It would be fair to say that junior hockey in Alberta has been on a wild ride this year.
Rich with significance, back door deals, and landscape changing moments, 2024 started with a bang when the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) was bamboozled in January after five of its teams planned a secret exit strategy, which eventually got leaked, that they would be defecting to a rival league. The teams have since left.
Then, earlier this month, a monumental vote granted Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players NCAA Division I men’s hockey eligibility, starting next year.
The CHL consists of the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, but until recently, its players were banned from the NCAA for being considered “professional” because of a monthly compensation they receive – a $600 stipend.
Who can argue with that? Well, as it turns out, some people did successfully after bringing forward a lawsuit this past summer against the NCAA, alleging that they had violated federal antitrust laws. In other words, the accusers were attempting to break up a monopoly.
A few months later and boom, CHL players are now eligible for NCAA.
A general consensus among hockey experts is that this is a good thing for the players and the flexibility it now provides them. No longer does a highly touted 14-year-old prospect have to make a crucial decision on a future in the NCAA or not.
But where does it leave the Canadian Junior A Hockey League (CJHL), which overlooks the AJHL? As of right now, that’s kind of the question.
The CJHL and British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) had benefited from the rule, as players with aspirations to play hockey and study at a U.S. university elected to stay in the lower tier to hang on to their NCAA eligibility. It was the competitive advantage that the CJHL and BCHL firmly held in their back pockets.
But now, with the NCAA wide open, the three CHL leagues are the clearcut landing pads for elite player development in North America. With the player pool being much bigger for the NCAA to lure from, it will leave some current junior A players re-evaluating options.
Despite the trickle down effect, CJHL president Andy Harkness, while speaking to the Outlook, didn’t seem too phased by it. In fact, he said it was great news that they can work with the CHL moving forward, as opposed to being viewed as competitors, and that clarity on the junior hockey pyramid is finally set.
How a CJHL/CHL relationship will work is still unclear, but it is very clearly established that junior A leagues are at a lower level than major junior leagues, which also provides an opportunity: a farm system, like how the American Hockey League is to the National Hockey League.
As an example, explained in the most topical fashion, if the Prince Albert Raiders are plucking a goalie away from the Canmore Eagles, then the odd-man-out goalie on the WHL team should be coming back to the AJHL team, per a hypothetical talent exchange agreement.
Talking numbers, it is a small percentage of players who would even be called up, so it couldn’t potentially work should the ego of the demoted player not be too bruised about the situation and try to work his way back up to the higher level, and the junior A team, at the very least, gets a warm body back to fill a roster spot rather than a headache.
It's a process players, leagues and organizations are adapting to in real-time. It's unlikely all the answers will be set in stone until months down the line, as hockey organizations are still in talks. But as it said, when one door closes, another opens.
