5 Alberta junior hockey teams joining BCHL in 2024-25, league announces

The British Columbia Hockey League will be adding five Alberta-based teams for its 2024-25 season.

The league, which broke away from BC Hockey and Hockey Canada last year, announced Saturday that it has come to terms with the Blackfalds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints, all of which currently play in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

As of Saturday, the Bandits, Crusaders, Oilers and Bulldogs were the top four teams in the AJHL standings, in that order.

"Further information, such as league structure, will be announced in the coming weeks," the BCHL said in its statement, adding that it would not be making any further comments on the situation "until more information is available."

Currently, the BCHL consists of 17 teams separated into Interior and Coastal divisions.

All of the league's franchises began operating outside Hockey Canada's system on June 1, 2023.

At the time, the BCHL said the move would allow its teams to recruit 16- and 17-year-olds from other provinces, which is currently against Hockey Canada regulations.

The league said that would allow players without a competitive junior A option in their own provinces to remain in Canada while maintaining their NCAA availability.

Hockey Canada rules state that players looking to play junior A hockey must do so in their own province.

That rule does not apply to the major junior teams under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella, but CHL players are ineligible from participating in NCAA hockey. The NCAA considers the CHL to be a professional league because it includes players that have signed NHL contracts.

With files from The Canadian Press