2016-17 HJBHL Season

This is the 2016-17 Heritage Junior Hockey League season. This is the league's 30th season.

Membership changes[]

The Medicine Hat Cubs were forced to cease operations in mid-January of 2016 for the balance of the season due to a lack of players. The league had stated in a press release after the announcement that they were expecting the team to attend the league annual general meeting in May with a plan in place to be able to restart the team for the 2016-17 season. The team is back in the league for the 2016-17 season.
The Banff Academy Bears appear to have withdrawn from the league after the 2016-17 season

Current Teams (2016-17)[]

The HJHL has 2 divisions for the 2016-2017 season.

Team	Centre	Arena
North Division
Airdrie Thunder	Airdrie	Ron Ebbesen Arena
Blackfalds Wranglers	Blackfalds	Blackfalds Arena
Mountainview Colts	Didsbury	Didsbury Recreation Complex
Ponoka Stampeders	Ponoka	Ponoka Culture & Recreation Complex
Red Deer Vipers	Red Deer	Red Deer Arena
Stettler Lightning	Stettler	Stettler Recreation Centre
Three Hills Thrashers	Three Hills	Three Hills Centennial Place
South Division
Banff Academy Bears	Banff	Banff Recreation Centre
Coaldale Copperheads	Coaldale	Coaldale Arena
Cochrane Generals	Cochrane	Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre
High River Flyers	High River	Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex
Medicine Hat Cubs	Medicine Hat	Kinplex
Okotoks Bisons	Okotoks	Murray Arena
Strathmore Wheatland Kings	Strathmore	Strathmore Family Centre

Standings[]

Northern Division[]

Team	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts
Mountainview Colts	38	29	6	3	246	133	61
Airdrie Thunder	38	27	8	3	213	131	57
Red Deer Vipers	38	25	12	1	171	123	51
Blackfalds Wranglers	38	25	12	1	172	138	51
Stettler Lightning	38	18	17	3	167	183	39
Ponoka Stampeders	38	8	26	4	122	251	20
Three Hills Thrashers	38	7	30	1	87	213	15

note: Red Deer finished ahead of Blackfalds due to Goal Differential

Southern Division[]

Team	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts
Cochrane Generals	38	33	4	1	236	98	67
Okotoks Bisons	38	26	11	1	194	135	53
Coaldale Copperheads	38	24	12	2	216	127	50
Strathmore Wheatland Kings	38	16	18	4	156	175	36
Banff Academy Bears	38	11	22	5	118	209	27
Medicine Hat Cubs	38	8	24	6	115	208	22
High River Flyers	38	9	27	2	118	207	20

Playoffs[]

Format[]

The top six teams in each division qualify for the playoffs. The top two seeds earn a bye into the division semifinals. The 3rd place team plays the 6th place team and the 4th place team plays the 5th place team in a best-of-three qualifying round. The teams are re-seeded for the best-of-seven division semifinal round. The division semifinal winners meet in the best-of-seven division final round. The division winners meet in the best-of-seven (later changed to best-of-five) league championship series. For overtime play the league uses one ten minute overtime period followed by 20 minute overtime periods.

The league champion qualifies for the 2017 Russ Barnes Trophy which determines the provincial champion. The winner of that tournament earns the right to compete for the Western Canadian Junior "B" Crown, the Keystone Cup.

North Division Quarterfinals[]

Red Deer defeated Ponoka 2 games to none
Blackfalds defeated Stettler 2 games to 1

South Division Quarterfinals[]

Coaldale defeated Medicine Hat 2 games to none
Banff Academy defeated Strathmore 2 games to none

North Division Semifinals[]

Mountainview vs Blackfalds 4 games to 1
Red Deer defeated Airdrie 4 games to 2

South Division Semifinals[]

Cochrane defeated Banff Academy 4 games to none
Coaldale defeated Okotoks 4 games to 3

North Division Final[]

Red Deer defeated Mountainview 4 games to 3

South Division Final[]

Cochrane defeated Coaldale 4 games to 2

League Final[]

Red Deer defeated Cochrane 3 games to 1