Rumours are flying around some MJHL organizations that there are talks of a "Prairie Junior Hockey League" combining teams from MJHL, SJHL and AJHL. Having different divisions to limit travel and move towards a more competitive league, leaving out some of the bottom feeder teams that struggle (Wpg Freeze, Wpg Blues, Selkirk) and I'd potentially add in OCN, Neepawa and Swan Valley.
Leagues will need to think outside the box so they don't lose the top end talent for nothing to the BCHL as it grows.
Hockey Canada is hurting at many fronts right now. They need to re-evaluate how they do business or they will continue to lose support of league, fans and hockey players. Sad state of affairs for them right now.
But hey....the not allowed to change in dressing rooms rule was their BIG NEWS of the year...otherwise its been a pathetic year. And I think leagues under the CHL should consider becoming independent as development from Hockey Canada has diminished especially the further west from Toronto you go.
I'm not at all shocked to hear this, there's no way the MJHL and SJHL would take the news out of BC/AB lying down without a response of their own. They have to do something to try and stop the potential outflow of talent out west. Moving to a "super junior A" model would help in that regard.
I know this is getting into the details but I think the "bottom feeder teams" are those which don't have at least two of the following:
a) adequate facility
b) large market with large player pool
c) strong local support
Swan Valley, Wayway, Neepawa and OCN would be on that list.
There has to be some kind of Winnipeg representation and tbh I think a Winnipeg team would do reasonably well if it was well run, and there was a promise of more "meaningful" hockey (i.e. it involves players who are headed somewhere as opposed to this being the end of the line). But that means merging the Blues and the Freeze... I still don't get why the Freeze continue to exist given that they were a last minute addition to balance the divisions in expectation of a pandemic season with only intra-division play and they have been a sad sack team right from day one. (I assume the only reason they exist is as a pure pay to play venture that turns a profit?) The Selkirk Steelers are a bit tricky, they have pretty solid potential as an organization... strong community roots, a good arena, close to Winnipeg, but they've been in a down cycle. I don't think it's terminal, though.
So you take Virden, Dauphin, Steinbach, Winkler, Portage, Niverville and the Winnipeg Blues and that's a pretty good Manitoba division of a prairie super junior A league.
It's always funny though how the big city Junior A teams struggle, while in smaller markets they seem to thrive. Heck I also used to live in St Paul, AB and the Junior B Canadiens were the talk of the town despite Junior B hockey being nothing special.
The only "big city" junior A teams in Manitoba are the Winnipeg Blues and Freeze. The Freeze are new and as noted above, have accomplished virtually nothing in their history, but the Blues have a long heritage that goes back nearly a century (they have Memorial Cup wins in their lineage) and they were a very competitive team up until a few years ago. The past few years have been rough for them, though.
Both teams get very little fan/corporate support, though. I have been to a few Blues and Freeze home games in the past few years and honestly the vibe has diminished to basically that of a beer league game. When the Blues played at The Rink (before the fallout between 50 Below which owned the WHL ICE and The Rink) the presentation was OK, facilities were decent, etc.. but now they play in a tiny rink at the Jets training facility and there is nothing. It's always fewer than 100 fans in the crowd - my kid has more people in the stands for his games. There is really no Blues/Freeze fanbase at all, there are none of those typical junior A fan characters in the crowd (the crusty old guys, the confirmed bachelor hockey nuts, the elderly ladies, the young kids). The only people in the stands are parents/girlfriends and "hockey people" somehow involved in the league or scouts or whatever. No sponsor messages, no ads or promotions, just garbled announcements and terrible 70s/80s music on the speakers. Both the Blues and Freeze stink despite being in a city with a large hockey talent pool. It's a pretty grim situation. I have a hard time imagining a worse setup in terms of Canadian junior A hockey.
Merging the Blues and Freeze and trying to sell the sizzle of a new, more meaningful junior hockey league could provide a fresh start, though. As a regular fan I'd certainly pay more attention if that was the case.
They claim to be in good standing... They are though. They've honoured every aspect of their commitment and responsibilities for this year. They have breached no hockey Canada or AJHL rule or regulation.
They say they aren't joining another league... Read it again, they said this year. They are committed to the AJHL this year, they aren't leaving it this year.
The public is disappointed... What circles do you follow, most people I know who follow the AJHL are absolutely bummed right now that the season was cancelled.
You have to feel for the small handful of unlucky AJHL players whose junior careers were disrupted at the front end by the pandemic, and at the back end by this.
