Five AJHL teams to join BCHL?

[KaraLupin]

Evidence suggests otherwise.

The Bandits let slip that is wasn't supposed to be announced until 1 May that the rebel teams f***ed up.

The AJHL is justified in feeling the teams are acting in bad faith as this is a textbook example.

You should be asking who in the BCHL PR staff was getting their rocks off.

Where do you see about the May 1st date?

It is very likely that they actually just finishing agreeing to terms and announced it right after, versus it was already all set and they randomly decided to do the press release for no reason. They have been ironing this deal out for a long time.

 

[FrozenPonds]

"The Alberta 5" haven't jumped ship! They are all committed to playing out the season with the AJHL. It was the AJHL for whatever reason who decided to cancel the games of members in good standing.

No different than Washington, Southern Cal, UCLA and Oregon leaving the PAC12 for the Big10. Those teams let it be known last season that they were moving effective next year. Their games were not cancelled and they represented their respective conferences in their Bowl Games.

You really need to understand the organization we have in Canada the governs the sport. They are a vindictive and spiteful organization who believe that they have the master plan and it is the right plan..NO EXCEPTIONS!

The type of action by the AJHL would not be tolerated south of the border. The 5 teams have done absolutely nothing wrong. This move was effective for next season...not immediately! So the talk about jumping mid-season isn't accurate at all!

Either Hockey Canada has been caught off guard or their blind arrogance is worse than I previously interpreted....and I knew about a few teams last year! I actually had a call with a contact out there who was wondering why they were not included..patience my friend, patience!!

 

[Sra1974]

"The Alberta 5" haven't jumped ship! They are all committed to playing out the season with the AJHL. It was the AJHL for whatever reason who decided to cancel the games of members in good standing.

No different than Washington, Southern Cal, UCLA and Oregon leaving the PAC12 for the Big10. Those teams let it be known last season that they were moving effective next year. Their games were not cancelled and they represented their respective conferences in their Bowl Games.

You really need to understand the organization we have in Canada the governs the sport. They are a vindictive and spiteful organization who believe that they have the master plan and it is the right plan..NO EXCEPTIONS!

The type of action by the AJHL would not be tolerated south of the border. The 5 teams have done absolutely nothing wrong. This move was effective for next season...not immediately! So the talk about jumping mid-season isn't accurate at all!

Either Hockey Canada has been caught off guard or their blind arrogance is worse than I previously interpreted....and I knew about a few teams last year! I actually had a call with a contact out there who was wondering why they were not included..patience my friend, patience!!

Word I’m hearing is that the other 11 teams are refusing to play them. Doesn’t make it right but the backlash may be from their peers.

 

[Al Camino]

And there’s the official word.

BCHL agrees to terms with five Alberta-based teams

bchl.ca

Scuttlebutt is that a few of the current BCHL teams will go back to sanctioned BC Junior A.

Makes sense. Seems like it's going to be expensive to own a team in that league. If they are recruiting out of province 16 and 17 year olds and the travel

 

[BarDownBobo]

 

[Sleestak Nation]

Where do you see about the May 1st date?

It is very likely that they actually just finishing agreeing to terms and announced it right after, versus it was already all set and they randomly decided to do the press release for no reason. They have been ironing this deal out for a long time.

Brooks Bulletin - Bandits, four other teams leaving AJHL

 

[FrozenPonds]

Word I’m hearing is that the other 11 teams are refusing to play them. Doesn’t make it right but the backlash may be from their peers.

Whether or not that is the case is irrelevant. Those teams are governed by a league and need to abide by the Constitution. I believe that there are Hockey Canada penalties for teams who refuse to play. Now, it has been done in the past because of "safety issues" as one team was really physical, but again..out of spite?

I am curious to see how this all plays out.

There is word that a league in Ontario is announcing that they are leaving the OHF/HC next year and that announcement could be as early as this evening!

 

[Sra1974]

Whether or not that is the case is irrelevant. Those teams are governed by a league and need to abide by the Constitution. I believe that there are Hockey Canada penalties for teams who refuse to play. Now, it has been done in the past because of "safety issues" as one team was really physical, but again..out of spite?

I am curious to see how this all plays out.

There is word that a league in Ontario is announcing that they are leaving the OHF/HC next year and that announcement could be as early as this evening!

The relevancy is your post was pretty clear the AJHL is canceling gAmes. I was just providing additional info that it doesn’t sound like the league is acting unilaterally here and the rest of the teams are pushing back.

I don’t disagree that it appears out of spite but I guess there could be some other concerns at hand such as with them leaving the hockey Canada envelope things like sanctions and suspensions don’t mean much to the players and coaches. Thus as the season wears on this could feel like a risk. Seems like a long shot but I’m just throwing a scenario out there.

At the end of the day nobody comes off looking particularly good here.

 

[hockeykid87]

I feel like I'm on an island in placing the blame solely on the five teams leaving and not the AJHL.

These teams tried to keep this under wraps, only to yank the rug out from underneath the AJHL after the season was over. Brooks wanted to win the league, win the Centennial Cup, and THEN bolt for "greener pastures."

