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Post by southoftheborder on Dec 19, 2022 4:27:27 GMT -5
Right now there is no administrator on this forum as Doug Mathieson, the founder of this page passed away about 2 years ago. I have been in touch with proboards about the issues we have had with the spammer that keeps hitting the site and lack of an adminstrator. We are free to add topics to the site. I'd be all in for additional topics such as the many Senior AA leagues across Canada. There is also a board dedicated to Senior hockey in Saskatchewan. seniorhockeysask.proboards.com/Newfoundland hockey talk is another site with a dedicated chat forum. www.nlhockeytalk.ca/hockey/An overseer (sp?) is watching the board for the spam post. If you want to report a spam post hit the cog icon in the upper right corner of each post and report it as spam.
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Post by southoftheborder on Dec 6, 2022 6:30:20 GMT -5
I could be wrong but doesn't the provincial/regional champion in the Maritimes usually get the option or an offer to go to the AC? Its good to see interest and lots of strong senior leagues. There has only been 1 Atlantic Cup playoff since 2005 which was in 2016 when Lameque au P'tit Mousse declared Senior AAA and the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts won the previous season Herder and represented the province.
2018 had three teams but two teams withdrew prior to any tournament being scheduled.
Newfoundland usually has the previous season Herder winner represents the province.
New Brunswick would have a team or two declare for Senior AAA depending on where the tournament is being held
Nova Scotia and PEI haven't had a team declare at Senior AAA (and still be playing in by playoff time) in about 15 years.
The only times there was more than two teams in the last dozen or so years was when the Allan Cup was held in Atlantic Canada in 2015 and 2017 and there were short trips to the tournament and guaranteed entry in the Allan Cup tournament itself.
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Post by southoftheborder on Oct 6, 2022 5:01:12 GMT -5
Congratulations are once again in order for Senior hockey’s royal family. The Bentley/Lacombe Generals who, as of today, have been the reigning Allan Cup Champions for 966 days. Although The Army has a seemingly increasingly realistic expectation to be crowned “The Forever Champions” when Allan Cup is respectfully laid to rest…966 days is still about 610 days longer than the previous record. That is all. Sorry to burst your bubble Wade, but; you were a little premature on this one. The Generals did not become the longest reigning champion until March 23, 2022 as the University of Toronto won the championship on March 25 1925 and won the next two tournaments in 1926 and 1927 and they were then defeated in the OHA Senior Final on March 6, 1928 by the Kitchener Greenshirts making them the champions for 1077 days. And the final ended on March 28th making it 1099 days until a different champion was crowned making it April 16, 2022 the Generals became the longest defending champions.
And the Warroad Lakers held it for 1092 days from April 16, 1994 (winning the 1994 final) to April 12, 1997 (losing the 1997 final) and winning the 1995 and 1996 finals as well.
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Post by southoftheborder on Oct 3, 2022 17:50:07 GMT -5
Now hearing ACH Ontario could add 4th team in Brampton. Would be great place to setup as the ECHL Brampton Beast ceased operations last year. Many former Beast players ended up playing Senior AAA after playing for Brampton in previous seasons Hope this rumour comes to fruition wouldn't some of the players go to Allen texas is Ottawa's current farm team in the ECHL The ECHL teams usually have several unaffiliated players signed to contracts with the ECHL team not the NHL team.
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Post by southoftheborder on Sept 13, 2022 17:43:48 GMT -5
I want to say it was Powell River making a run again at BC AAA. Not positive but that rings a bell. Still no team from the Kelowna area either, I’m quite surprised that them and the Van area have never shown interest with their population for players and money in the area. Powell River is the team. I don't think there is any surprise there. I've heard Ft St john may take a swing as well, but that not too sure as they will be in the north peace league. Surprised with Ft. St. John (for this year anyway) as they haven't played at all since early 2019 as they sat out 2019-20 and the NPHL didn't play in either 2020-21 or 2021-22. Kelowna had the Sparta but they withdrew from Allan Cup competition during the 2018-19 season and haven't played since.
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Post by southoftheborder on Sept 13, 2022 6:01:43 GMT -5
Has anyone heard anything from more central regions? Sask and Manitoba? All I have heard so far is the CSHL in Manitoba has expanded for this year and it includes the St Anne Aces among others. Information for most senior leagues start rolling out during the month of September as teams get an idea of how many players they have committed for the season after a number of practice sessions.
It's actually looks like the CSHL might be done as they are down to 2 teams (Grunthal and Steinbach). The SEMHL added Ile-des-Chenes, Red River, and Ste. Anne from the CSHL. Nothing firm from the Tiger Hills or North Central League.
If Steinbach doesn't have a league to play in could the South East Prairie Thunder be back?
Alberta has the Chinook and North Central with posted information for the season. North Peace, Sask/Alta and East Central have not updated yet. North Peace stated it looked like the season would be a go during the summer as they lost last season as well due to restrictions.
BC has the Central Interior league with 8 teams playing this year.
