The Mystery of Junior League Classifications Explained

It can be tough sledding attempting to navigate the murky waters of the various junior hockey leagues throughout North America. I remember when I started to really focus on learning all about juniors, my first thought was that the landscape resembled a jigsaw puzzle with no mention of how many pieces there were to complete it, and no easy means of discovering this information short of hours of muddling through the seemingly endless acronyms and classifications that make it so unique and challenging. Therefore, this is my stab at providing a thorough analysis of this topic to my readers:

(1) The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is a conglomerate of the three major junior leagues across Canada, those being the (a) Western Hockey League (WHL), (b) Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and (c) Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) (there are American-based teams in the CHL). Because the NCAA considers the players competing in the CHL to be professionals, they are ineligible to play American college hockey (they remain eligible to play Canadian college hockey). Oftentimes, the manner in which CHL clubs compete with American college hockey teams for players is to offer the player an education package. In this package the CHL club offers to pay for some or all of a player’s schooling, in essence taking the place of a college scholarship.

(2) Setting aside the CHL, competing in every other junior hockey league in North America maintains a player’s college eligibility. This includes the following leagues:

(a) Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which, like its counterpart the CHL, is a conglomerate. The CJHL consists of ten junior A hockey leagues across Canada, being the (i) British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), (ii) Ontario Junior Hockey League, (iii) Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL), (iv) Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), (v) Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), (vi) Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), (vii) Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), (viii) Maritime Hockey League (MHL), (ix) Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League (QJAAAHL), and (x) Superior International Hockey League (SIJHL).

(b) All twenty-five junior B leagues across Canada (labeling these leagues junior B, as opposed to junior A, indicates an inferior talent level when compared to Canada’s junior A leagues; this is not necessarily true, but that’s a separate discussion). In Quebec, these leagues are classified as AA leagues.

(c) Junior C (junior A in Quebec) generally consists of local competitions, but is considered competitive hockey. Ontario Junior C hockey has seven different regional leagues. In Quebec and West of Manitoba, Junior C hockey tends to be an extension of the local minor hockey system and is sometimes called Juvenile or House League. In Ontario, Manitoba, and the Maritime provinces, Junior C is run independently of minor hockey systems, albeit with the same stated recreational purpose.

(d) United States Hockey League (USHL), which is classified as Tier I Junior A hockey in the United States.

(e) North American Hockey League (NAHL), which is classified as Tier II Junior A hockey in the United States.

(f) All Tier III Junior A leagues, including the (i) American-based Eastern Hockey League (EHL), (ii) American-based United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL), (iii) American-based North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), and (iv) Canadian-based Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL).

As a side note, to a varying degree CJHL players may have to pay to play, as well as Canadian junior B players (all junior A leagues under the CJHL umbrella, as well as all junior B leagues, have their own policies regarding player payments). USHL players pay nothing, and NAHL players pay a monthly rental amount to their host families (when I was a GM in that league, the monthly rent was $300). All Tier III junior A leagues are pay to play leagues.

I truly hope this analysis was helpful, and I’ll discuss it more as we go along.