Flin Flon’s chances this SJHL season just took a big hit. Carter Anderson, the team’s top goalscorer, quit the team last week and joined a BCHL club.
Anderson was quietly removed from the SJHL website and the Bombers’ roster Nov. 25, with an announcement coming later in the day from the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, stating they had signed Anderson for the remainder of the season. Anderson left the club last week and played his first games with the Chiefs last weekend.
Anderson, originally from Thompson, had 14 goals and 21 points in 18 games with the Bombers this season. The 2004-born forward had 46 goals and 62 points as a Bomber last season after joining the team following a cut by the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, followed up with six goals and 15 points in 14 games in the playoffs.
Chilliwack currently sits atop the league’s Coastal East division with a 15-4-2-0 record.
Anderson had both a nine-game point streak and a seven-game goal streak at the time of his departure from the Bombers, including goals in both games the team played against Nipawin before he left.
Since leaving the CJHL in 2021 and Hockey Canada governance in 2021, there are no formal transfer agreements between the BCHL and sanctioned Canadian junior A leagues, including the SJHL. The league has operated as a rogue entity, luring in players with promises of scholarships while offering their old teams nothing in return. As an unsanctioned league, the BCHL can sign players who are already signed to teams in other leagues.
Several former SJHL players, including former rookies of the year Riley Ashe and Carson Olsen, former Melfort star goalie James Venne, Battlefords stars Ben Portner and Brayden Sinclair and others have joined the league - unlike if the players were traded or purchased, their former teams have received no compensation. No former Bomber players, aside from Anderson, have played in the BCHL this season.
A total of 25 former SJHLers have played at least one game in the BCHL this year - several of those players, including current Bomber Nate Schaefer, left the league and rejoined the CJHL, while other players, including Bombers Carter Cormier and Ryder Ringor, played in the league last season and rejoined leagues sanctioned by Hockey Canada.
BCHL officials have announced the reason behind the change was an attempt to make the league an attractive destination for top players looking for NCAA Division I scholarships or professional opportunities. That mission statement took a blow earlier this month when the NCAA announced that players who had played in the CHL, who were previously ineligible for scholarships or to play American college hockey, would now be able to play Division I hockey.
Following the news, top talents who had joined the BCHL over the CHL in hopes of playing American college hockey began leaving league in droves. Chilliwack was hit hard by the news - six players left the team in the days following the announcement, with four going to play for CHL teams.
Another big departure from the SJHL came this week, with Melville Millionaire and league scoring leader Caden Drury quitting his team and joining the league's Brooks Bandits.
