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Post by mlh01 on Apr 20, 2018 16:36:30 GMT -5
Time for the annual thread. As there is not a ton of Senior A hockey press releases, sometimes the best way to find out what's happening is online. Relocations of teams, who is declaring for AAA status, which leagues besides Alberta and Ontario will play, etc.
Would love to hear from everyone over the summer what they're hearing. Would love for more executives to let us fans know what is happening. The more we know the more interest there is for Senior AAA hockey
Just a few that I know are "in the know" I'll list from each province and many questions everyone is curious about:
Ontario - will Thorold be back? Who will bid for 2020 Allan Cup? Brantford - naitch Andrew, sniper and cowbellgirl (where did she disappear to?) Stoney Creek - chosa Dundas - Don Whitby - ?? No one comes on too often Hamilton - same
Newfoundland - catsfan, lionsden, dexterbags- wow what a mess out there. I follow your leagues but they seem to change monthly ( not kidding). Hope to see a team back in the Allan Cup chase soon
Ontario North - AFAN (in caps of course haha) - Will we see Kenora or Thunder Bay any time soon?
Manitoba - deebeegee, mb101, jingjang - Southeast is likely the strongest team consistently in the country that doesn't play in a league. Any updates on MB hockey would be appreciated.
Saskatchewan - highway hockey, ianmac - Will Sask startup a AAA League after holding the Cup there?
Alberta - Wade, lokol- will you have more than 4 teams next year other than Rosetown?
BC- miffer31 - BC is very quiet lately. The Vancouver area was rumoured to be starting up a team (Vancouver Heat) but nothing materialized. Need Senior back in BC!!
New Brunswick - NESHL fan - how many teams will make it back. I believe you were down to 2 teams at the end of year
PEI / Nova Scotia - any chance we'll see AAA hockey again?
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Post by Doug Mathieson on Apr 20, 2018 16:44:37 GMT -5
BC team was actually the West Coast Heat out of Burnaby They did not compete the two years ago as the AA playoffs were scheduled same week as Allan Cup but it appears they are done for good now
Cowbell girl has changed her name to enogca
I am expecting all the ACH Ontario teams to bid for the Cup for 2020
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Post by southoftheborder on Apr 21, 2018 5:02:11 GMT -5
There is a senior chat board for BC. It is www.network54.com/Forum/597341 The site has not had a posting since October 2017. Getting information on anything besides the Central Interior and North Peace Leagues can be a little difficult. The Saskatchewan chat board is gone as the person that ran it was unable to keep it running, he was looking to sell it a year or so ago. He either moved to another province or had other commitments and the host for the board suspended the site for non-payment. I am following what is going on in Newfoundland and they are making it sound like there may be a reorganization of the leagues in the east as hockey politics was the main story this past season. Grand Falls-Windsor won the Herder and would appear to be the provincial rep if there will be any teams coming out of the province for Allan Cup qualifying in 2019. They may be out of the running for another year as HNL will be trying to fix the mess with senior hockey that sprouted up in the last year. In looking through New Brunswick I remember some mention of possibly one or two new teams but it looks like the Elsipogtog Hawks will be the provincial rep in Allan Cup qualifying as they had the NESHL champ be the following year's Allan Cup Rep. Nova Scotia has been having issues with rinks closing due to age and upkeep. Some new rinks have opened but a four sheet rink in Dartmouth replaced several other rinks that closed around the Halifax Region Municipality. Nice for youth leagues but not practical for junior and senior teams playing in province wide league that would likely have a couple of teams from Halifax. Lower level junior teams have been popping up for a season or two and then moving to another rink in a nearby town or just folding. League websites have been advertising existing teams being for sale with no takers. Saint Mary's and Dalhousie had been working on a new rink for the two programs to share in the city area of town. I think PEI would be unlikely as the Montague Stallions went from winning the NESHL championship to folding. A league within the province might be possible but with the population base they would be drawing from a Allan Cup contender would be unlikely. Nova Scotia has won the Allan Cup twice and they were host both times with the Allan Cup 1935 (Halifax) and 1998 (Truro). The 1935 tournament was played from west to east across Canada with the final destination being Halifax. Smaller population bases have traditionally killed the Maritime teams in Memorial and Allan Cup play downs under the old formats and usually in the first round of the Eastern Canada playoffs.
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Post by Scooter on Apr 21, 2018 13:03:55 GMT -5
Not too sure what will happen in New Brunswick. The NESHL is basically done.
