MENZIES: Agreed, the AJHL will be “just” fine, but lots to like with recent changes

I’ll admit it, I sent out some harsh texts about the AJHL’s future when the news of Brooks, Okotoks, Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park, and Blackfalds leaving rocked the Junior A landscape in January. 

But behind these human moments was the realization that the league was never going to be the same, and I thought someone should point out this concern, especially from what I heard about how little communication there was between the league and these teams, once reports broke that they had been accepted in the BCHL for next season. 

Really, my take boiled down to what many have said on Twitter in the past few days once the Whitecourt sale was approved, and a new structure was put in place: the AJHL is going to be just fine. 

I’d make just one edit though: the AJHL is going to be just fine. 

Not Cale Makar, Jakob Bernard-Docker, Dylan Holloway, Aidan Fink, Matteo Giampa elite. Not excellent, just fine. 

Conversely, some people when the exodus ensued believed the AJ was going to be like the SIJHL. The disrespect the Calgary Canucks were given heading into the Centennial Cup was laughable. Of course they were going to be in contention. 

This is the point many had tried pointing out about the AJHL in the past – that the CJHL rankings are garbage, they are an aggregate to represent all the leagues in some fashion, but have no real bearing on how good each of these teams truly are. It’s an impossible task. It’s cannon fodder for discussion, but not worth any more than that. 

So yes, the AJHL is going to be fine, but not nearly what it once was and will be comparable – perhaps even still a slight notch up – to the SJHL, OJHL, MJHL, etc.   

The players will decide the strength of the league. They’ll either go to an AJHL team, or they won’t. It’s that simple. It’s fair to expect that the number of NCAA commits will be down than in the previous decade. 

Thumbs up to many changes

With that said, while we await next season, last Monday we received our first look at the new complexion of the league. Many of the changes are great. 

A 54 game campaign is a great number, and anyone who has heard me on a Pontiacs broadcast knows my thoughts that the 62 game schedule was too many games for an uncertain purpose. 

Plus, best of all, no more participation playoffs. 

You have to earn your way into the post-season, which is how any league should operate. By returning to two, six-team divisions, with the top four in each making the playoffs, now we have playoff races that matter. Now the games matter. Now the development and purpose in your practices matter more. 

The biggest quibble is now a roster can hold eight 20-year-olds. I’m not in love. It seems to me a play purely for WHL castoffs, and pads out rosters that should reserve spots for younger players in order to develop. I don’t believe it’s unanimously beloved. 

Otherwise, like I said, there’s lots to like in terms of how the league functions heading into next season. 

What will the talent level be? Only time will tell. 

With the AJHL alluding to changes in players rules to be announced, one can only hope there’s been a solution to the problem of players up and leaving mid-season to a different league. 

Until then, take a breath. Enjoy the sun. It’ll be cold before you know it.