The Alberta Junior Hockey League Board of Governors held its Semi-Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 25th in Red Deer, AB. All 16 member teams were represented at the one-day meeting, which included a decision to readjust the schedule format for the next three seasons.
The AJHL will continue with its existing divisional schedule in 2018-2019 and for the next three seasons through to the 2020-2021 season. Each team will play the opponents within its division six times (3 home, 3 away) and against teams in the opposite division two times (1 home, 1 away) along with two games at the annual AJHL Showcase, for a total of 60 games. The format for the AJHL Playoffs in the 2018-2019 season will be determined at the Annual General Meeting of the AJHL Board of Governors in May 2018.
The 2018 AJHL Showcase will remain as a three-day event in the 2018-2019 season. The location for the 12th Annual AJHL Showcase will be determined early in 2018 with several AJHL communities expressing interest in hosting the event.
The league has committed additional funds to officiating development throughout the remainder of the season. The league will also continue to utilize a 4-man official system whenever possible.
The AJHL Board of Governors will present a new annual Executive award in the namesake of Ken Bracko. For 32 years, Bracko served as President of the Calgary Canucks up until his passing in 2015. To mark a lifetime of volunteerism and commitment to developing local hockey, the Max Bell 1 Arena was renamed in September to honour Ken Bracko and all the work he did for the sport. The newly created a award will recognize these same qualities and commitment in current members within the AJHL Board of Governors.
The Western Canada Cup format has not been continued by the AJHL and its three Western partners. At the conclusion of the 2018 AJHL Playoffs, the AJHL Champion will advance to a best-of-seven series versus the BCHL Champion for the right to represent the West at the RBC Cup National Championship, similar to the Doyle Cup format that was used from 1962-2012.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League is operating under the direction of Chairman Greg Wood and Commissioner Ryan Bartoshyk. The AJHL Staff consists of Fran Gow (Vice President, Hockey Operations), Charla Flett (Vice-President, Communications), George McCorry (Vice President, Officiating), Dean Laschowski (Video Review Manager), Curtis Nichols (Supervisor of Officials) and Ken Dentzien (Referee Assignor).
The 2018 AJHL Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 26th in Red Deer, Alberta.