July 12, 2023, Mississauga, ON – The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) introduced today the formation of the OJHL Department of Player Safety and announced Greg Kimmerly as the first OJHL Director of Player Safety.
The OJHL Department of Player Safety will be led by the veteran NHL official who officiated over 1,000 games the NHL from 1993 to 2016, including 14 playoff games and one NHL All Star Game. Greg is currently the Referee in Chief for the Ontario Hockey Federation and works with other groups, including the Ontario University Athletics and the International Ice Hockey Federation in the roles of Officiating coach and Supervisor. Greg will be responsible for the process of all on-ice video reviews and discipline for the OJHL.
“I am looking forward to helping create an effective player safety process that will provide an environment that emphasizes speed and skill, while still maintaining the physicality of the game. The review system that we create will establish accountability amongst the participants with a focus on making consistent decisions. Looking forward to partnering with everyone involved with the OJHL and the challenges ahead,” said Kimmerly.
Working with the OJHL VP of Hockey Chris Vanstone, the Department of Player Safety within the OJHL will work on player education, team communications, rules emphasis and the re-development of the OJHL video review and on-ice discipline process, all with the focus on player safety.
“The opportunity to be able to bring someone with the experience and knowledge of Greg to the OJHL will bring tremendous value to all of our clubs and more importantly to our players,” stated Vanstone. “Through the direction of the OJHL Board of Directors, the league went through a process to develop a department that could be created for the OJHL focusing on the manner in which we manage all areas of player safety. Part of the process was securing an individual with the knowledge to lead the department within the league, and Greg is the ideal person for this role.”
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 23 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 75 commitments in 2022-23 including more than 36 NCAA Division I scholarships.