I thought I saw that there might be one or two teams interested in Senior AAA for the year in BC (can't remember the teams but one of them was supposed to be playing Innisfail a few times during the season as a measuring stick to decide whether or not to try).
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Post by southoftheborder on Sept 8, 2022 6:25:47 GMT -5
The mystery “third team” in the Chinook League is not nearly as solid as some might have us believe. They were never even close to securing ice time in Carstairs. They’re now scrambling to borrow ice in Innisfail and whose playing for them?! As of right now…at best…Stony & Innisfail will be going AAA. Three years now past The Army signing off and zero indication of the forecasted “renewed interest in AAA, with the Generals gone”. What we’re actually seeing is more poorly organized, haphazard, hope and prayers and not much else. From what I saw the team was being offered ice time that would have games starting at 11pm or later.
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Post by southoftheborder on Sept 4, 2022 16:18:10 GMT -5
There is an Invermere (3ish hours from Calgary) senior team page on Facebook and has already begun recruiting players and sponsors. So I wouldn’t count them out. Carstairs has done the same online with player announcements, etc. Will be exciting to see CHL back. Invermere looks like a no go as someone involved with the team posted that the CHL was a go but without them about two months ago (July 10th) citing travel distance.
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Post by southoftheborder on Apr 3, 2022 7:31:15 GMT -5
Why would any university teams want to compete for the Allan Cup? Back about a century ago it made sense as there was no national university championship and many teams competed for an won the Allan Cup.
Realisticly, using the same approach as what Canada does at the Junior B level could be an option with the current qualifying regions being the final round of playoffs and eliminating the Allan Cup itself.
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan and to an extent Ontario are the only provinces that have a regularly contested provincial championship.
New Brunswick and Quebec have several leagues in each province and could potentially have a provincial championship.
PEI is just too small for a high enough calibre league to even compete for an Atlantic championship unless a team or two were part of a league in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia has a large enough population and could potentially get a league or two going with the right financial support in place just by virtue of the number of former junior and university teams in the province.
There are 13 provincial level sanctioning bodies (one in each province plus HEO, OHA, NOHA, and HNO in Ontario) across Canada. The potential is there under the right circumstances but with current economic affairs it would very likely take a while to get all levels going.
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Post by southoftheborder on Mar 17, 2022 5:40:41 GMT -5
Thanks to the RHL for giving a clarification on the issue.
Now I have one question, has Hockey Canada issued a list of teams that have declared as Senior AAA (or announced a new deadline to file)?
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Post by southoftheborder on Feb 28, 2022 16:08:23 GMT -5
In regards to Stony Plain, they have folded for the year. Rumour has it if ACHW does come back next year, they will be playing in North Central. However, some AA teams in AB have a strong interest in forming a league of 4-6 teams somewhere in that region; I would figure more likely a four-team league. Stony will only go AAA if Inny goes AAA next year Inny was Senior AAA this year and something got messed up. Somewhere in the communication chain between Hockey Canada, Hockey Alberta, the Ranchland Hockey League, and the team. Hockey Alberta was under the impression that the Allan Cup was cancelled and that Inny was now competing at the AA level. Something was posted on the Ranchland Hockey League website and then later taken down. Now they aren't even listed on the league standings or playoffs despite being prominently mentioned in several other articles on the league website.
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Post by southoftheborder on Feb 28, 2022 16:06:53 GMT -5
I like the idea of east vs. west. A lot of teams have an issue like travel, as mentioned above. Another concept floating around AB is making one massive senior league with north, south, and central division. Each team would play each other once unless in the division, which would be min 4 times. So in AB, you would have the North peace league, ranchland league, north-central league, and sask Alta league form 3 divisions. You would still keep playoffs and provincials while leaving the decision to compete for a national championship up to the individual teams. Coming back to the AC, it's a matter for HC to decide if it wants it. I like the idea of a corporate sponsor that could make such a huge impact and help many teams figure out what they want to do. Alberta already something set up at Senior AA with league champions and a host meeting for the provincial championship.. May be they could do something a little different from what Newfoundland does and have the current year champion be the provincial representative in Allan Cup qualifying.
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Post by southoftheborder on Feb 28, 2022 15:59:59 GMT -5
the RHL is having mega identity issues. There is lots of drama currently witt many teams having issues on how the league was run and is being run etc. since HA listed inny as a AA the assumption by many in league was they would run for AC as in June of 21’ they registered as AAA. HA had other ideas as according to them from Hockey Canada AC would not go ahead, as a result I guess HA took it upon themselves to just register them as AA without informing teams until last minute. I’ve checked bylaws and from my view it looks like inny either got kicked out of league as it looks like the pres and vp are not the same as when league started? Not sure how that works given a leadership change in any league can’t happen until annual AGM meetings in may. My assumption is teams didn’t like getting beat and are just being sore losers?? Anyway looks like a long battle to keep team in league my be underway. Stay tuned looks interesting They had a final game that was scheduled and rescheduled and then cancelled due to zamboni issues at the other team's rink. They are not even listed on the standings.
