BARRHEAD – For the second time in a month, Barrhead town council has unanimously rejected proposals from junior hockey leagues hoping to base a team at the Agrena, citing legal risks, past financial issues, and a lack of local support for previous teams.
On June 24, councillors unanimously approved a recommendation to turn down two offers from rival self-sanctioned Tier 2, pay-to-play Junior 'A' leagues that expressed interest in establishing teams in Barrhead.
One of the leagues is the Canadian-American Junior Hockey League (CAJHL), and the other is the Alberta Elite Junior Hockey League (AEJHL).
At their May 27 meeting, councillors opted to turn down a request from the North Junior Hockey League (NJHL), citing league instability, concerns about being able to collect ice and other rental fees and potential legal liability.
The league was formed in 2023 when the teams from what was then the Western Division of the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL) folded its Western Canada operations in Alberta and British Columbia, leaving several teams without a home. Several of the teams then came together to create the rebranded NJHL, with a focus on Western Canada.
In the 2024/2025 season, the league had eight franchises, including the Edson Eagles, the Lac La Biche Lakers, the High Prairie Red Wings, the Northern Alberta Lightning (based in Mayerthorpe), the Redwater Pioneers, the Crowsnest Crush, the Vulcan Rampage and the Claresholm Thunder.
Parks and Recreation Director Shallon Touet said the AEJHL is a brand-new league, formed in May, and consists of five teams, most of which came from the NJHL.
On June 10, Mike Renner from the breakaway Alberta Lightning submitted a request to bring a team to Barrhead.
"We know who runs the Northern Junior Hockey League," Touet said.
Although he did not name the league, Touet was referring to Derek Prue, formerly of the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA).
The municipality was in negotiations with the WPHA to bring a franchise to Barrhead in 2019. However, council balked when they learned that the Town of Hinton had voided its contract with the WPHA for non-payment, eventually coming to terms with the Long Beach Bombers to relocate to Barrhead. The Bombers, at the time, were part of the Western States Hockey League (WSHL).
Prue subsequently applied for a judicial review of the Town of Barrhead's decision.
Touet told council he was afraid that the same thing could happen again.
"There is apparently language [franchises' NJHL] contracts [that they signed with Prue] if they ever break away, they can't form anything that can compete with the Northern Junior Hockey League for two years," he said. "If we went ahead with this, we know where this is going, to court."
Touet said he has similar concerns about the other request for a junior franchise from the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAJHL). The CAJHL was the league the Bombers were in when the Barrhead Bombers folded at the end of the 2023-2024 season.
After a year hiatus, the league is under new management and also has a connection with the NJHL.
"The new commissioner for that league tried to get into that league, was told the entry fee was $20,000 and was told he was unfit to coach and never got his money back, so now he is forming his own league," Touet said. "Because of the connection with the Northern Junior Hockey League, I have concerns that we could end up in court."
Touet noted both leagues had not made any official requests, such as ice times or for a dedicated dressing room, but said his experience with the Bombers indicates a team in either league would want dedicated storage space and dressing room as well as Monday to Thursday practice time from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 21 Friday or weekend dates for games.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky agreed, noting he recently had a conversation with someone involved with junior hockey, and they believed the "pay-to-play" model wasn't sustainable.
"Now that there is splitting between two or three leagues, it is only going to get worse," he said.
Councillors Rod Klumph, Dausen Kluin and Dons Smith also voiced their support for Touet's position, noting when the Bombers were here, they had very little support from minor hockey or the public.
Coun. Ty Assaf agreed that while the NJHL, AEJHL and CAJHL were not the right fit, he suggested the municipality needs to try to offset some of the arena's operating costs by finding more users for non-peak hours.
"The reason why we agreed to have the Bombers is that the ice they rented in the off-hours and the revenue it generated helped keep the cost of ice down. I know that after the Bombers folded, the costs for Fun Hockey and minor hockey went up," he said, asking Touet if his department was looking for other associations.
Touet said their options were limited.
"The reality is, there is not a lot of people or groups that want to drive this far during the day to use our ice," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
