The road to a Junior A national title has just been made a little more treacherous for Western Canadian teams.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) announced a new playoff format which will feature the four league champions from Western Canada – the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) as well as a host team, form the Western Canadian championship.
Starting in 2012-13, the winners from each league and the host will compete in a 3-game tournament with winner and runner-up moving on to represent Western Canada at the Royal Bank Cup, the national Junior A championship. The format replaces the Doyle and Anavet Cups, which matched the title winners from just B.C and Alberta and from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, respectively.
AJHL president Craig Cripps said the new configuration is a more equitable way of deciding the top Western Canadian team.
“Selfishly I always thought it was frustrating to have to always be playing against the (BCHL) to get to the Royal Bank Cup because certainly our two leagues have proven themselves to have very powerful franchises when it comes to getting to the finals and at times we felt strongly the best teams weren’t represented at the Royal Bank Cup,” he said.
Okotoks Oilers president Wayne Lauinger echoed the sentiment, stating the new format will lead to Western Canada’s representative teams at the Royal Bank Cup being more representative of the best of the west in Junior A.
“It’s good for Junior A hockey,” Lauinger said. “It’s going to have the best team from each league represented at the championship.”
The two western most provinces have provided eight of the 16 winners of the Royal Bank Cup since 1996, with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers leading the way with a record four national titles.
As a brand new event, Lauinger said he’s eager to see how the first incarnation of the Western Canadian Championship goes.
“I’m for it, I just have some questions that can only be answered as this thing goes along,” said Lauinger of the new format. “From an Okotoks perspective we’re for it, at the same time we’re taking a wait and see approach.”
The inaugural Western Canadian Championship will take place in Nanaimo, B.C. – home of the BCHL’s Clippers – starting April 26, 2013. Manitoba will host the event in 2014 at a yet to be determined site followed by the AJHL in 2015.
As far as the prospects of the Okotoks Oilers throwing their name in the hat to host the event in 2015, Lauinger said the organization will see how things go, emphasizing many factors including volunteers, ice time, transportation and accommodations need to be vetted heavily prior to putting together a formal bid.
“I’ve looked at the bid that Nanaimo tabled and I’m very encouraged that they’ve set a template to follow,” he said. “If this event can take off like I think it can then Okotoks would certainly be interested in potentially hosting the event.”
Cripps said from a brand awareness cycle, the reformed post-season configuration should give followers of Junior A hockey a shot in the arm.
“We feel that it’s kind of a way of refreshing the way that our teams get to the Royal Bank Cup,” Cripps said. “In this day and age hockey in a lot of different facets becomes stale to a certain point.
“Moving forward we think it will showcase the plethora of talent across Western Canada.”
