The SJHL, MJHL, Hockey Manitoba, Hockey Saskatchewan and others have signed off on a new one-year pilot project with potential to change western Canadian hockey as we know it.
An 11-member group announced the beginning of what the members call the Western Canadian Development Model, a wide-ranging package of roster, rule and organizational change that will go into effect this season. The deal includes Hockey Canada, the provincial hockey associations for the four western Canadian provinces, the Western Hockey League, the three existing junior A leagues operating under Hockey Canada - the SJHL, MJHL and AJHL - and two B.C. leagues, formerly classified as junior B, which will make the climb to junior A ranks this year, the KIJHL and the PIJHL.
Discussions for such a deal have taken place quietly for months, intensifying after each league’s seasons finished last spring. The dea required a go-ahead from each oof the 10 other groups and leagues, then final approval from Hockey Canada.
In terms of in-game change, the deal will mean all five junior A leagues will adopt official WHL rules, with some changes - for instance, the leagues will not follow the WHL’s rules on video review, major penalties, television broadcasts or some equipment and playing area rules. Leagues like the SJHL will not have to follow the same requirements for boards and glass as the WHL, or the same requirements for broadcasts or video content.
“In the Western league, you have to have a five or six-camera system for video review and video replays. We're not going to implement that. They also have special glass and special boards in the Western league - we're not going to implement that either,” said SJHL commissioner Kyle McIntyre.
“All the other playing rules, because we're a developmental league and we're developing our officials, our players and our coaches, we think it'll make more sense.”
When asked what the deal will mean for the SJHL, McIntyre said the league’s goal remains the same - to develop local and regional talent and prepare players for the future on and off the ice.
“Our message to fans and families is that the SJHL continues to be an athlete-centred destination of choice. Stay here, play here,” he said.
Rule changes
The deal will also mean changes in full-face protection from Hockey Canada statutes last season. According to the deal, the leagues will use IIHF rules for visors and cages, not Hockey Canada ones, meaning that players 18 years and older can wear visors again. Players age 17 and younger will still have to wear full-face protection, either a cage or a full-face “fishbowl” visor. The changes essentially put the SJHL back to their pre-COVID-era rules for face protection - the league, along with other Hockey Canada-governed leagues, changed last year to mandating that all players born in 2005 and later wear full-face protection. That change has been reversed.
In discussions with players in different leagues, the change from half-visors to full-face protection was almost unanimously disliked. McIntyre said that while players grow up wearing full-face protection and NCAA schools still require players to wear full-face protection, moving up to a half-visor is an important step.
“We did a survey two years ago of the players in our league, about 93 per cent of the players responded to the survey. Out of that group, 90 per cent of players were willing to have their family sign a waiver and pay extra insurance if they were allowed to wear a half-visor,” said McIntyre.
“In Alberta, they did exit surveys with all the kids on the five teams that left. Guess what the number one item was. It’s interesting, you wouldn’t think that, but it’s a huge deal for kids who come up through minor hockey - they look forward to wearing a half-visor.”
While discussions were held about loosening rules for fighting, no changes to rules on fights have been made - each fight will still lead to both players being ejected from the game and a mandatory suspension once players hit a certain number of fights in a season. The WHL’s rulebook has a “two fight rule”, meaning players are only ejected from a game after a second fight - that change will not come in for the SJHL or other leagues.
Non-sanctioned hockey
The deal comes at a time of volatility in western Canadian hockey, especially in the junior A ranks. Leadership for the BCHL chose two seasons ago to abandon membership in the CJHL, the group that oversees all other Canadian junior A leagues, to strike out on its own. A season ago, the league did the same with Hockey Canada rules and oversight, eventually pulling five teams from the AJHL to join a fully non-sanctioned league.
The BCHL’s move to abandon Hockey Canada and CJHL rules and regulations has led to players leaving sanctioned junior A leagues, such as the SJHL, in favour of what’s perceived to be a higher-level league. The BCHL is not included in the deal and BCHL players are not eligible to join Hockey Canada-sanctioned leagues, including the WHL or the SJHL, once the season starts.
“I think that we have to do something with what’s going on with non-sanctioned hockey. I think the leagues and the Western league, we don’t want to give people the impression that we’re sitting by idly and watching these non-sanctioned leagues pillage players,” said McIntyre.
“I think these changes will make our programs a lot more competitive, but also able to react if we’re losing or adding players in from non-sanctioned hockey.”
WHL player rules
As part of the deal, WHL teams can play 15-year-old affiliate players for up to 10 games a season, the same rule covering 16-year-old affiliate players. Teams will also be able to name up to nine 15-year-old affiliate players and, in case of a roster emergency, will be able to dress two in a game. WHL teams will also be able to designate one 16-year-old affiliate player to play up to 15 games instead of being covered by the 10-game limit.
“In my estimation, some teams may be called upon to develop younger players for the WHL. Specific roster changes for the 25-26 season will be discussed once our season gets underway,” said McIntyre.
The leagues will now prepare adjusted rules handbooks and send out new rulebooks to teams and officials.
NCAA
Working closely with the WHL is not expected to cause any issues with junior A players being NCAA eligible - while junior A players who have not played Canadian major junior hockey are eligible to take scholarships with NCAA schools, players who have played major junior are not. The CHL’s long-standing policy of paying players small per diems has led the NCAA to classify players in the league as professionals, disqualifying them from the American college ranks. Junior A teams are not classified as professionals, leaving players in junior A free to sign with American colleges. That won’t change with the new agreement, said McIntyre.
There have been discussions in recent years of the NCAA dropping the rules keeping major junior players out, especially now that players are eligible to take name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorship deals. Current and former NCAA Division I athletes are also now eligible to receive payment through a landmark court decision announced in May. If the stalemate between major junior and the NCAA thaws and players with major junior experience are allowed in, McIntyre said the new deal has language in it that can cover any changes.
“At this point, there are no changes to the existing process of NCAA, but if there are future changes this model is equipped to handle that,” he said.
