2023-24 NSJHL season

This is the 2023-24 Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League season. This is the leagues 18th season under this name and its' 44th season overall. The league was previously known as the Mainland Junior B Hockey League from 1980 to 1992 and the Nova Scotia Junior B Hockey League from 1992 to 2006.
==Membership Changes==
*On July 7, 2023 the league announced the relocation of the Liverpool Privateers to the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia for the 2023-24 season replacing the South Shore Lumberjacks of the Maritime Junior Hockey League who had relocated to Grand-Bouctouche, New Brunswick for the 2023-24 season.https://nsjhl.ca/news/6140/Privateers-move-to-Bridgewater/ On July 13th the team announced they would assume the traditional Bridgewater Junior South Shore Lumberjacks moniker.https://www.facebook.com/southshorelumberjacks/posts/pfbid0T1bUpMc9YRXqKDsWCPyAz4SPKn4id6jRSHkFHMuRAcETZE6zqTb2DJzoVrVGVFGtl
*On October 23, 2023 the league announced that the Cumberland County Blues had asked and received a one year leave of absence due to a lack of players (particularly noting issues with recruiting local players from the Springhill and Amherst areas) and being able to recruit players of a caliber that would be competitive in the league. The team had already lost six games and that the Board of Governors had decided that the balance of the team's schedule would be recorded as forfeit losses. The league encouraged the owner, former NHL player Bill Riley to stay in contact with the league about re-activating the team in a new location for the 2024-25 season. https://nsjhl.ca/news/7083/Blues-request-and-given-years-leave-of-absence/ The league would retroactively record all of the team's schedule as 1-0 forfeit losses.
*On June 6, 2024 the league announced that it had voted to dissolve the Cumberland County Blues franchise.https://nsjhl.ca/news/8150/Blues-Franchise-dissolved/
==Teams==
Team 	Centre 	Arena
Antigonish Bulldogs 	Antigonish 	Antigonish Arena
Brookfield Elks 	Brookfield 	Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex
Cole Harbour Colts 	Cole Harbour 	Cole Harbour Place
Cumberland County Blues	Springhill 	Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre(Richard Calder Arena)
East Hants Penguins 	Elmsdale 	East Hants Sportsplex
Eskasoni Eagles 	Eskasoni First Nation 	Dan K. Stevens Memorial Arena
Membertou Jr. Miners 	Membertou, Nova Scotia	Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre
Pictou County Scotians 	Trenton 	Trenton Community Centre
Sackville Blazers 	Sackville 	Sackville Community Arena
South Shore Lumberjacks	Bridgewater 	Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre
Strait Pirates 	Port Hawkesbury 	Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre
Valley Maple Leafs 	Windsor 	West Hants Sports Complex
==Standings==
===Fred Fox Division===
Team 	GP	W 	L 	OL	SL	GF 	GA 	PTS
Cole Harbour Colts 	32	24	6 	2 	0 	127	82 	50
South Shore Lumberjacks	32	24	7 	1 	0 	142	89 	49
East Hants Penguins 	32	22	8 	1 	1 	133	92 	46
Sackville Blazers 	32	17	10	5 	0 	104	101	39
Brookfield Elks 	32	10	18	3 	1 	88 	132	24
Valley Maple Leafs 	32	8 	22	2 	0 	73 	143	18
===Sid Rowe Division===
Team 	GP	W 	L 	OL	SL	GF 	GA 	PTS
Antigonish Bulldogs 	32	26	4 	0 	0 	150	71 	54
Membertou Jr. Miners 	32	21	10	1 	0 	112	101	43
Strait Pirates 	32	17	14	1 	0 	100	106	35
Pictou County Scotians 	32	15	16	1 	0 	105	97 	31
Eskasoni Eagles 	32	8 	23	1 	0 	69 	157	17
Cumberland County Blues	32	0 	32	0 	0 	0 	32 	0
''
*Note 1: Cumberland County received a leave of absence after six games due to lack of players, the team had one overtime loss in six games, but all games were retroactively made 1-0 forfeit losses. 
*Note 2: Pictou County had 8 victories turned into forfeits bue to the use roster issues the resulted in South Shore Lumberjacks gaining two wins and one win each for the Eskasoni Jr. Eagles, Brookfield Elks, Membertou Jr. Miners, Valley Maple Leafs, East Hants Penguins and the Capstone Colts.https://nsjhl.ca/news/7356/Scotians-severely-disciplined-by-League/
/
==Playoffs==
===Format===
The top four teams in each division qualify. The first place team in each division plays the 4th place team and the 2nd place team plays the 3rd place team in the division semifinal round. The Division Semifinals winners meet in the division final and the division winners meet for the league championship. All series are best-of-seven. The playoff champion advances to the 2024 Don Johnson Memorial Cup. 
===Fred Fox Division Semifinals===
*Cole Harbour Colts defeated Sackville Blazers 4 games to 1 (5-3, 5-3, 5-0, 0-2, 5-3) 
*South Shore Lumberjacks defeated East Hants Penguins 4 games to 3 (1-4, 1-3, 1-4, 6-3, 3-1, 4-1, 3-1) 
===Sid Rowe Division Semifinals=== 
*Antigonish Bulldogs defeated Pictou County Scotians 4 games to 1 (4-2, 8-0, 6-0, 4-5, 4-1)
*Membertou Jr. Miners defeated Strait Pirates 4 games to none (5-4, 8-7 (ot), 10-2, 2-1)
===Fred Fox Division Final=== 
*South Shore Lumberjacks defeated Cole Harbour Colts 4 games to none (5-2, 3-1, 5-4, 1-0 (ot))
===Sid Rowe Division Final===
*Antigonish Bulldogs defeated Membertou Jr. Miners 4 games to 1 (5-2, 1-5, 4-3, 5-4, 5-3)
===League Final===
*Antigonish Bulldogs defeated South Shore Lumberjacks 4 games to 2 (5-2, 3-5, 1-2 (ot), 5-4, 3-2, 4-3 (2ot))
The Antigonish Bulldogs advanced to the 2024 Don Johnson Memorial Cup.
==References ==
Category:2023-24 in ice hockey
Category:NSJHL seasons