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The Canadian Junior Hockey League is the governing body of all Junior "A" ice hockey leagues within the jurisdiction of Hockey Canada. The champion of the CJHL wins the Royal Bank Cup.
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In reality, the CJHL received its start in 1970 when the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Canada Hockey League tore away from the major branches of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and became its own governing body (what would become the Canadian Hockey League). These "Major Junior" Leagues only competed against each other and did not include other Junior "A" leagues that were left behind. The Major Junior League also were permitted to exclusively compete for the Memorial Cup, a right given to all Junior "A" leagues prior to 1970.
In May 1970, Frank McKinnon tabled a motion at the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association AGM to allow the remaining Junior "A" Leagues to compete at a national level for a national championship. The motion was granted and McKinnon and the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association donated the Manitoba Centennial Trophy to the new championship in honour of 100 years of ice hockey in Manitoba. The leagues that would be involved in that first year were the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL), Alberta Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League (TBJHL), Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League (SOJHL), Central Junior A Hockey League (CenJHL), Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association (NOJHA), Maritime Junior Hockey League (MarJHL), and New Brunswick Junior Hockey League (NBJHL).
Some of these leagues formed a formal precursor to the CJHL in 1990 that would be known as the Canada West Association. This organization would be the catalyst for the creation of the Canadian Junior A Hockey League in 1993. In 2008, the league was rebranded the "Canadian Junior Hockey League".
Leagues that have been involved in the CAHA Junior "A" playoff structure have been: the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League (PCJHL), the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League (RMJHL), KJHL, the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League (TBJHL), SOJHL, the Metro Junior A Hockey League (MetJHL), and the PEIJHL. Also, a single team from the United States Hockey League known as the Thunder Bay Flyers, which originated in the TBJHL, played sporadically in the National structure between 1984 and 1995.
To determine a Grand Champion, the winners of each league playdown in four regional championships -- the Fred Page Cup, the Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Anavet Cup, and the Doyle Cup. The winners of the four regionals playoff with a host city for the Royal Bank Cup to determine the National Champion.
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The recovery of the lost history of the Junior A system in Canada has taken years and countless hours of research, dozens of newspaper, and the contact of multiple statisticians. When I, Devan Mighton, began researching hockey in 2006, I was shocked by the lack of research and lack of effort in preserving the history of Amateur hockey in not only Ontario, but across Canada. The people below have made massive contributions, either directly or not directly, to my goal of rebuilding the history of Junior A hockey in Canada.
People of note in this project:
Directly
Indirectly
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