Brendan Shanahan's Review of Ontario Junior Hockey Ends With 11 Recommendations

Hockey Canada asked Brendan Shanahan to spend 2026 looking at how junior hockey in Ontario works and how to make it better. He's done, and he's come back with 11 recommendations.

The first is about where teenagers live. Shanahan wants a standard billeting policy that gives young players more freedom to play anywhere in Ontario, instead of rules that change from league to league. He also wants every junior league in the province to line up with the Ontario Hockey League's rules.

To make it stick, he recommends Hockey Canada create an advisory committee and a new executive position to oversee the changes. Shanahan, the former Toronto Maple Leafs president and a Hall of Famer who now works in the NHL office, told The Athletic's Chris Johnston he won't be applying. He said it's a key hire and should go to someone who has lived in that world but can step back and see the whole picture, and "that's not me."

He said he deliberately kept the recommendations general so Hockey Canada could act on them quickly. Hockey Canada president and CEO Katherine Henderson said changes will start as soon as this season.