The Chinook Hockey League(known as Allan Cup Hockey West from 2017 to 2022) was a CanadianSeniorice hockey league based in Alberta, but includes teams from other provinces. The ChHL was one of two Allan Cup eligible ice hockey leagues operating in Canada until it disbanded in 2024, the other is Ontario's Allan Cup Hockey.
In the past the league has been made up of some intermediate teams and the intermediate teams would play in the provincial intermediate playoffs and try to qualify for a berth in the Western Canada Intermediate Playoffs for the Edmonton Journal Trophy and a birth in the Hardy Cup final. The Hardy Cup was contested from 1968 to 1990. Four of the league champions won the provincial playoffs to advance to the Western Canada Intermediate Playoffs
Logo as Chinook Hockey League
The league champion traditionally plays the champion of the province of British Columbia in the McKenzie Cup for a birth in the Allan Cup as the Pacific Region representative in the tournament as the league has had the only Senior AAA registered teams in the province, so the league playoffs are the de facto provincial playoffs. The McKenzie Cup is not held when the event is held in either Alberta or British Columbia (or there is no competing team in British Columbia, as the case is in 2015, when the Powell River Regals were the only team in BC and withdrew from the tournament on January 1, 2015).
For the 2015-16 season the league received interest from the previously independent Rosetown Red Wings from Saskatchewan. The team was added to the league schedule. However the team withdrew from the league prior to the starting of the season (and after the schedule was written). The Okotoks Drillers had previously notified the league that they were taking a leave for the 2015-16 season.
The Rosetown Red Wings were approved by Hockey Canada to join the CHL for the 2016-17 season. However, the team played in the 2017 Saskatchewan Senior AAA playdowns (played in Rathgaber Cup against the 2017 Manitoba Senior AAA Hockey Playoffs champion) instead of the 2017 Alberta Senior AAA playdowns (the CHL playoffs) for a berth in the 2017 Allan Cup as Saskatchewan in in the Western Region where as Alberta is in the Pacific Region.
2017-18[]
The league would be renamed Allan Cup Hockey West during the 2017 off season. For this season the league would hold playoffs seperate of the provincial playdowns as the Rosetown Red Wings were participating in the league playoffs. The top three teams would play a single elimination playoff over two days. The semifinal matched up the two and three seeds at the second seeds arena and the winner would play the next night against the one seed in the one seeds arena.
2018-19[]
The Lacombe Generals were named host of the 2019 Allan Cup. Due to no teams from Quebec participating at the Senior AAA level for 2018-19 the province will be guaranteed a second spot in the tournament. A provincial playoff will be held separate of the league playoffs again as Rosetown has indicated they will participate in the league playoffs. The team that wins the provincial championship or the finalist is Lacombe wins the championship will advance to the Allan Cup tournament. Traditionally, the provincial champion would have to play the British Columbia champions for the McKenzie Cup and a spot in the Allan Cup but both provinces are guaranteed spots in the tournament this year so no inter-province championship will be played.
2019-20[]
On May 10, 2019 the Rosetown Redwings announced they would be departing from the league.[1] This has put the survival of the league into question as the league will be down to three teams for the 2019-20 season.[2]
On May 27,2019 the Lacombe Generals announced they would not be playing for the 2019-20 season citing issues within the system set up for Senior AAA hockey in Canada.[3]
Shortly after the withdrawal of Lacombe, the Innisfail Eagles announced they would be attempting to join the North Central Hockey League (Alberta) along with the Stony Plain Eagles for the 2019-20 season and attempting to qualify for the 2020 Allan Cup as an independent team.[4] The two teams will compete in ACHW also in an attempt to qualify for the Allan Cup and in an attempt to save Senior AAA hockey in the province.[5]
2019-20[]
The league would revert to the Chinook Hockey League name in September and the Innisfail Eagles and the Stony Plain Eagles would announce that they would play an abbreviated schedule for the 2019-20 season involving games between the two teams as well as trying to set up exhibition games against other teams such as the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers alumni team, followed by the playing of a series to determine the provincial Senior AAA champion and the Pacific region representative at the 2020 Allan Cup.[6]
Amid speculation that the format for the Allan Cup would revert to the old East-West format as early as 2021; the hope has been raised that the Lacombe Generals would possibly return to play with in a season or two as they had been pushing for the change in format.
2022-23[]
The league would be reformed for the 2022-23 playing season with the Innisfail Eagles and the Stony Plain Eagles returning to the league. The league would originally intend to have a team based out of Carstairs as the Carstairs Coyotes but due to an inability to secure acceptable ice times the team would relocate to Innisfail, Alberta and play its' games out of the Innisfail Twin Arena along with the Eagles. In December, the Coyotes announced they would be playing their home games out of Cremona.
2023-24[]
All three teams from 2022-23 were planned on returning, with the teams playing twelve game schedules playing each other six times, three home and three away.[7] However, on September 23, 2023 the league issued a statement saying that the Cremona Coyotes would not be returning to the CHL for the following year due to "unforeseen circumstances".[8] Due to Cremona withdrawing the remaning two teams will play eight games against each other from October 14th to February 3rd with provincial playoffs being held in February with the schedule being released following the conclusion of the regular season.
