# 2016–17 NBL Canada season

The 2016–17 NBL Canada season was the sixth season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC).

## League changes

The league added two teams for 2016–17: the Cape Breton Highlanders in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the KW Titans in Kitchener, Ontario. The Saint John Mill Rats franchise also transferred ownership and was rebranded to the Saint John Riptide.

### Offseason coaching changes

* The Cape Breton Highlanders hired Dean Murray as their inaugural head coach.
* The Halifax Hurricanes hired Kevin Keathley to replace Hugo López. However, Keathley left the team in the pre-season for personal reasons and was then replaced by Mike Leslie.
* The KW Titans hired Serge Langis as their inaugural head coach.
* The Orangeville A's hired Brandon Lesovsky to replace Chris Thomas
* The Saint John Riptide retained Rob Spon as head coach during the franchise transition.
* The Windsor Express' head coach from 2014–15, Bill Jones, returned from his one-year suspension.

### Midseason coaching changes

* The Cape Breton Highlanders relieved inaugural head coach Dean Murray of his duties on January 22, 2017. The team promoted assistant coach Ben Resner to replace Murray.
* The Niagara River Lions' head coach Grâce Lokole stepped down from his position and became the assistant coach on March 11, 2017. The team named current Niagara College head coach Keith Vassell as the interim head coach.

## Teams

2016-17 National Basketball League of Canada :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Atlantic | Cape Breton Highlanders | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Centre 200 | 5,000 |
| Atlantic | Halifax Hurricanes | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Scotiabank Centre | 10,500 |
| Atlantic | Island Storm | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | Eastlink Centre | 4,000 |
| Atlantic | Moncton Miracles | Moncton, New Brunswick | Moncton Coliseum | 6,554 |
| Atlantic | Saint John Riptide | Saint John, New Brunswick | Harbour Station | 6,603 |
| Central | KW Titans | Kitchener, Ontario | Kitchener Memorial Auditorium | 7,312 |
| Central | London Lightning | London, Ontario | Budweiser Gardens | 9,000 |
| Central | Niagara River Lions | St. Catharines, Ontario | Meridian Centre | 4,030 |
| Central | Orangeville A's | Orangeville, Ontario | Athlete Institute | 1,000 |
| Central | Windsor Express | Windsor, Ontario | WFCU Centre | 6,500 |

### Map of teams
## Regular season

Source:

### Atlantic Division

| # | Atlantic Division vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Div | GP |
| 1 | c — Halifax Hurricanes | 27 | 13 | .675 | — | 22–8 | 40 |
| 2 | x — Saint John Riptide | 22 | 18 | .550 | 5.0 | 14–15 | 40 |
| 3 | x — Island Storm | 16 | 24 | .400 | 11.0 | 13–16 | 40 |
| 4 | x — Moncton Miracles | 15 | 25 | .375 | 12.0 | 12–18 | 40 |
| 5 | Cape Breton Highlanders | 15 | 25 | .375 | 12.0 | 13–17 | 40 |

### Central Division

| # | Central Division vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Div | GP |
| 1 | z — London Lightning | 35 | 5 | .875 | — | 26–4 | 40 |
| 2 | x — Windsor Express | 22 | 18 | .550 | 13.0 | 16–14 | 40 |
| 3 | x — KW Titans | 18 | 22 | .450 | 17.0 | 11–19 | 40 |
| 4 | x — Orangeville A's | 16 | 24 | .400 | 19.0 | 11–19 | 40 |
| 5 | Niagara River Lions | 14 | 26 | .350 | 21.0 | 10–20 | 40 |
Notes
* z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
* c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
* x – Clinched playoff spot

### Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | London Lightning | 104,142 | 7,852 | 1,090 | 5,207 | −8.0%$^†$ |
| 2 | Island Storm | 38,686 | 2,371 | 1,242 | 1,934 | −0.8%$^†$ |
| 3 | Halifax Hurricanes | 38,512 | 3,583 | 1,192 | 1,926 | −0.2%$^†$ |
| 4 | Saint John Riptide | 37,124 | 3,014 | 1,028 | 1,856 | +4.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Niagara River Lions | 35,055 | 3,287 | 1,150 | 1,753 | +34.3%$^†$ |
| 6 | Moncton Miracles | 30,613 | 2,195 | 1,078 | 1,531 | −0.9%$^†$ |
| 7 | Cape Breton Highlanders | 29,490 | 3,200 | 991 | 1,475 | n/a$^†$ $^1$ |
| 8 | KW Titans | 26,107 | 2,240 | 709 | 1,305 | n/a$^†$ $^1$ |
| 9 | Windsor Express | 20,687 | 2,173 | 545 | 1,034 | −18.1%$^†$ |
| 10 | Orangeville A's | 5,858 | 554 | 189 | 293 | −14.1%$^†$ |
| | League total | 366,274 | 7,852 | 189 | 1,831 | −7.1%$^†$ |
Source: Notes: 1: New team.

## Playoffs

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | NBL Canada Finals | NBL Canada Finals | NBL Canada Finals |
| A1 | Halifax | 3 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Moncton | 0 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Moncton | 0 | A1 | Halifax | 4 | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | A1 | Halifax | 4 | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | A3 | Island | 2 | | | |
| A2 | Saint John | 2 | A3 | Island | 2 | | | |
| A3 | Island | 3 | | | | | | |
| A3 | Island | 3 | | | | A1 | Halifax | 2 |
| | | | | | | C1 | London | 4 |
| C1 | London | 3 | | | | | | | C1 | London | 4 |
| C4 | Orangeville | 0 | | | | | | |
| C4 | Orangeville | 0 | C1 | London | 4 | | | |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C1 | London | 4 | | | |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C2 | Windsor | 0 | | | |
| C2 | Windsor | 3 | C2 | Windsor | 0 | | | |
| C3 | Kitchener-Waterloo | 0 | | | | | | |
Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage

## Awards
### Player of the Week award

| For games in week ending | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Central Division | Central Division |
| For games in week ending | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| January 1, 2017 | Billy White | Halifax Hurricanes | Justin Moss | Orangeville A's |
| January 8, 2017 | Haakim Johnson | Saint John Riptide | Royce White | London Lightning |
| January 15, 2017 | Gabe Freeman | Saint John Riptide | Quinnel Brown | Windsor Express |
| January 22, 2017 | Ta'Quan Zimmerman | Halifax Hurricanes | Marcus Lewis | Niagara River Lions |
| January 29, 2017 | Chad Frazier | Cape Breton Highlanders | Julian Boyd | London Lightning |
| February 5, 2017 | Terry Thomas | Island Storm | Kyle Johnson | London Lightning |
| February 12, 2017 | Anthony Walker | Cape Breton Highlanders | Juan Pattillo | Windsor Express |
| February 19, 2017 | Melvin Johnson III | Moncton Miracles | Doug Herring, Jr. | London Lightning |
| February 26, 2017 | Tyrone Watson | Halifax Hurricanes | Ryan Anderson | London Lightning |
| March 5, 2017 | Antoine Mason | Halifax Hurricanes | Stefan Nastić | Orangeville A's |
| March 12, 2017 | Horace Wormely | Saint John Riptide | Royce White (2) | London Lightning |
| March 19, 2017 | Tydran Beaty | Moncton Miracles | Juan Pattillo (2) | Windsor Express |
| March 26, 2017 | Jahii Carson | Island Storm | Warren Ward | Windsor Express |
| April 2, 2017 | Anthony Anderson | Saint John Riptide | Adam Blazek | KW Titans |
| April 9, 2017 | Gabe Freeman (2) | Saint John Riptide | Flenard Whitfield | KW Titans |
| April 16, 2017 | Al Stewart | Island Storm | Maurice Jones | Windsor Express |
| April 23, 2017 | Anthony Walker (2) | Cape Breton Highlanders | Samuel Muldrow | Niagara River Lions |
| April 30, 2017 | Malik Story | Island Storm | Jameson Tipping | Orangeville A's |

### End-of-season awards

Source:
* Most Valuable Players: Royce White, London Lightning
* Canadian Player of the Year: Terry Thomas, Island Storm
* Newcomer of the Year: Jahii Carson, Island Storm
* Defensive Player of the Year: Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, Orangeville A's
* Rookie of the Year: Maurice Jones, Windsor Express
* Sixth Man of the Year: Antoine Mason, Halifax Hurricanes
* Coach of the Year: Kyle Julius, London Lightning