New League Structure for AAA Hockey in Alberta
The structure of AAA male hockey in Alberta will have a different look for the 2020-21 season.
The Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) was announced on Saturday as the new home for Hockey Alberta’s elite male players.
“The new Alberta Elite Hockey League brings all elite male hockey in Alberta under one set of operating standards which is an important step in ensuring that players within the AAA hockey stream are offered a consistent program and experience, regardless of their age division of hockey or location,” said Neil Robertson, chair of the Elite Male Committee.
The decision was made in December to restructure elite male hockey in the province. An extensive review process concluded that a restructured program would be more cost-effective for the members and stakeholders, while helping raise the status of elite male hockey programming, consolidating volunteer workload at the team and organizational levels, and aligning league operations. There was also a Name the League contest.
The AEHL is comprised of the U18 AAA Division (formerly the Alberta Midget Hockey League), U16 AAA Division (formerly the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League), and U15 AAA Division (formerly the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League). Renaming the divisions, to align with Hockey Canada’s new Age Division Names policy, was a key impetus to the overall restructuring decision.
In addition to the new league and divisional structures, the AEHL will be housed on a new, state-of-the-art website platform currently being designed by HockeyTech. The AEHL website is being built in conjunction with a new web platform for the Alberta Female Hockey League, with the goal of providing a one-stop location for all news and information pertaining to elite hockey in the province.
