Hockey is back! And the Ottawa Junior Senators are already 1-1 in the regular season after going 3-3 in preseason. But first, let’s take a step back.
New Rules – New Style
The new CCHL standard player agreement now allows players 18 and above to wear visors instead of full-face protection. Players, coaches, and team management all say it isn’t only something that looks cool, but also something that can fundamentally change the way the game is played. 
Part of a player’s face being more exposed might make them think differently about protecting themselves during puck battles or scrums. Fights may also look a little different this year.
While we’re on the subject of style changes, Deklyn Campbell, who was acquired from the Nepean Raiders in a trade early last season, now added a ‘C’ to the front of his jersey as he was named captain after recording 33 points in 45 games as a Junior Senator.
Roster Moves
Roster turnover is something expected at the beginning of every season in junior hockey. This season, only six players who suited up for OJS in 2025-26 (four forwards and two defencemen) will be returning. This means a lot of new faces coming out of the collegiate, preparatory, AAA or high school ranks making their junior hockey debut with OJS. In other words, there’s a lot of talent on this new roster, but it’s hard to predict how they will mold together. The new players’ names and links to their Elite Prospects page can be found at the bottom of this page.
The (Actual) Recap
Anyways, sorry for giving you a little extra reading. The season started off amazingly for the OJS, scoring four unanswered goal in the first period of their season opener in Hawkesbury against the Hawks, half of them coming from the new captain in Deklyn Campbell. The lead was too much for the Hawks to overcome and OJS came away with a 4-2 win, starting this season the same way the last one ended, undefeated against Hawkesbury.
A slow start to the second game of the season ended up being very costly for OJS against last year’s seventh placed team, the Brockville Braves. After coming out of the first intermission down 2 goals, David Deschatelets, another returner, scored on the powerplay with an impressive one-timer, followed by a spectacular passing play between Ian Lovett and Cédrik St-Pierre ending in St-Pierre’s first goal of the season and the winner of week one of the OJS Highlight Of The Year competition.
Every week, a poll will appear on OJS’ social media pages presenting the current week’s best highlight as the challenger of the previous week’s winner, untill the last week of the season, where only one highlight will remain and be crowned the Highlight Of The Year.
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