Five Alberta-Based Jr. A Hockey Teams Join Independent BCHL Immediately

Five Jr. A teams in the Alberta Junior Hockey League joined the independent British Columbia League immediately instead of next season as previously announced.

What had already been a contentious situation boiled over Thursday with the announcement that five teams from the Alberta Junior Hockey League joined the BC Hockey League effective immediately. 

The five Alberta-based Jr. A teams – the Blackfald Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints – are now members of the BCHL, departing the AJHL right away and playing only each other for the remainder of the regular season and crowning an Alberta champion. After the BCHL playoffs, the best Alberta team will square off against the BCHL post-season champion.

This move follows the BCHL's announcement on Jan. 20 that the five teams would be relocating to the independent league beginning next season. The BCHL voted to leave Hockey Canada as of June 1, 2023, for reasons including being able to recruit players whose province of residence is outside British Columbia. And BCHL executives couldn’t be happier that more teams are buying into the league’s new business model.

“We are pleased to officially welcome these five franchises into the fold as members of our league,” BCHL CEO Chris Hebb said in a news release. “All five are strong organizations from great communities, and we look forward to the immediate boost they will give our league.”

The formerly 16-team AJHL shrinks to 11 teams, and the BCHL now grows from 17 teams to 22. 

In response to the BCHL's initial announcement, the AJHL cancelled upcoming games between the five defecting clubs and the 11 teams who remain in the Alberta league, which is part of the Hockey Canada-sanctioned CJHL. 

On Jan. 26, the five teams released a joint statement saying they had full intention of fulfilling their commitments to the AJHL, CJHL, Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada for the rest of the 2023-24 regular season and playoffs. They also said they did not enter any agreement to leave any of those organizations at the time, despite the BCHL saying they came to terms to eventually do so in its Jan. 20 announcement. The AJHL then called on the BCHL and the clubs to clarify their plans and kept its scheduling decision in place. 

In essence, this move is a reaction to the fallout from the initial announcement about the five teams, and it’s the BCHL brain trust doubling down on its intent to make hay in the junior hockey scene. Time will tell if they can sustain that many franchises over the long run, but for now, the AJHL’s loss is the BCHL’s gain, and the battle for hockey business at the junior level is only heating up.