The 2017 Western Canada Cup is the Western Canada qualifying tournament for the 2017 Royal Bank Cup, which is the championship for of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, which is the national level organization of the Junior A level of hockey in Canada. The tournament is being held at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, British Columbia and hosted by the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League. The tournament will be held from April 29th to May 7th, 2017.
Reports started circulating in 2016 that this might be the final edition of the tournament. Original title sponsor Crescent Point Energy pulled its support of the event and were replaced by Sun Life Financial for the 2017 event. The four participating leagues have reported difficulty in finding hosts for the event and that under the format the best teams may not be advancing to the Royal Bank Cup.
The 2017 Western Canada Cup will be the final edition of the tournament as the format will be abandoned. The 2018 Western Canada Cup was slated to be hosted in Manitoba by bidding MJHL teams, but all had financial concerns about hosting the tournament. The AJHL, SJHL, and MJHL voted to abandoned the tournament, while the BCHL was highly-receptive of continuing the format. It's unclear whether or not the Doyle Cup and Anavet Cup playoff series will be revived for the 2017-18 season.
The Vees, plus the champions of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, British Columbia Hockey League (or the other finalist if the Vees win the league playoffs), Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League will participate in a five team round robin. The fifth place team is eliminated from further play in the tournament. The third and fourth place teams meet in the semifinal with the winnner advancing to the runner-up match. The first and second place teams meet for the tournament championship and the first spot in the Royal Bank Cup. The loser of the championship game plays the semifinal winnner for the other spot in the Royal Bank Cup. The two qualifiers advance along with the winners of the 2017 Dudley Hewitt Cup, 2017 Fred Page Cup and a host team to the 2017 Royal Bank Cup being held at the Cobourg Community Centre in Cobourg, Ontario hosted by the Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Junior Hockey League
Participants[]
- Host: Penticton Vees
- Alberta Junior Hockey League champ: Brooks Bandits
- British Columbia Hockey League (finalist): Chilliwack Chiefs
- Manitoba Junior Hockey League champ: Portage Terriers
- Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champ: Battlefords North Stars
Round Robin[]
April 29
- Brooks Bandits defeated Chilliwack Chiefs 5-2
- Penticton Vees defeated Battlefords North Stars 2-1 (ot)
April 30
- Portage Terriers defeated Battlefords North Stars 5-3
- Brooks Bandits defeated Penticton Vees 4-3 (so)
May 1
- Chilliwack Chiefs defeated Portage Terriers 2-1
May 2
- Brooks Bandits defeated Battlefords North Stars 4-1
- Chilliwack Chiefs defeated Penticton Vees 4-2
May 3
- Brooks Bandits defeated Portage Terriers 5-0
May 4
- Battlefords North Stars defeated Chilliwack Chiefs 3-0
- Penticton Vees defeated Portage Terriers 5-3
Round Robin Standings[]
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Tie Breaker: Head-to-Head, then 3-way +/-.
Semifinal[]
May 6
- Penticton Vees defeated Battlefords North Stars 4-0
Championship Final[]
May 6
- Brooks Bandits defeated Chilliwack Chiefs 6-1
winner advances to 2017 Royal Bank Cup; loser play in second qualifier
RBC Qualifier #2[]
May 7
- Penticton Vees defeated Chilliwack Chiefs 3-2
winner advances to 2017 Royal Bank Cup