2018 Keystone Cup

This is the 2018 Keystone Cup tournament. This tournament was intended to act as the Western Canada Junior B Championship. This is the tournament's 35th edition under this name and 41st overall dating back to the 1978 Western Canada Junior B Championship. The tournament is scheduled for April 19 to 22, 2018 and to be held at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario hosted by the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks.

Withdrawal of British Columbia and Alberta teams from Tournament
Starting with the 2018 the tournament format will probably be changed as apparently both Hockey Alberta and the three Junior B level British Columbia based leagues announced that they will not be participating in the event anymore. Both cited cost and safety concerns as the reasons. Hockey Alberta made the decision for the leagues in the province while the three leagues themselves made the decision citing that Hockey BC does not mandate that the provincial champion participate in the tournament. The possibility was mentioned that BC and Alberta may end up having their own event (possibly with the inclusion of the Prairie Junior Hockey League) sometime in the future. When the tournament schedule was announced the Prairie Junior Hockey League was not included in the scheduling for the tournament.

Previous format
Both British Columbia (three) and Alberta (five) have multiple leagues at the Junior B level, so their champions and a host team meet for the provincial championship and a berth in the Keystone Cup. The Keystone Junior Hockey League (Manitoba), Prairie Junior Hockey League (Saskatchewan), and the Lakehead Junior Hockey League (Northwestern Ontario) are the only Junior B leagues in their region/province so their playoff champion directly advances to the Keystone Cup.

New Format
With only two leagues now involved in the tournament. The host team and the playoff champion (or runner-up if the host wins the league playoffs) of its' league and the playoff finalists of the other league qualify for the tournament. Each of the four qualifying teams plays a single round robin tournament over three days. The third and fourth place teams from the round robin play in the third place game and the first and second place teams play in the championship game. There is no national tournament at the Junior B level in Canada.

Qualifying Teams
As the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks reached the league final, the Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye have already  qualified as either the league champion or the league representative.
 * Host: Thunder Bay Northern Hawks
 * Manitoba (KJHL) Champion: Peguis Juniors
 * Manitoba (KJHL) Runner-Up: St. Malo Warriors
 * Northern Ontario (LJHL) Representative: Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye

Schedule/Results
April 19 April 20 April 21
 * Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye defeated Peguis Juniors 7-2
 * Thunder Bay Northern Hawks defeated St. Malo Warriors 7-1
 * St. Malo Warriors defeated Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye 3-1
 * Thunder Bay Northern Hawks defeated Peguis Juniors 6-5
 * Peguis Juniors defeated St. Malo Warriors 8-1
 * Thunder Bay Northern Hawks defeated Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye 9-3

Round Robin Standings
Indicates team advanced to the championship game

Indicates team advanced to the semifinal game

Indicates team eliminated from further play

Semifinal Game

 * Peguis Juniors defeated Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye 6-3

Championship Game

 * Thunder Bay Northern Hawks defeated Peguis Juniors 5-2