Update: Reportedly, the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) has left the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), Canada’s nationwide junior A conglomerate. The Junior Hockey News originally broke this story, which I reposted on linkedin.com recently. A little more than a month ago, I posted on this site that the BCHL was part of the CJHL. That was accurate at the time, but the BCHL’s reported recent decision would change that conclusion. I find this very interesting as the BCHL is Canada’s top feeder league to American college hockey. It is very unclear at this point what effect this move will have on that status.
The Junior Hockey News speculated this may be a move to align itself more closely with the United States Hockey League (USHL) or the North American Hockey League (NAHL), as opposed to competing with those leagues for college-bound players. However, this is highly unlikely. In speaking with league officials at the USHL, a BCHL-USHL partnership would “never happen.” Also, this scenario presumably would need the approval of both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey to take hold. If this in fact is the BCHL’s intention, it seems to be a very risky choice if discussions with the countries’ governing bodies have not occurred as to the plausibility of such a realignment.
Stay tuned for more info on future developments.