Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each country.

In Canada, the highest level is major junior, and is governed by the Canadian Hockey League, which itself has three constituent leagues: the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The second tier is Junior A, governed nationally by the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

In the United States, the top level is Tier I, represented by the United States Hockey League in the midwest. Tier II is represented by the North American Hockey League, and there are various Tier III leagues throughout the country. In Europe, junior teams are often sponsored by professional teams, and act as development and feeder associations for those organizations.

Junior hockey is not to be confused with youth or minor hockey.

Canada

Junior hockey in Canada is broken into several tiers, and players aged 16–20 at the beginning of the season are eligible. Hockey Canada is enacting rules designed to limit the number of 16-year-olds allowed to play junior hockey, preferring most remain at the midget level.

Major junior

Major junior hockey is overseen by the Canadian Hockey League, which acts as the governing body for its three constituent leagues:

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, operating in Quebec and Atlantic Canada with 17 teams

Ontario Hockey League, operating in Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Michigan with 18 teams

Western Hockey League, operating in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest with 22 teams

The CHL currently places a cap of three 20-year-old or overage players per team, while only four 16-year-olds are permitted. While fifteen-year-old players were formerly permitted to play a limited number of games per season at the CHL level, they are now permitted to play only if they are deemed exceptional by the CHL. Two players to date have qualified under this rule: center John Tavares in 2005 and defenseman Aaron Ekblad in 2011. CHL teams are currently permitted two imports, or European players each, though this cap is expected to be reduced to one within a couple of seasons.

CHL teams are considered professional by the NCAA; thus any player who plays a game at the Major Junior level loses his eligibility to play for American universities. He retains eligibility for Canadian universities however, and all three leagues have programs in place to grant scholarships for any player who plays in these leagues provided he does not turn professional once his junior career ends. Many of the top North American prospects for the NHL play in the CHL.

The champion of each league competes in an annual tournament with a predetermined host team for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national Major Junior championship.

Up until 1970, the leagues that became Major Junior and Junior A today were both known as Junior A. In 1970 they were divided into Tier I Junior A or Major Junior A and Tier II Junior A. In 1980, the three Major Junior A leagues opted for self control over being controlled by the branches of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and became Major Junior hockey, Tier II Junior A became the top tier of hockey in these branches and became Junior A hockey.

Junior A

Junior A (junior AAA in Quebec) hockey is one level below the CHL. Junior A was referred to as Tier II Junior A in the 1970s, until what was called Major Junior A broke away from their regional branches in 1980 and became the Canadian Hockey League and Major Junior hockey, at this time, the term Tier II was dropped from what is now Junior A hockey. It is governed by the Canadian Junior Hockey League, which oversees eleven constituent leagues across Canada. The national championship is the Royal Bank Cup. This level of hockey was created in 1970 when the Major Junior level broke away from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, although the affiliation was later amended.

Junior A teams are considered amateur by the NCAA, thus players intending to go to American universities tend to choose this route rather than play in the CHL. Junior A teams tend to play in much smaller markets than CHL teams, and thus play to much smaller crowds.

Junior B, C, D

Junior B (junior AA in Quebec) was created in 1933, to differentiate between teams capable for Memorial Cup competition and those who were not. The major championships across Canada are the Sutherland Cup in Southern Ontario, the Carson Trophy in the Ottawa District, the Coupe Dodge in Quebec, the Don Johnson Cup in the Atlantic Provinces, and the Keystone Cup which represents all of Western Canada, from British Columbia to Northwestern Ontario.

Junior C (junior A in Quebec) is generally a local based system, but is considered competitive in some regions, and serve as seeding or farm-teams for Junior B teams. Ontario Junior C Hockey has 6 rounds of playoffs (up to 42 games of best-of-seven playoff rounds) for the Clarence Schmalz Cup which was first awarded in 1938. The Ontario playdowns are played for between 6 of the Province's 7 different regional leagues. In Quebec and West of Manitoba, Junior C hockey tends to be an extension of the local minor hockey system and is sometimes called Juvenile or House League. In Ontario, Manitoba, and the Maritimes, Junior C is run independently of minor hockey systems, though with the same mostly recreational purpose.

