Canadian Junior A

The Beginning In reality, the CJHL received its start in 1970 when the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Canada Hockey League tore away from the major branches of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and became its own governing body (what would become the Canadian Hockey League). These "Major Junior" Leagues only competed against each other and did not include other Junior "A" leagues that were left behind. The Major Junior League also were permitted to exclusively compete for the Memorial Cup, a right given to all Junior "A" leagues prior to 1970.

In May 1970, Frank McKinnon tabled a motion at the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association AGM to allow the remaining Junior "A" Leagues to compete at a national level for a national championship. The motion was granted and McKinnon and the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association donated the Manitoba Centennial Trophy to the new championship in honour of 100 years of ice hockey in Manitoba.

Tier II Junior A (1970 to 1980) Tier II mirrored Memorial Cup play for the first eight years, east versus west, with only one change. The Thunder Bay seed came out of the east, not west. The West competed for the Abbott Cup while the East competed for the Dudley Hewitt Cup. In 1978 the CAHA expanded Tier II to three regions, be dividing the East into Central (Ontario and Quebec) and Eastern (Atlantic Provinces) zones. This lasted three seasons and became permanent for 84-85. The new Central zone competed for the new Dudley Hewitt Cup while the Eastern zone competed for the new Callaghan Cup.

Junior A (1980 to Present) In the Summer of 1980, the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League elected to break away from the branches of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and become only an affiliated member of the CAHA. The CMJHL, now the Canadian Hockey League, changed their name from "Tier I Junior A" or "Major Junior A" to "Major Junior". The "Tier II Junior A" teams mirrored this change by dropping "Tier II" and became just Junior A.

In 1990, the western Junior A leagues in Canada would form the Canada West Association. This organization would be the catalyst for the creation of the Canadian Junior A Hockey League in 1993. In 2008, the league was rebranded the "Canadian Junior Hockey League".

Statistical History
 * See: List of Canadian Junior A Seasons (Post-1970)

Eastern Region
Present

Started in 1994, the Eastern Region is played for by the teams of the Central Canada Hockey League, Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League, and Maritime Junior Hockey League for the Fred Page Cup. The winner of the round robin for the Fred Page Cup represents Eastern Canada at the RBC Cup tournament.

History

In 1993-94, the Ontario Hockey Association re-entered Junior A hockey with two leagues (Metro Junior A Hockey League and Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League). The Central Region had too many representatives vying for the Dudley Hewitt Cup leading to a lengthy and unconventional playoff format in 1994. In 1991, Atlantic Region had the opposite happen, the floundering Island Junior Hockey League merged with the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League to form the Maritime Junior A Hockey League and the St. John's Junior Hockey League elected to walk away from Junior A competition. From 1991 until 1994, the Atlantic Region only had one league. In the Summer of 1994, it was decided to create a new zone, abolishing the Atlantic Region and splitting the Central Region. The new Eastern Region featured the Central Junior A Hockey League, Quebec Provincial Junior Hockey League, and the Maritime League and with the Fred Page Cup donated by the Quebec League for that first season, not much has changed since.

Western Region
Present Starting in 2013, the champion from each of the four western leagues plus a host team play a 13-game tournament to crown a Western Canada Cup Champion. The winner and the runner-up will both represent Western Canada at the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship. The new region is a result of the direct merger of the the Pacific (British Columbia and Alberta) and Western (Saskatchewan and Manitoba) Regions that had existed since 1970-71. History Alberta plays British Columbia for the Doyle Cup. Manitoba plays Saskatchewan for the Anavet Cup. From 1971 to 1989, the two winners advanced to the Abbott Cup (Western Canadian Championship), with the winner going on to the Centennial Cup (Canadian Championship). After 1989 the two winners went directly to the RBC Cup tournament (1990-95 Centennial Cup) for the National Junior ‘A’ title.

Central Region
Present Currently, the winners of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Superior International Junior Hockey League compete for the Dudley Hewitt Cup. The winner represents Central Canada at the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship. History The Central Region started for the 1978-79 season and for the first three years the winner went directly to the Centennial Cup (Canadian Championship). From 1982 to 1983, the winner advanced to the Eastern Canadian Final, with the winner going on to the Canadian Championship. The 84 Championship was for Eastern Canada, the winner going on to the Canadian Championship. After 1984, the winner goes directly to the RBC Cup tournament (1985-95 Centennial Cup) for the National Junior ‘A’ title.

Prior to 1978 Prior to 1978, what would become the Central Region was one-half of the East Hewitt-Dudley Memorial Trophy playdowns. The winner of what was to become the Central Region would play the winner of the Atlantic Region to win the Trophy and earn the right to represent the East in the Centennial Cup.

Listed below are leagues and independent teams that folded prior to the creation of the Central Region, but competed in its predecessor.

Defunct Regions
Atlantic Region 1970-94 From 1974 until 1991, Canadian Junior A had a great presence in Atlantic Canada. In 1980-81, the J. Pius Callaghan Cup was awarded for the first time to the winner of the region. During the East-West format, the Atlantic Junior A Champion went directly into the East Final for the Hewitt-Dudley Memorial Trophy. In round robin years, the Atlantic Champion went directly to the Centennial Cup.

In 1991, the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League absorbed the rival Island Junior Hockey League and changed its name to the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. With the St. John's Junior Hockey League returning to Junior B that same summer, the MJAHL had a monopoly on the Atlantic Region. This was changed in 1994 when the MJAHL was forced to join the newly formed Eastern Region.

Current
The modern Junior A scene is broken into three regions, each with their own championship, for the 2012-13 season. The Eastern and Central Regions will each hold a round robin to determine a seed each into the national championship. The Western region will hold a page tournament with a champion and runner-up moving on. The four teams will meet in a predetermined host city and with the host team, compete for the RBC Cup, the Canadian Junior A championship. In the case that the host team of the RBC Cup is also a winner of one of these three regional tournaments, the next highest ranked team from that tournament will act as that regional representative at the national championship.

''Note the Doyle Cup and the Anavet Cup were replaced from 2013 to 2017 with the Western Canada Cup. Citing additional costs the WCC was abandoned after one cycle of each branch hosting the tournament and the previous format was re-adopted starting with the 2017-18 season.''

Retired
Trophies are retired when traditions die-off. Most notably, the Manitoba Centennial Cup, the National Junior A Championship of Canada for 25 years, died when the Junior A leagues of Canada created the Canadian Junior A Hockey League and pursued a major corporate sponsor. The need for East and West championships died with the death of the best-of-7 playdown format. As well, the death of the many Atlantic Canadian hockey leagues over the years made the Callaghan Cup obsolete. Most recently, the time-honoured tradition of an Alberta/BC and Manitoba/Saskatchewan playdown has made way to the new Western Canada Cup tournament -- retiring two more trophies. But sometimes newer isn't always better, the WCC tournament was abandoned after the 2016-17 season due to costs and the Doyle and Anavet Cups were reinstated.

* -- The Callaghan Cup was retired from the National Playdowns in 1994, but became the exclusive championship trophy of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League until its retirement in 2005.