There were talks of the league going up to four teams, but Bouctouche joined a Senior A league instead while I don't know what the Hawks plan on doing. You may see them put together a team to play in the Atlantic playdowns and that may be it.
Most teams now in New Brunswick would rather play Senior A and not have to travel as much, paying players was becoming a big issue and led to the demise of the NESHL, amongst other reasons. It's a shame because there is enough talent in the province to compete at the Allan Cup, but most players are dispersed across the province.
I haven't heard any rumours of teams from Nova Scotia or P.E.I. icing senior AAA teams or creating their own AAA leagues. The last time Nova Scotia iced a AAA team was in 2007 when the Halifax Molson Canadians went to the Allan Cup in Stony Plain. They registered as AAA the following season but dropped out.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Grand Falls Windsor I can see registering as AAA, same for the Clarenville Caribous.
In Ontario, I followed the Whitby Dunlops a towards the end of the season as they were one of the only teams in the league to stream their games. They seem to struggle financially because of low attendance numbers. There's an article about this online, I will find it and post it later.
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Post by catsfan200 on Apr 21, 2018 13:40:49 GMT -5
There is a senior chat board for BC. It is www.network54.com/Forum/597341 The site has not had a posting since October 2017. Getting information on anything besides the Central Interior and North Peace Leagues can be a little difficult. The Saskatchewan chat board is gone as the person that ran it was unable to keep it running, he was looking to sell it a year or so ago. He either moved to another province or had other commitments and the host for the board suspended the site for non-payment. I am following what is going on in Newfoundland and they are making it sound like there may be a reorganization of the leagues in the east as hockey politics was the main story this past season. Grand Falls-Windsor won the Herder and would appear to be the provincial rep if there will be any teams coming out of the province for Allan Cup qualifying in 2019. They may be out of the running for another year as HNL will be trying to fix the mess with senior hockey that sprouted up in the last year. In looking through New Brunswick I remember some mention of possibly one or two new teams but it looks like the Elsipogtog Hawks will be the provincial rep in Allan Cup qualifying as they had the NESHL champ be the following year's Allan Cup Rep. Nova Scotia has been having issues with rinks closing due to age and upkeep. Some new rinks have opened but a four sheet rink in Dartmouth replaced several other rinks that closed around the Halifax Region Municipality. Nice for youth leagues but not practical for junior and senior teams playing in province wide league that would likely have a couple of teams from Halifax. Lower level junior teams have been popping up for a season or two and then moving to another rink in a nearby town or just folding. League websites have been advertising existing teams being for sale with no takers. Saint Mary's and Dalhousie had been working on a new rink for the two programs to share in the city area of town. I think PEI would be unlikely as the Montague Stallions went from winning the NESHL championship to folding. A league within the province might be possible but with the population base they would be drawing from a Allan Cup contender would be unlikely. Nova Scotia has won the Allan Cup twice and they were host both times with the Allan Cup 1935 (Halifax) and 1998 (Truro). The 1935 tournament was played from west to east across Canada with the final destination being Halifax. Smaller population bases have traditionally killed the Maritime teams in Memorial and Allan Cup play downs under the old formats and usually in the first round of the Eastern Canada playoffs. Your right about everything being a mess in Newfoundland but Clarenville won this year not GFW
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Post by southoftheborder on Apr 21, 2018 18:08:46 GMT -5
Thanks, that's what lack of sleep does to you
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Post by Scooter on Apr 23, 2018 7:56:26 GMT -5
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Post by naitch on Apr 23, 2018 8:53:38 GMT -5
Thanks for posting Scooter. I really hope the Dunlops figure something out. Class organization inside and out. It would be Canada's AAA hockey loss to see them pack it in. Owners are just as passionate about the game as the players in some instances...
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Post by IceMan_M on Apr 25, 2018 11:19:51 GMT -5
Senior AA Thoughts:
News from Alberta, not Senior AAA, but the North Central league out of Edmonton and surrounding is adding another team to the mix out of Sylvan Lake, who used to play in the Chinook under the Admirals crest will now compete as the Pirates. Also, it appears the Rocky Rams will rejoin the NCHL. 2019 Senior AA provincials will be on the reserve in Kainai, hosted by the Braves. This year's provincials in Bonnyville was live streamed and I caught some of the games and it was good puck.
