BREAKING: Top League Officially Suspends 100 Players For The Rest Of The Year

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Dawson McKenzie
January 25, 2024 (2:56 PM)

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In breaking news, this Junior Hockey league has just officially taken steps to suspend roughly one hundred players following their statement.

Alberta Junior Hockey League Cancels Games For Defecting Teams

There has been some serious drama in Western Canada's junior hockey programs over the last week or so. If you missed it, Five teams from the Alberta Junior Hockey Leauge (AJHL) decided to defect from the league and join the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

To this end, the AJHL has decided to cancel the remainder of the seasons for these 5 teams, effectively keeping their players from the game. Here is their statement on the matter.

AJHL Schedule Update

We continue to evaluate the best path forward after reviewing Saturday's BCHL announcement that five of our teams have decided, in the middle of our current season, to leave the AJHL to play unsanctioned hockey beginning in the
2024-25 season.

We are responding by taking steps to protect the competitive integrity of the AJHL and CJHL playoff system and to ensure the safety of our players and officials. To this end, until further notice, we have cancelled all upcoming games scheduled to be played between these five defecting teams and the remaining eleven teams at the core of our league. Games previously scheduled among these eleven teams will continue as scheduled. Out of respect for the players on the five defecting teams, we will allow scheduled games among these clubs to proceed.

We are working diligently with our partners - including the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada - to find a resolution to this unusual situation created by the five defecting teams and the BCHL and will provide further updates as decisions are made.

The AJHL's stated vision is to create an environment that inspires trust and confidence among our organizations, athletes, fans, partners and stakeholders. We continue to be the premier developmental league in Canada for student-athletes striving to capitalize on their athletic and academic abilities. We are disappointed by the recent announcement but look forward to providing our fans with more exciting AJHL hockey in the months and years ahead.

The decision is disappointing, if only for the fact that the players who are on these 5 teams likely had no say in the matter at all, and are being punished the most severely for it.

Do you think it was fair to cancel their seasons?