How can you possibly blame the AJHL for not being ok with that? This is a perfect example of 'you can't have your cake and eat it too.'

Now with this whole CHL/NCAA stuff that's floating around? These teams may have just exponentially increased their travel costs for no reason. Excuse me while I look for my tiny violin.

 

[wetcoast]

It's funny I just looked up some stats and each players individual stats come up on the hockey db site but when you click on the team site for the AJHL it comes up blank, I wonder why...?

Nathan Free Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Nathan Free, a hockey player from Calgary, ALTA born Jun 23 2006 who was active from 2022 to 2024.

www.hockeydb.com

​

 

[Whispering]

Makes sense. Seems like it's going to be expensive to own a team in that league. If they are recruiting out of province 16 and 17 year olds and the travel

Only 1 team left the BCHL indicating they couldn't financially operate within the league rules effective in the 2024-2025 season that does not allow charging any player fees or billet charges.

 

[Whispering]

Just recently the VIJHL Junior A league on Vancouver Island announced they were leaving HC to operate as an independent league. They also indicated they have an agreement with the BCHL that they would allow affiliate players to BCHL teams.

 

[BE Friend]

Only 1 team left the BCHL indicating they couldn't financially operate within the league rules effective in the 2024-2025 season that does not allow charging any player fees or billet charges.

link to report on this?

 

[jetsmooseice]

"it's just a rumour" but Rod Pedersen (who has some connections in the junior hockey world) is reporting rumblings of more possible defections from the Hockey Canada umbrella...

10 Weekend Things - The Rod Pedersen Show

Truth & Rumours … 1 - BIG BEN: To be honest, it’s been a crappy week. The family of former CFL lineman Ben Fairbrother announced on social media this weekend that the 51-year old has been killed in a tragic accident in Edmonton. The news hit very hard. Ben listed Calgary as his hometown, played

rodpedersen.com

But wait, there’s more. Those leagues aren’t taking this news lying down and just before leaving Canada this summer, I learned of even more Junior A teams across the prairies who are planning a defection from the CJHL and Hockey Canada (a la the BCHL and five former AJHL teams).

I’d report more, but it’s super hush-hush. In America, NCAA football programs bouncing conferences is well-reported but like anything hockey-related in Canada, this is all Top Secret.

Does the Prairie Super League still have legs?

 

[oldunclehue]

"it's just a rumour" but Rod Pedersen (who has some connections in the junior hockey world) is reporting rumblings of more possible defections from the Hockey Canada umbrella...

10 Weekend Things - The Rod Pedersen Show

Truth & Rumours … 1 - BIG BEN: To be honest, it’s been a crappy week. The family of former CFL lineman Ben Fairbrother announced on social media this weekend that the 51-year old has been killed in a tragic accident in Edmonton. The news hit very hard. Ben listed Calgary as his hometown, played

rodpedersen.com

Does the Prairie Super League still have legs?

I think this is the only way to try and save this level of hockey in the prairies, having a super league with a combination of all three leagues, take the strongest organizations from each and make a regional league. Only issue will end up being is money. Most Junior A clubs are just fighting to get by right now, so add in potential of more long road trips, hotel stays (MJHL created schedule to avoid many over night trips). Food and such, costs will go up significantly but the product will end up being diminished due to top end players all going the CHL route. This is a wild time for hockey in the west.....I'll get my popcorn.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I think this is the only way to try and save this level of hockey in the prairies, having a super league with a combination of all three leagues, take the strongest organizations from each and make a regional league. Only issue will end up being is money. Most Junior A clubs are just fighting to get by right now, so add in potential of more long road trips, hotel stays (MJHL created schedule to avoid many over night trips). Food and such, costs will go up significantly but the product will end up being diminished due to top end players all going the CHL route. This is a wild time for hockey in the west.....I'll get my popcorn.

I think you can probably minimize travel costs by focusing on divisional play... basically two conferences, one in AB/western SK, one in MB and eastern SK. The longest bus ride in that scenario, from Steinbach to Nipawin (I assume La Ronge wouldn't be in this setup) is only a couple hours longer than a bus ride from Steinbach to The Pas, for instance. But yeah, there probably would be a lot more hotel nights. And would there be any increased revenue to offset that? Hard to say.

 

[oldunclehue]

I think you can probably minimize travel costs by focusing on divisional play... basically two conferences, one in AB/western SK, one in MB and eastern SK. The longest bus ride in that scenario, from Steinbach to Nipawin (I assume La Ronge wouldn't be in this setup) is only a couple hours longer than a bus ride from Steinbach to The Pas, for instance. But yeah, there probably would be a lot more hotel nights. And would there be any increased revenue to offset that? Hard to say.

Finding the offset revenue would be needed, the MJHL has been forced to do pay to play for every team now I believe, so most organizations could try and tap into that more, I believe most teams charge played around $2000 and the organizations are still losing money most years. Id love to see those divisional type sets ups for a league and I think reducing the number of teams would make the quality of the hockey better as well. It will be interesting to see, but also remove opportunity for Canadian kids to play high level hockey which Hockey Canada seems to be asleep at the wheel for.