngstown. I’ve also done a significant realignment.
Western Conference
West Division
Soo.
Saginaw
Flint
Sarnia
Windsor
Muskegon*
South Division
Brantford
Erie
Kitchener
London
Niagara
Youngstown*
Eastern Conference
East Division
Belleville*
Cornwall*
Kingston
Oshawa
Ottawa
Peterboro
North Division
Barrie
Brampton
Guelph
North Bay
Owen Sound
Sudbury
– Each team needs an outpost team or two to keep things fair throughout the league. So in other words, creating a North division that includes all the northern teams and then have a west or Midwest division where there is a close cluster of teams is not really fair. And it seems that the league has felt this way now for some time.
– I am a little intrigued about the involvement of Gatineau. But I think it would be a political mess trying to acquire a team from the Q. For years, the Q has been trying to put a team in Cornwall. The OHL has always stood in their way. No doubt, the Q would stand in the way the OHL of putting a team in Gatineau. Also, how would it work regarding boundaries for players? If I remember correctly, back in the day, when Cornwall was a part of the Q, players in that area were not eligible for the OHL draft. They were Q property. Would the Q want to lose Gatineau as a member team and the players in that region to the OHL? I think not.
– The biggest eye-opener in my proposed realignment it’s splitting up Kitchener and Guelph, not only in different divisions, but in different conferences. Hey, these teams are not a package deal. In order to get the south teams in the same division, and Brantford to the west, sacrifices have to be made. Guelph is the easternmost city in the current Midwest division. So I moved them. Ditto Owen Sound moving into the eastern conference. Perhaps Guelph and Owen Sound can have rivalry games against Kitchener.
-Due to the recent instability of the Brampton franchise, if that team is on the move again, Burlington might be a landing spot. Farwell was talking about Burlington on The OHL Podcast as a possible expansion city.
– I put Erie and Niagara in the same division like they should be. I’ve taken Brantford out of the Eastern conference and put them with closer rivals in London, Kitchener and Niagara. I dropped the new teams into their obvious divisions. Each division has an outpost city or cities.