BCHL pulls out of Hockey Canada, becomes an independent league

The B.C. Hockey League is pulling out of Hockey Canada.

The Junior A league’s 18 teams voted on Monday to cut ties with the sport’s governing body in this country and become an independent league. They’ll operate outside of Hockey Canada’s system beginning June 1.

No word on how many teams were in favour.

There have been hints this could be coming. The BCHL left the Canada Junior Hockey League, the umbrella group created to oversee the country’s 10 Junior A leagues and operate events such as the Centennial Cup national championship on behalf of Hockey Canada, in April 2021. 

The league also made public in September a 35-page white paper entitled “Modernizing Junior Hockey in Canada — Supporting Two Junior Development Paths for Canadian Athletes” that it has sent to Hockey Canada, the governance review committee examining Hockey Canada’s structure, as well as the provincial body B.C. Hockey.