Jason La Rose
The 2025-26 season comes to an end Sunday for the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), with two teams—the Niverville Nighthawks and Summerside Western Capitals—remaining in the chase for Canada’s National Junior A Championship.
But how did those two teams, and the rest of the CJHL, get to the championship game at the 2026 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons? And how do the Nighthawks and Western Capitals match up?
Road to the Centennial Cup
255 – Days between the first regular-season game (Burlington Cougars vs. Caledon Admirals) on Sept. 4, 2025 and the Centennial Cup final on Sunday.
3,501 – Regular season (3,122) and playoff (379) games necessary for 116 teams to become two on the Road to the Centennial Cup.
24,836 – Goals scored in the regular season (22,442) and playoffs (2,394) by the 116 teams across the CJHL, an average of 7.09 goals per game.
101:19 – Duration of the longest game played on the Road to the Centennial Cup (Collège Français de Longueuil defeated Everest de la Côte-du-Sud 2-1 in triple overtime in Game 4 of the LHJAAAQ semifinals on April 4).
Centennial Cup Final – Head-To-Head
Winning percentage (regular season): NIV – .879 (51-6-1) – 2nd in CJHL SWC – .615 (32-18-8) – 36th in CJHL
Winning percentage (playoffs): NIV – .944 (17-1) SWC – .550 (11-9)
Goals per game (regular season): NIV – 4.83 (280 goals in 58 games) – 7th in CJHL SWC – 4.46 (232 goals in 52 games) – 17th in CJHL
Goals per game (playoffs): NIV – 4.56 (82 goals in 18 games) SWC – 2.90 (58 goals in 20 games)
Goals against per game (regular season): NIV – 2.02 (117 goals in 58 games) – 2nd in CJHL SWC – 3.27 (170 goals in 52 games) – 50th in CJHL
Goals against per game (playoffs): NIV – 2.06 (37 goals in 18 games) SWC – 2.45 (49 goals in 20 games)
Power play (regular season): NIV – 27.4% (67 for 245) – 9th in CJHL SWC – 30.7% (70 for 228) – 3rd in CJHL
Power play (playoffs): NIV – 25.9% (21 for 81) SWC – 21.5% (14 for 65)
Penalty killing (regular season): NIV – 84.5% (158 of 187) – 16th in CJHL SWC – 83.0% (190 of 229) – 27th in CJHL
Penalty killing (playoffs): NIV – 89.5% (51 of 57) SWC – 88.5% (77 of 87)