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Post by southoftheborder on Feb 27, 2022 15:33:43 GMT -5
But they are still listed as a 3 A team and can not compete in the League Playoffs It's funny how that posting on the league website was deleted shortly after it was posted. Some one else posted that Hockey Alberta had indicated that the Allan Cup was cancelled and Innisfail was now Senior AA. (I couldn't find that posting either).
The league was supposed to end on Sunday but the final game was cancelled and they are not being listed in the playoff bracket for the league.
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Post by southoftheborder on Feb 27, 2022 6:22:05 GMT -5
I think any team playing Sr hockey in Canada should be able to play for the Allan Cup. They would have to declare their intentions before the season starts and the roster freezes Feb 1. Pay a fee for them to be entered. Compete against any other team in their region who also applies. Whether it be within their own league, against another league or both. Hockey Canada is doing something wrong when there are hundreds of Sr teams across Canada and only a very small handful want to be associated with them. This is pretty similar to what is actually done already. Teams usually declare by the end of August with Alberta requiring an end of June or July declaration of Senior AAA status. The deadline is hardly a firm one.
Teams come and go based on who is hosting the event where a team has a free or easy ride to a tournament that is nearby. Some lower level senior teams will declare Senior AAA and put together a better roster and take a run a the Cup. Like four New Brunswick teams forming a senior AAA league and declaring in 2017 when it was held in Bouctouche NB. The host team earned a spot and one of the other spots went to the league champion in lieu of an Atlantic playoff with a Newfoundland team and that fact that the Eastern regional spot wasn't used due to the lack of a Quebec qualifier. Similar things were done in 2018 and 2019 with the Bethune Bulldogs getting a free ride to the tournament in Rosetown SK and a team from Kelowna registering (and then withdrawing) for Senior AAA for the tournament held in Lacombe, AB again due to the lack of a Quebec team.
Senior AAA is a costly endeavor, most of the teams playing at the senior AAA level outside of Ontario are teams in towns with much smaller population bases and are usually the only high calibre hockey in the community as opposed to having a Major Junior or Junior A team in the community. The host team of the Allan Cup is usually responsible to cover travel cost (transport and hotel) to the tournament.
One major issue with Allan Cup qualifying and then having the tournament is these aren't high school kids. These are guys will full time jobs and families. Many times they already lose time at work for a road game during the regular season or playing games to become eligible to play in the provincial tournament. (BC requires at least 6 games to be played to qualify for the provincial tournament) Add in having to take vacation time for a provincial or regional tournament and then needing more time off for the Allan Cup.
Look at the former East-West Allan Cup format. Provincial tournament then two or three series against teams from other provinces, usually it would be done to reduce travel along the idea of the present regional qualifying BC vs Alberta and Saskatchewan vs Manitoba with the winners meeting for the Western championship (think a trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg). The Atlantic region would usually have the four provinces playing off among each other. That gets expensive when most teams have to fly to and from Newfoundland. Quebec would have its champion. Ontario would have multiple champions as you had the OHA, Hockey Northwestern Ontario, and the former Ottawa District (now Hockey Eastern Ontario).
Any way an Allan Cup gets done it is expensive. It would be nice if major sponsors helped with the event such as airlines, major hotel chains to help with travel and a sports network broadcast the event. Have them being naming sponsors for the regional tournaments and have those tournaments along the idea of the Royal Bank Cup but have the country broken up into 2 groups and have a round robin with a championship game to determine east and west champions and the two champions meeting in a best-of-three or five series in one location based on the qualifying teams.
The pandemic could potentially be the final nail in the casket or it could be a chance at a new birth for the tournament.
Senior hockey is healthy in some regions of Canada such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. It is getting stronger in Quebec and New Brunswick but still needs to grow. Newfoundland and British Columbia are treading water but have rich traditions in senior hockey. Nova Scotia and PEI are two provinces where there is little to anything beyond beer leagues. Nova Scotia has enough university and junior programs that I have always been surprised that senior hockey is not more prevalent in the province with players graduating and aging out of those levels. The population base in PEI makes a senior AAA team a challenge under the best of circumstances but a NB-NS-PEI regional league could give some of the better players a chance to compete at the Senior AAA level. Newfoundland has enough teams that operate but infighting has been an issue there with the travel cost being prohibitive for participation in a regional league. The fans are there, look at the support the St. John's Maple Leafs and St. John's Ice Caps had and the Newfoundland Growlers get. St. John's is closer to London, England than it is London, Ontario. The ferry to Nova Scotia is an option (but it's 800+km to the ferry from St. John's) and then add travel time to the destination (Mapquest list a trip from St. John's to Halifax as 21+ hours one way).
Hockey Canada has been very hands off on the Allan Cup and it needs to step up to save or sure up a 110+ year old tradition. Funny how it's the oldest national championship under its' jurisdiction but it is the most ignore. (I don't want to get started on that topic as I have several rants on that topic on this board)
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