Junior A facing further upheaval if NCAA changes eligibility rules

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This article was published 08/02/2024 (650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Big changes are coming to junior A hockey.

Speculation about the feasibility of a prairie super league to stabilize the MJHL, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the remaining 11 members of Alberta Junior Hockey League may only be talk at the moment, but even an bigger change could threaten the long-term viability of those same leagues.

The NCAA, which has long deemed players in major-junior hockey professionals, is closer than its ever been to lifting its ban on players from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. If that happens, there will be a ripple effect throughout the game.

Should those major-junior players become eligible, elite players who have previously remained in junior A to preserve their college eligibility could suddenly have the opportunity to play in the WHL without harming their college aspirations.

Losing top players may not be a doomsday scenario for junior A hockey.

“It’ll be interesting because some guys make the decision that they’re going to college so they’ve got to play at our our level,” says Barry Wolff, GM and head coach of the MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampders. “So, now the elite guys would go to major junior, but that’s gonna push some other guys out back our way, so it’s probably going to be even keel.”

Mike Reagan, GM and head coach of the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers, is wary about an open-door policy to the NCAA.

“I don’t know if I like it to be honest with you,” said Reagan. “I like the fact that players make a choice or have to make a choice. I don’t know if it’s good for the game. Because then you’re gonna have every kid just saying, Well, I’m gonna go to the Western League and if it doesn’t work out there, then I’m eligible to go to the NCAA. I would prefer if they’re going to do something like that you capped it at X number of games played (for major-junior players going to the NCAA).”

How that eligibility question is implemented is hard to forecast.

“Those are things that we’ve talked about, as coaches, if that happens,” says Paul Dyck, GM and head coach of the Steinbach Pistons. “But it’s really hard to kind of predict how it impacts us. So I think when it does, there’ll be a pivot and we’ve got to figure it out.”

A prairie super league and some form of interlocking schedule, following the mid-season departure of five AJHL clubs to the BCHL, is being presented as a way to improve the profile of the MJHL, SJHL and AJHL while also helping at the box office.

“It would be fun to do that but, again, where’s the money coming from?” says Wolff.

Could a small-budget franchise such as Swan Valley afford the travel needed for interprovincial play.

“Probably not, but we would find a way if it happened,” says Wolff. “We’d prefer not to do that unless, obviously Yorkton and Melville (in Saskatchewan) are right there for us. If those trips were instead of making a swing to Winnipeg, it would be way cheaper that way.”

RAVE REVIEWS: Ohio State’s Raygan Kirk was a double winner this week — named the co-goaltender of the month by the Hockey Commissioners Association while also earning a nod as a semifinalist for the NCAA women’s goaltender of the year.

The Ste. Anne product posted a 4-0-0 record in January, leading the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes to wins against top-10 teams. She also pitched a shutout against No. 2 Minnesota and the another against No. 7 Minnesota Duluth. The fifth-year senior played both games against the Gophers, allowing only one goal.

Kirk is now 13-1-0 on the season with a 1.09 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca