Tuesday, May 28, 2013

AJHL Set to Celebrate 50th Anniversary Season

Press Release

 The Alberta Junior Hockey League concluded its Annual General Meeting on May 25th as the league prepares to celebrate its 50th season in 2013-2014.  The League will undergo several new changes in the upcoming season including the milestone celebration.

A summary of the decisions approved at the 2013 AJHL Annual General Meeting are listed below:

The 2013-2014 AJHL regular season will commence on Friday, September 6th.  The 480-game schedule will include 16 games at the 7th Annual AJHL Showcase in Spruce Grove, Alberta from September 26-28th.  The complete League Schedule will be announced in late June.

The AJHL will recognize its 50th Season through an official new logo.  The League will celebrate its storied history across Alberta with commemorative community presentations, the announcement of the ‘Top 50 Players of All-Time’, a year-long feature to highlight ‘50 Stories of 50 Seasons’, and several unique initiatives.

The CJHL has introduced strict new sanctions for payment of players in any manner that jeopardizes or potentially jeopardizes their eligibility to participate in college or university hockey at any level, and new sanctions for violating rules on the amount and type of consideration payable as part of a CJHL Player Transfer Agreement.  In addition to these CJHL regulations, the AJHL has adopted further consequences for teams found to be violating either rule.  The Head Coach / GM of the violating team would also receive a one-year suspension and the team would be ineligible to compete in the AJHL playoffs for the year of the violation.

Hockey Canada also concluded its Annual General Meeting on May 25th.  One of the decisions approved by Hockey Canada resulted in the revised definition of an import.  No player having Canadian citizenship shall be classified as an import beginning in the 2013-2014 season.  Previously, out of province players were identified as imports on an AJHL roster.

An AJHL team will now be limited to a maximum of 4 players on the roster that have each played in 41 or more lifetime CHL games. Players having played less than 41 CHL games are not subject to this limitation.

AJHL teams interested in hosting the 2015 Western Canada Cup will be required to submit their bid in the Fall, and a decision on the host community will be made at the AJHL Semi-Annual Meeting in November 2013.

The AJHL has established a sub committee to review the option of an AJHL Draft.  The committee will be chaired by Fran Gow (AJHL) and include Rod Knelsen (Drumheller Dragons), Ken Bracko (Calgary Canucks), Kyle Chase (Sherwood Park Crusaders) and Darren Myshak (Spruce Grove Saints).

The 2013-2014 AJHL Management Committee will include Al Doll (Canmore Eagles), Paul Seaton (Brooks Bandits) and Wayne Lauinger (Okotoks Oilers) as the South Division representatives.   The North Division will be represented by Darren Myshak (Spruce Grove Saints), Dave Britt (Fort McMurray Oil Barons) and Ray Mildenberger (Grande Prairie Storm).

The Alberta Junior Hockey League will continue to operate under the direction of Chairman Greg Wood and Commissioner Ryan Bartoshyk.  The AJHL Staff will consist of George McCorry (Vice President, Officiating), Charla Flett (Vice-President, Communications), Ken Dentzien (Referee Assignor), and Bob Clark (Special Advisor).  The AJHL has also welcomed two staff members since last year’s AGM, including Dean Laschowski (Video Review Manager) and newly appointed Vice President of Hockey Operations, Fran Gow.

The 2013 AJHL Semi-Annual Meeting will take place in Red Deer, Alberta on November 23rd, 2013.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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