Junior D was popular in the 1960s and 1970s in dense population centers, but fell off in the early 1990s. In Quebec, Junior D is now known as Junior B and is run strictly by minor hockey associations. The last Junior D league is the OHA's Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League, the result of the merger of the Northern, Western, and Southern Junior D leagues in the late 1980s. At 16 teams, the league renamed itself a Junior Development league in the early 1990s, and the SOJHL in 2006. In recent years, the SOJHL has been trying to get itself declared a Junior C league.

Teams at the lower level of junior hockey tend to operate as extensions of local minor hockey systems. While some future NHLers come from the lower levels of junior hockey, they are few. There is no national governing body at these levels, only provincial.

United States

As in Canada, junior hockey in the United States is subdivided into several levels. Currently, there are eight American teams in the Canadian Hockey League: four teams in Washington and one in Oregon in the Western Hockey League; and two teams in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania within the Ontario Hockey League.

Tier I

The United States Hockey League (USHL) is currently the only Tier I league in the country, it consists of teams in the central and Midwestern US. The USHL provides an alternative to Major Junior Hockey for kids who want to play in the NCAA. While playing in the USHL, all player expenses are paid for by the team; no membership or equipment fees are charged. Unlike Major Junior teams however, the pro drafting is less and the free-college stipend does not exist. Tier I in the US is on par with Major Junior in Canada, though the actual skill levels may vary by region. Quality of play in the USHL has improved to the Major Junior level, in which the past 15 years, about 10% of NHL players have played USHL in their career (compared with 40% who have played NCAA Division I hockey at some time). Between 80 and 90 percent of USHL players play NCAA hockey, as this is the main reason for playing Tier I instead of Major Junior in Canada.

Tier II

Currently the North American Hockey League is the only Tier II league in the United States. The NAHL is the largest junior hockey league in the US and consists teams spread across the Western two thirds of the United States with a significant concentration of teams in the central and southwestern parts of the United States. The NAHL, like the USHL, provides young players an alternative to Major Junior hockey, although the skill level is significantly lower than Major Junior hockey and typically filled with those who would not or did not make the roster of a Tier I team. While playing in the NAHL, all player expenses minus room and board are paid for by the team; this is similar to some of the lower Junior B teams in Canada.

Tier III

The United States currently has twelve Tier III leagues: the Atlantic Junior Hockey League, American West Hockey League, Eastern Junior Hockey League, North American 3 Hockey League, Minnesota Junior Hockey League, Northern Pacific Hockey League, Western States Hockey League, Continental Hockey Association, Empire Junior Hockey League, Great Lakes Junior Hockey League, Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, and the Southeast Junior Hockey League. In addition to paying for room and board, players at the Tier III level pay a fee, commonly ranging from $4,000 to $6,500. This is for all accounts and purposes an amateur level, although some players go directly to NCAA Division I schools, most Tier III Junior A players are looking to increase their skills in hopes to move up to Tier I or II, other players go directly to NCAA Division III and ACHA schools.

Prior to July 2011, USA Hockey, the sanctioning body for youth hockey in the US, split Tier III into Junior A and B divisions.

Independent leagues (Canada and US)

Some leagues that refer to themselves as Junior A also operate outside the control of the Hockey Canada and USA Hockey. Presently, the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League in Ontario is operating as an independent league in Ontario and western New York. The International Junior Hockey League operates in the Northeast United States. The upstart Continental Junior Hockey League has only two teams for its first season. Additionally, in Manitoba the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League is operating as a non-sanctioned league. While a leagues can claim to be comparable to Junior A leagues, due to the lack of regulation the actual level of play may vary. In addition to independent leagues, there are also independent teams, such as the Jamestown Jets, although these usually result from league problems or other disputes.

Europe

In Europe, junior teams are usually associated with a professional team, and are used by professional teams to develop their own talented youngsters. One example of this is the J20 SuperElit league in Sweden or the Minor Hockey League in Russia.

The lack of an amateur draft in Europe, other than in Russia, means that the onus is on the teams to sign the most talented youngsters they can get, and the presence of an affiliated junior team provides a place for young players who aren't yet ready for the rigours of the professional game to develop. However, not all players on a European junior team are necessarily the property of their professional club, and may elect to sign elsewhere.

See also

2007 Super Series

List of ice hockey leagues

Minor ice hockey

World Junior A Challenge

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

References

External links

Canadian Hockey League official site

Canadian Junior A Hockey League official site

USA Hockey: Juniors

Category:Ice hockey

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