The Lakehead Junior Hockey League will continue to be led by League President Josh Gribben and second Vice-President Pat McDonald through the 2025-2026 season.

Both individuals were unanimously re-elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 16.

“Being re-elected shows that the owners and teams believe in me and the direction that the league is heading,” Gribben noted. “I have a great deal of passion for the junior game. We have an opportunity to provide young men with the tools to become successful in all they do moving forward in life. These are formative years and to be able to be a positive part of that is priceless. I hope to continue to help drive the league forward and cannot do this without the support of all our teams and other executives.”

Also on the agenda was a motion to eliminate the need for paper scoresheets and move towards a program called Spordle.

“Live scoring is going to happen for all leagues, it’s only a matter of time,” added Gribben. “We want to be sure that we are prepared for it with the proper infrastructure in place. With so much accessibility via social media and websites, we believe its vitally important to create better access for our players and fans. We are in a need to know now world and we need to adapt as a league to the changing demands of our followers.”

The five teams supported the move but another pair of motions that were presented to the membership did not have the same support.

There was a proposal to change the point structure during the regular season to award a team three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win and a single point for any team that tied, lost in overtime or a shootout.

The last motion involved the Prospect Draft and would have limited teams to being able to trade draft picks only once.

While Gribben wouldn’t comment publicly on the motions themselves, he did state that they were valid points brought forward.

“When I look at anything that is tabled, I always try to see the full picture. How this will affect our teams, how it may look from an outsider’s perspective and if it’s in the best interest of everyone involved now and moving forward. I believe that is one of the most important roles of an executive and something I have learned over the years of being in the position and serving on the board.”

The teams concluded the night with their Prospect Draft, which will be featured in a later piece.