The cup is named in honour of Don Johnson, a sports enthusiast who dedicated his efforts to the growth of hockey in Atlantic Canada. Johnson, who died in 2012, awarded the first ever Don Johnson Cup in 1982 to his own son, a player for the St. John's Jr. Celtics.
In 2025, Newfoundland and Labrador chose not to attend the tournament due to financial reasons. They were reinstated for the 2026 tournament.
History
In the 1980s, Newfoundland and Labrador teams dominated the early tournaments. NL teams won five of the first seven Don Johnson Cups. In 1990, the tournament was retired, only to be resurrected a few years later.
Since 2002, the Don Johnson Cup has been dominated by teams from Nova Scotia. From 2003 until 2008, the teams of the NSJHL have won six consecutive Atlantic titles. The streak was broken in 2009 as St. John's of Newfoundland and Labrador eliminated all hopes of a seventh straight Nova Scotia crown. Going into the semi-final round of the Don Johnson Cup, the three NL teams present were 0–6 against PEI's Sherwood Falcons and NS's Cumberland County Cool Blues. In the semi-final, the third seeded St. John's Caps of the St. John's Junior Hockey League upset the second seeded Cumberland County 6–5. The Caps advanced to the final to play the Falcons and upset them 3–2 in overtime to win Newfoundland and Labrador's first Atlantic Jr. B championship in 21 years.
With the passing of Don Johnson, starting with the 2013 tournament, the trophy was renamed the Don Johnson Memorial Cup.
On April 22, 2014, the Casselman Vikings of the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League played in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia and became the first non-Atlantic Canada team to compete at the event. The Vikings would defeat the Fredericton Jr. Caps 6–1 in their debut. The 2014 tournament would also mark the tournament being rebranded from the Atlantic Junior B Championships to the Eastern Canadian Junior B Championships. The Vikings would sweep the event with six wins and no losses. The rebranding did not last long. The 2015 championship was originally slated to take place in Arnprior, Ontario, the first to take place outside of Atlantic Canada. It was instead moved to Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island with no Eastern Ontario team taking part.
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