The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), a junior A-Circuit, has decided to leave Hockey Canada to become independent, a decision that surprised Monday.
From June 1st, the 18-strong circuit will no longer operate under the umbrella of the national association.
This is the main developmental league for Canadian players who want to get a scholarship to an American university where nearly 30 Quebecers play.
No fewer than 198 BCHL players have already signed an agreement with an American university. The Alberta Junior League, which is also considered the pipeline to the NCAA, has only 100 players with such a letter. It gives an idea of the importance of the BCHL to this aspect of development.
ANNIE T. ROUSSEL/JOURNAL
Emanuelson Charbonneau-Joseph from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, seen here when he was a pee, is one of the Quebecers who play in the BCHL. He will compete at the University of Nebraska in Omaha this fall.
Unprecedented
The BCHL’s decision is unprecedented in Canadian junior hockey. But it was already operating outside of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, the entity that governs Canada’s Junior A Circuits.
It has not sent its champion team to the Centennial Cup since 2021. The Centennial Cup is the equivalent of the Memorial Cup for junior A hockey.
This decision comes as a blow to Hockey Canada, as the BCHL sends more players to the NCAA D1 than all of Canada’s junior A leagues combined.
According to Circuit, there were 411 former players in the NCAA last season, which is a quarter of the players in Division 1.
There are 23 in the NHL this season, including Jamie Benn, Alex Kerfoot, Devon Toews and Quebec’s Vincent Desharnais.
Four former BCHL players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Brett Hull, Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi and Glenn Anderson. Two players in it, Matthew Wood and Bradly Nadeau, could be drafted in the first round of the next NHL draft.
do more
It seems the circuit felt stuck in Hockey Canada’s straightjacket and wanted to spread its wings.
“We strive to do more for the players and offer our fans an even better level of hockey. It is simply impossible in the current system,” President Graham Fraser wrote in a press release.
The league’s decision was respected by Hockey Canada, which recognized its independent status in a statement released Monday night.
“While we strongly believe that our model enables hockey to be offered for the benefit of players, coaches, officials, parents, administrators and volunteers, we recognize that BCHL is free to enjoy the sport outside of sanctioned programs.”
More freedom
So why does the BCHL want to break away from Hockey Canada? Above all, having more freedom in recruitment.
As the circuit is no longer affiliated with the national federation, it can now recruit players under the age of 18 from across Canada and the United States.
Under Hockey Canada rules, underage players had to be strictly British Columbian.
The BCHL therefore wants to recruit talented players from other provinces who choose instead to play in the North American Hockey League or the United States Hockey League, two American junior circuits that also train players for the NCAA due to restrictions imposed by Hockey Canada.
According to eliteprospect.com, 44 Canadians have played in the USHL and 52 in the NAHL this season. This independence of the BCHL could therefore allow it to compete with the two American circles.
“We believe players under the age of 18 in Canada should have two development opportunities, major junior hockey, which can lead to the NHL, and junior, which provides access to American colleges and then to the NHL,” CEO Chris Hebb explained in the league’s press release .
The circuit will also be able to pull easier in Europe, as will the NAHL and USHL, each of which had 53 players from outside the North American continent.