The Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL), formally the Heritage Junior B Hockey League, is a Junior B

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

league in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, sanctioned by

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. The HJHL was founded in 1987 and is made up of teams from southern and central Alberta. The HJHL is the largest Junior B league in the province, with 13 teams. The top two teams qualify for the Alberta Provincial Junior B Hockey Championship, whose winner had an option to compete in the

Keystone Cup The Keystone Cup is the Junior B ice hockey championship and trophy for Western Canada. From 1983 to 2017, the championship was the culmination of the champions of 12 hockey leagues in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northwe ...

History

HJHL teams have won the gold medal at the Keystone Cup twice. Red Deer Vipers were the first in 2006 defeating

Campbell River Storm The Campbell River Storm are a junior ice hockey team based in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL). The Storm play their home games at Rod Brind' ...

in the final. Blackfalds Wranglers won the gold medal in 2011. The Lacombe Wranglers won the 2007 league championship over the Airdrie Thunder and Okotoks Bisons in a three team, round robin final. The Wranglers also captured the Alberta provincial title. The Wranglers chose not to participate in the Keystone Cup tournament due to scheduling conflicts. During the 2011 HJHL finals Okotoks Bisons won the best-of-three series versus Blackfalds Wrangers 2–1, their eighth league title. Both teams advanced to the Junior B Provincials in Leduc. Blackfalds won the final 2–1 over the Beaumont Chiefs ( CapJHL) to advance to the 2011 Keystone Cup in Sherwood Park. With a 4–1 record going into the final, Blackfalds defeated the host Sherwood Park Knights (CapJHL) 2–1 to win the Western Canadian crown.

Teams

The league has 13 teams, including seven in the Northern division and six in the Southern division. , + style="background:#B8202500; border-top:#B82025 5px solid; border-bottom:#B82025 5px solid, Northern division ! style=width:12em , Team !! style=width:10em , Centre , - , Airdrie Thunder , , Airdrie , - ,

Mountainview Colts The Mountainview Colts are a junior "B" ice hockey team based in Didsbury, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL). They play their home games at Didsbury Memorial Complex. The Colts c ...

, ,

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

, - , Ponoka Stampeders , , Ponoka , - , Red Deer Vipers , ,

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

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Rocky Rams ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

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Rocky Mountain House Rocky Mountain House is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Red Deer at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Saskatchewan Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 11 (David ...

, - , Sylvan Lake Wranglers , , Sylvan Lake , - ,

Three Hills Thrashers The Three Hills Thrashers are a junior B ice hockey team based in Three Hills, Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie p ...

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Three Hills Three Hills is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It takes its name from the three somewhat-larger-than-normal hills to its north. History Three Hills post office dates from 1904. Three Hills was incorporated as a village in 1912, the yea ...

, - , + style="background:#B8202500; border-top:#B82025 5px solid; border-bottom:#B82025 5px solid, Southern division ! style=width:12em , Team !! style=width:10em , Centre , - , Coaldale Copperheads, , Coaldale , - , Cochrane Generals, , Cochrane , - , High River Flyers, ,

High River High River is a town within the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23. High River had a population of 14,324 in 2021. History The community takes ...

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Medicine Hat Cubs The Medicine Hat Cubs are a Canadian junior ice hockey, Junior B ice hockey team located in Medicine Hat, Alberta. They play in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League, from the Medicine Hat Kinplex. History The Cubs were founded in 1973 into the H ...

, ,

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

, - , Okotoks Bisons, ,

Okotoks Okotoks ( , originally ) is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region, Calgary Region of Alberta, Canada. It is on the Sheep River, approximately south of Downtown Calgary. Okotoks has emerged as a bedroom community of Calgary. According to t ...

, - , Strathmore Wheatland Kings, , Strathmore , -

Former teams

* Indus Hurricanes (1999–2021) * Banff Academy Bears (2005–2017) * Barrhead Jr. Elks *

Blackfalds Wranglers The Sylvan Lake Wranglers are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atl ...

* Claresholm Storm * Drayton Valley Devils * Hobbema Knight Hawks *

Kainai Junior Braves The Kainai Nation () (, or , romanized: ''Káínawa'', Blood Tribe) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013. tra ...

* Innisfail Blades * Lacombe Wranglers * Livingstone Rockmen * Lomond Lakers * Maskwacis Attack * Rimbey Rock * Rimbey West Stars * Siksika Ice * Southern Express *

Stettler Lightning The Stettler Lightning are a Junior "B" Ice Hockey team based in Stettler, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL). They play their home games at Stettler Recreation Centre. Occasion ...

Champions

, + style="background:#B8202500; border-top:#B82025 5px solid; border-bottom:#B82025 5px solid, HJHL champions ! Season ! Winner ! Runner-up ! Result , - , 1987 , Drayton Valley Devils , , , - , 1988 , Barrhead Jr. Elks , , , - , 1989 , Red Deer Cowboys , , , - , 1990 , Terraco Knights , , , - , 1991 , Hobbema Knight Hawks , , , - , 1992 , Ponoka Knight Hawks , , , - , 1993 , Lacombe Wranglers , , , - , 1994 , Lacombe Wranglers , , , - , 1995 , Lacombe Wranglers , , , - , 1996 , Foothills Bisons , , , - , 1997 , Foothills Bisons , , , - , 1998 , Airdrie Thunder , , , - , 1999 , Red Deer Vipers , , , - , 2000 , Airdrie Thunder , , , - , 2001 , Foothills Bisons , , , - , 2002 , Foothills Bisons , , , - , 2003 , Foothills Bisons , , , - , 2004 , Red Deer Vipers , , , - , 2005 , Okotoks Bisons , , , - , 2006 , Okotoks Bisons , Red Deer Vipers , , - , 2007 , Lacombe Wranglers , , , - , 2008 , Cochrane Generals , , , - , 2009 , Cochrane Generals , , , - , 2010 , Blackfalds Wranglers , , , - , 2011 , Okotoks Bisons , Blackfalds Wranglers , , - , 2012 , Okotoks Bisons , , , - , 2013 , Okotoks Bisons , Red Deer Vipers , 3-0 , - , 2014 , Okotoks Bisons , Blackfalds Wranglers , 3-2 , - , 2015 , Coaldale Copperheads , Blackfalds Wranglers , 3-0 , - , 2016 , Mountainview Colts , Cochrane Generals , 4-2 , - , 2017 , Red Deer Vipers , Cochrane Generals , 3-1 , - , 2018 , Red Deer Vipers , Coaldale Copperheads , 2-1 , - , 2019 , Airdrie Thunder , Coaldale Copperheads , 3-0 , - , 2020 , Cancelled (Covid-19) , --- , --- , - , 2021 , Cancelled (Covid-19) , , , - , - , 2022 , Okotoks Bisons , Cochrane Generals , 3-0 , - , 2023 , Okotoks Bisons , Sylvan Lake Wranglers , 3-0 , - , 2024 , Okotoks Bisons , Sylvan Lake Wranglers , 4-2 , - , 2025 , Sylvan Lake Wranglers , Okotoks Bisons , 3-1 :Bold text denotes teams that won the Alberta provincial title.

References

* * * *

History

Teams

Former teams

Champions

See also

References

External links