Senior AAA Thoughts:
It would be great to see a team closer to Calgary/south to put a team in the ACHW. Okotoks failed because of management/ownership. Heard many horror stories, but there's some talent in the south that would be able to throw a squad together to compete I'd hazard a guess. The only problem I see is that it could pull from teams like Innisfail, who draw heavily on the Calgary crowd. I can't see an impact on the Generals, just because of the reputation and loyalty to the Gens, so I wouldn't suspect to see any major losses there.
Wade - thoughts?
More to follow as stories develop... jeez, I sound like a reporter. Yuck
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Post by mlh01 on Apr 25, 2018 15:35:38 GMT -5
Ontario - there will be a news conference to announce that the Ancaster Avalanche (Tier 2 Jr A / Jr B) will be moving into the same arena that the Senior A Hamilton Steelhawks play in - Dave Andreychuk Arena on Hamilton mountain.
The team will resurrect the old Hamilton Kilty B's name.
Word is they will play Monday nights. Not sure if this will help or hinder the Senior AAA team? Hopefully the owners can work together.
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Post by naitch on Apr 26, 2018 7:37:55 GMT -5
Ontario - there will be a news conference to announce that the Ancaster Avalanche (Tier 2 Jr A / Jr B) will be moving into the same arena that the Senior A Hamilton Steelhawks play in - Dave Andreychuk Arena on Hamilton mountain. The team will resurrect the old Hamilton Kilty B's name. Word is they will play Monday nights. Not sure if this will help or hinder the Senior AAA team? Hopefully the owners can work together. The Steelhawks should be fine. Look for an ex-player to be named the new coach potentially...Gary Clarke.
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Post by jimc on Apr 26, 2018 9:42:29 GMT -5
Sounds like Whitby are on shaky financial footing. That's unfortunate news, but the league would survive just fine, especially if they bring back Thorold, as travel now becomes very player-friendly, with all teams located within an hour of each other.
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Post by wade on Apr 26, 2018 10:06:20 GMT -5
I don’t think your gonna see any new Alberta teams coming on board this year.
Unless the rule has changed, in Alberta, you have to have played at The ‘A’ level for a full season before being eligible to post ‘AAA’ bond and there aren’t any current ‘A’ teams wanting to make the jump. Honestly, the Hockey Alberta ‘AA’ tournament is the second biggest/best SENIOR tournament in Canada and you can make the argument it’s more SENSIBLE than Allan Cup (some years).
The ACHW is in a tough spot. They’ve got a gigantic sledge hammer waiting by the entrance and to nobodies surprise...not really much interest around the Province from anyone wanting to donate the next bag of nails.
IMO..it’s gonna take Stonyburgh or Innisfail to move the needle. Someone has gotta find a way to knock off The Army.
And so far...every little inch they try to gain...triggers The Army to March another step faster.
There isn’t anyone in all of Canada who can consistently beat The Army. And it’s kinda fun to sit & gloat, as a fan of THIS team...but..kinda discouraging for others, too.
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Post by southoftheborder on Apr 27, 2018 4:08:04 GMT -5
In Alberta does a team have to play in the ACHW if they declare Senior AAA? Or would they be able to stay in the league or be force to play an independent schedule? Wainwright, Nanton and Daysland have played in the provincial Senior A tournament all of the last three years, just throwing out team from the tournaments.
And if I am thinking of it correctly, if any of the teams declared Senior AAA to qualify for the 2019 Allan Cup they would have to play the 2018-19 ACHW playoff champion (or runner up if Lacombe or Rosetown wins the playoffs) for the host branch spot (assuming Quebec is not participating again plus the Atlantic region is not looking like a 100% guarantee on participating right now).
Then if BC does not put any teams forward again Alberta could have 3 participants in the Allan Cup tournament, correct?
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Post by southoftheborder on Apr 27, 2018 4:21:58 GMT -5
Likely 2019 Allan Cup qualifying spots Host: Lacombe Atlantic: Clarenville vs Elsipogtog Hawks (assuming both teams are participating, Newfoundland is working on reorganization between 2017-18 and 2018-19 after some issues within its ranks and the NESHL keeps popping up as being ready to be brought to the morgue. Quebec: none, goes to host branch (ACHW playoff champion or finalist if Lacombe reaches final) Central: ACH playoff champion West: IDC vs SEPT for Manitoba and winner plays Rosetown for spot Pacific: Kelowna Sparta (have heard it is doubtful, since they didn't win Coy Cup this year). Terrace River Kings as a possibility with a free spot and playing in the next province and they have played in Coy Cup every year since 2013 (granted some as at-large bids and as host).
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