NEWS

November 3, 2022, Mississauga, ON – The Ontario Junior Hockey League today announced a renewal of its broadcast partnership with CHCH-TV – including the airing of six live games during the 2022-23 OJHL season.

Now in its fourth season, the “CHCH Game of the Week” will provide viewers across Canada with thrilling Junior A hockey action from the largest Junior A league in Canada, featuring emerging local talent facing off Saturday afternoons in rinks across the province. The action begins Saturday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m. ET, with the Pickering Panthers visiting the Oakville Blades at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ontario.

Award-winning broadcaster Rod Black - whose extensive sports resume includes play-by-play announcing for football, golf, basketball and international hockey - will provide the play-by-play, while veteran OJHL broadcaster Alan Corkum will handle colour commentary and hosting duties during the broadcasts.  

The “CHCH Game of the Week” schedule includes:

The deal also includes the broadcast of six companion episodes of The OJ Today, a monthly hockey magazine show featuring highlights and analysis from all games across the 21-team league.

"The OJHL is extremely excited for our fourth season of the CHCH OJHL Game of the Week,” said Marty Savoy, Commissioner of the OJHL. “The addition of an award-winning sports announcer in Rod Black partnered with Alan Corkum, who has tremendous knowledge of the OJHL, will make for great broadcasts this season.”  

The partnership with CHCH will again see OJHL games available to millions of households across Ontario via terrestrial TV.  

Viewers can expect in-person interviews, features and previews of upcoming matchups and storylines from across the league including live hits from watch parties at supporting community businesses.

“We’re looking forward to another season of OJHL action,” said Nick Bannard, Marketing Manager at CHCH-TV. “We hope our platform can continue to be a launch pad for these young, dynamic players to attract new fans to the game at the local level.”

For 40 years as a host and play-by-play announcer with CTV and TSN, Rod Black worked NHL hockey to the NBA, Major League Baseball to the NFL and CFL, PGA and LPGA, world championship boxing, ATP and WTA tennis, international, figure skating, IndyCar and Formula One auto racing, the Masters, Kentucky Derby, World Cup Soccer, speedskating, cycling, Canadian and USA college sports and the Olympics 

Black, a contributor to the Toronto Star sports pages, received the 2005 Sports Media Canada award for Most Outstanding Broadcaster. A recipient of the Queen’s medallion and Diamond Jubilee medal for volunteerism, the Stouffville resident has donated to several Canadian charities, including Special Olympics, Sick Kids Hospital, the Children's Aid Foundation, United Way and Right to Play.

“I'm so excited to be part of the OJHL Game of the Week team,” Black said. “I've always been a fan of this league and level of the game since my days calling the RBC Cup, which I always cherished as one of the best events of the hockey season.”

“To me there is nothing like chasing a dream. And these dreams whether athletic or academic are what can inspire young players everywhere. I can't wait to get back in the booth to share these great stories and call these entertaining games which have become must-see TV.”

About CHCH-TV 

CHCH-TV started broadcasting in 1954 and is proud to be the news leader for Hamilton and the surrounding Halton and Niagara regions of Southwestern Ontario. CHCH produces over 24 hours of original local news programming each week. With a primetime line-up anchored by movies, news magazine shows, fan favourite retro programming and hit dramas, CHCH is available to over 92 per cent of Ontario households and is viewed by millions nationally each week. CHCH News is produced daily out of its broadcast studio located in Hamilton, Ontario. For more information, please visit chch.com. 

About the OJHL – “League of Choice”

The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 90 commitments in 2021-22– including more than 25 NCAA Division I scholarships.