1971 Centennial Cup

The Centennial Cup 1971 is the Tier II Junior "A" 1971 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League.

The Centennial Cup was competed for by the winners of the Western Canadian Champions and the Eastern Canadian Champions.

The finals were hosted by the Charlottetown Islanders in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

The Manitoba Centennial Trophy was presented to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) by the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association to commemorate their centennial year of 1970. It was in that year that the CAHA reconfigured their junior tier, creating two separate classifications - Major Junior and Junior "A." The Major Junior class encompassed the teams that made up the "Canadian Major Junior Hockey League" while the Junior "A" section included the remaining junior teams within the association. With the Memorial Cup established as a trophy exclusively for teams in the "Canadian Major Junior Hockey League", al Trophy served as the trophy for the champions of this new Junior "A" division.

The cup final was supposed to be played in Red Deer but fire regulations precluded capacity crowds in the local arena. On short notice the final was arranged in Charlottetown.

The Red Deer Rustlers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League defeated the Charlottetown Islanders in 1971 to claim the inaugural Canadian Junior A Championship and Manitoba Centennial Trophy, often referred to as the "Centennial Cup."

Teams

 * Red Deer Rustlers (1971 Abbott Cup champions)
 * Charlottetown Islanders (1971 Hewitt-Dudley Memorial Trophy champions)

Regional Championships

 * Manitoba Centennial Cup: Red Deer Rustlers


 * Abbott Cup: Red Deer Rustlers
 * Eastern Centennial Cup Championship: Charlottetown Islanders


 * Doyle Cup: Red Deer Rustlers
 * Anavet Cup: St. Boniface Saints

Role of League Champions

 * AJHL: Red Deer Rustlers
 * BCJHL: Victoria Cougars
 * CJHL: Ottawa M&W Rangers
 * MJHL: St. Boniface Saints
 * MarJHL: Charlottetown Islanders
 * NBJHL: Moncton Hawks
 * NOJHA: Sudbury Wolves
 * SJHL: Weyburn Red Wings
 * SOJAHL: Detroit Jr. Red Wings
 * TBJHL: Thunder Bay Marrs