East Coast Senior Hockey League

The East Coast Senior Hockey League is a men's senior hockey league based on the eastern portion of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Eastern Canada.

Formation of the league
The league was formed in the fall of 2017 as a result of the Avalon East Senior Hockey League removing the defending league and Herder Memorial Trophy champions; the Harbour Grace Cee Bee Stars from the league with the explanation that a four team league would be the most desirable as opposed to a five team league and that the Cee Bee Stars were the least convenient fit geographically (and competitively) for the membership. Accusations were also made that the Cee Bee Stars were paying some of their players; but they were not investigated and left at the accusation stage. It was thought that the Cee Bee Stars would end up in the Central/West Senior Hockey League which was down to three teams for the 2016-17 season and had openly stated that it would need a fourth team to be able to take to the ice for the 2017-18 season. However, the Cee Bee Stars appealed the decision to Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador.

A meeting has held just prior to September 12, 2017 with the four remaining members of the Avalon East Senior Hockey League, the Cee Bee Stars, and Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador. At this meeting the Cee Bee Stars were apparently accepted back into the league. In very short order the other four teams in the league sent a letter to Rob Leaman of Hockey NL stating that they were withdrawing from the AESHL with the intent of forming a new league with the four teams excluding the Cee Bee Stars to cover the eastern portion of the island. The Cee Bee Stars continued to state that they did not want to play in the CWSHL.

Shortly after the formation of the league; it was announced that the league members were going to have an interlocking schedule with the members of the CWSHL to help give that league the equivalent of having four members and scheduling one game with between each team from the opposite league in the CWSHL arenas.

The Bell Island Blues were renamed the Conception Bay South Blues when the team moved the majority of its' games to the Conception Bay South Arena.

On October 1, 2018 the Clarenville Caribous would be announced as joining the league from the Central/West Senior Hockey League for the 2018-19 season.

In an announcement made on October 2, 2018; the league would be combined with the remaining two members of the Central/West Senior Hockey League (Gander Flyers, and Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts) to form the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (2018-, thus ending the league's brief history. However, the leagues would be run as two seperate leagues with interlocking play.

Links

 * League website