The Alberta Junior Hockey League announced today the schedule for the 2011 Exhibition Season and 2011-2012 Regular Season. The AJHL Regular Season will open on Friday, September 9th, 2011 following a 50-game Exhibition Schedule. Opening Weekend will include ten regular season games across the province.
The 2011-2012 AJHL Regular Season will consist of 16 teams playing an unbalanced schedule of 60 games apiece, including two regular season games at the annual AJHL Showcase. The AJHL Regular Season, consisting of 480 games, will conclude on Sunday, February 19th, 2012.
The Fort McMurray Oil Barons will have a jumpstart on the season as they represent Canada at the inaugural World Junior Club Cup from August 30th to September 4th, 2011 in Omsk, Russia. Eight clubs from Canada, the USA, Russia, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Czech Republic, all champions of national junior championships under 21, will take part in the IIHF World Cup.
The Drayton Valley Thunder, Spruce Grove Saints, Sherwood Park Crusaders, and St. Albert Steel will compete against one another in a pre-season tournament from August 26th – 28th. The Saints and Steel will also host a pre-season game in Whitecourt, AB. The Bonnyville Pontiacs and Okotoks Oilers will rival teams in the ACAC during the 2011 Exhibition Season. The Brooks Bandits, Lloydminster Bobcats and Drumheller Dragons will battle in pre-season games against teams from the BCHL and SJHL. The Grande Prairie Storm will also participate in a pre-season match-up versus Dawson Creek of the NAHL.
The 5th Annual Crescent Point Energy Corp and Legacy Oil & Gas AJHL Showcase will be held at the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove, Alberta from September 29th – October 1st, 2011. The complete game schedule is available on the AJHL website www.ajhl.ca.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League will hold three regular season games in the communities of Stony Plain, AB and Hanna, AB. The Spruce Grove Saints will host the Drumheller Dragons and Drayton Valley Thunder in Stony Plain on October 21st and February 3rd respectively. Drumheller will host the Olds Grizzlys in Hanna on October 25th.
For the first time-ever, the CJHL Prospects Event will be held in conjunction with the World Junior A Challenge. The newly-combined event will be a unique opportunity for CJHL stars to showcase their talent on an international stage and simultaneously provide CJHL prospects an unprecedented audience of scouts from across North America. The AJHL players selected to compete in these events will travel to Langley, BC, the host community of the 2011 World Junior A Challenge and Prospects Game, from November 7-13th, 2011.
The AJHL will break for the Holiday Season from December 23rd – December 29th, 2011. AJHL regular season action will continue on December 30th, 2011 when the Grande Prairie Storm host the Lloydminster Bobcats.
The CJHL trade deadline is January 10th, 2012 as per Hockey Canada Regulations.
The 2012 AJHL Semi-Annual Meeting will take place in Red Deer, Alberta on January 14th, 2012.
The battle for the 2011 AJHL Enerflex Cup will begin February 23rd, 2012. Each division will playoff to determine a divisional champion at the conclusion of Round Three. The North Division Champion and the South Division Champion will then compete in the League Final for the AJHL Enerflex Cup.
The 2012 Doyle Cup will begin on Friday, April 13th, 2012 and will commence in Alberta. The 2012 RBC Cup National Junior A Championship will be held from May 5th – 13th, 2012 in Humboldt, SK.
The complete 2011-2012 League Schedule is available on the AJHL Website www.AJHL.ca.