The Keystone Cup is the Junior B

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

championship and trophy for Western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. From 1983 to 2017, the championship was the culmination of the champions of 12 hockey leagues in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, and Northwestern Ontario. In 2018, citing costs for travel and accommodations, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan withdrew from competition for the Keystone Cup, making it a championship between Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. There is no national championship for Junior B hockey in Canada, but similar championships are held in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

( Sutherland Cup),

Ottawa District The Ottawa District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was created in 1816 by splitting the counties of Prescott and Russell from the Eastern District. The district town was L'Orignal. In 1838 Gloucester towns ...

( Barkley Cup),

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

( Coupe Dodge), and Atlantic Canada ( Don Johnson Memorial Cup)—leaving five teams at the end of each year with a shared claim to being the best Junior B team in Canada.

History

The Keystone Cup was donated to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association by Keystone Sports from

Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk is a city in the western Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba, located on the Red River of the North, Red River about northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 202 ...

. The inaugural tournament took place in 1983 in

Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. As of 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area of the city was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Hi ...

, and was won by the Selkirk Fishermen of the Manitoba Junior B Hockey League. The championship is determined through a round-robin of the winner of the Cyclone Taylor Cup in

, the winner of the Russ Barnes Trophy in

, the winner of the Athol Murray Trophy in

, the Keystone Junior Hockey League, and the William Ryan Trophy in Northwestern Ontario. In previous years, the winner of the Keystone Junior B League would have had to go through the Manitoba Provincial Junior B Hockey Championship, but in 2004 their only competition, the Northwest Junior Hockey League, folded. The same thing happened in the William Ryan Trophy Championship for the Thunder Bay Junior B League, as their only competition, the

North of Superior Junior B Hockey League The North of Superior Junior B Hockey League (NSHL) is a defunct Junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The league used to be a part of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. History The North of Superior Jun ...

, folded in 2004. For the 2018 edition of the tournament in

Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

, teams from British Columbia and Alberta pulled out of the event. NEAJBHL President Ned Graling cited economic concerns while Kamloops Storm general manager Barry Dewar made claims about playing conditions and accommodations in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. The Prairie Junior Hockey League followed British Columbia and Alberta and also withdrew from the 2018 Keystone Cup bringing it to a cross-border clash between the Keystone Junior Hockey League and the Lakehead Junior Hockey League, won by the host Northern Hawks. In mid-November 2019 the teams of the Prairie Junior Hockey League of Saskatchewan decided to send their provincial champion as their representative to the 2020 Keystone Cup. However, the 2020 competition was cancelled as part of the effort to minimize the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Keystone Cup 2019

In Peguis First Nation, Manitoba

Round Robin

Championship Round

2019 Roll of Champions

* KJHL (Man) — Host Peguis Juniors * KJHL (Man) — KJHL regular season champion

Cross Lake Islanders The Cross Lake Islanders are a junior "B" ice hockey team based in Cross Lake, Manitoba. They are members of the Keystone Junior Hockey League (KJHL). The Islanders compete out of the Cross Lake Sports Arena, a 1,200-seat facility. History Ori ...

* LJHL (Ont) — LJHL champion Thunder Bay Northern Hawks * LJHL (Ont) — LJHL runner up

Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye The Thunder Bay Bandits are a Canadian junior B ice hockey team based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They play in the Lakehead Junior Hockey League eligible to compete for the Keystone Cup Junior B championship of Western Canada. History The Thunder B ...

Champions

Most Top 3 Finishes by Province (since 1999)

References

External links

Keystone Cup
{{Hockey Canada Ice hockey tournaments in Canada Canadian ice hockey trophies and awards Ice hockey in Western Canada