Major junior

Major junior hockey is overseen by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), which acts as the governing body for its three constituent leagues:

• Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League – operating in Quebec and Atlantic Canada with 18 teams
• Ontario Hockey League – operating in Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Michigan with 20 teams
• Western Hockey League – operating in Western Canada, Washington, and Oregon with 22 teams

The CHL currently places a cap of three 20-year-old-or-over players per team, commonly known as "overage players". The CHL also allows up to four 16-year-olds on each roster. While fifteen-year-old players were formerly permitted to play a limited number of games per season at the CHL level, they are now permitted to play only if they are deemed exceptional by Hockey Canada. As of 2020, seven players have qualified under this rule: centre John Tavares in 2005, defenceman Aaron Ekblad in 2011, centre Connor McDavid in 2012, defenceman Sean Day in 2013, centre Joe Veleno in 2015, centre Shane Wright in 2019, and forward Connor Bedard in 2020.^[2][3] CHL teams are currently permitted two "imports" (players from outside Canada or the US, generally from Europe or Russia) each.

Due to paying players stipends and allowing junior players that have signed entry-level contracts with the NHL,^[4] all CHL teams are considered professional by the NCAA; thus any player who plays a game at the Major Junior level loses his eligibility to play for universities in the United States.^[5] The player retains eligibility for Canadian universities however, and all three leagues have programs in place to grant scholarships for any player who plays in these leagues provided he does not turn professional once their junior career ends. Many of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) top prospects play in the CHL.^[6]

The champion of each league competes in an annual tournament with a predetermined host team for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national major junior championship.

Up until 1970, the leagues that were classified as Major Junior and "Junior A" today were both part of Junior A. In 1970 they were divided into "Tier I Junior A" or "Major Junior A" and "Tier II Junior A". In 1980, the three Major Junior A leagues opted for self-control over being controlled by the branches of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and became Major Junior hockey, Tier II Junior A became the top tier of hockey in the CAHA and became Junior A hockey.

Junior A

Junior A (junior AAA in Quebec) hockey is one level below the CHL. Junior A was referred to as Tier II Junior A in the 1970s, until what was called Major Junior A broke away from their regional branches in 1980 and formed the Canadian Hockey League, becoming Major Junior hockey. At that time, the term Tier II was dropped from what is now Junior A hockey. It is governed by the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which oversees nine constituent leagues across Canada as of 2021. The national championship is the Centennial Cup.

From 2021 to 2023, there was one Hockey Canada sanctioned Junior A league that was not a member of the CJHL: the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).^[7] However, the BCHL withdrew entirely from Hockey Canada to become an independently sanctioned league in 2023, leading to Hockey Canada sanctioning the three existing British Columbia Junior B leagues as a new "Tier 2" Junior A status to fill the void left by the BCHL.^[8]

Junior A teams are considered amateur by the NCAA, thus players intending to go to American universities tend to choose this route rather than play in the CHL. Junior A teams tend to play in much smaller markets than CHL teams, and thus play to smaller crowds.

Junior B, C, D

Junior B (junior AA in Quebec) was created in 1933, to differentiate between teams eligible for Memorial Cup competition and those who were not. The major championships across Canada are the Sutherland Cup in Southern Ontario, the Barkley Cup in the Ottawa District, the Coupe Dodge in Quebec, the Don Johnson Cup in the Atlantic Provinces, and the Keystone Cup that represents all of Western Canada, from British Columbia to Northwestern Ontario.

Junior C (junior A in Quebec) generally consists of local competitions, but is considered competitive in some regions, and serve as seeding or farm-teams for Junior B teams. Ontario Junior C Hockey has six rounds of best-of-seven playoffs (up to 42 games per team) for the Clarence Schmalz Cup which was first awarded in 1938. The Ontario Junior C playoffs are played for between six of the Province's seven different regional leagues. In Quebec and West of Manitoba, Junior C hockey tends to be an extension of the local minor hockey system and is sometimes called Juvenile or House League. In Ontario, Manitoba, and the Maritimes, Junior C is run independently of minor hockey systems, though with the same mostly recreational purpose.

Junior D was popular in the 1960s and 1970s in dense population centers, but fell off in the early 1990s. In Quebec, Junior D is now known as Junior B and is run strictly by minor hockey associations. The last Junior D league was the OHA's Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League, the result of the merger of the Northern, Western, and Southern Junior D leagues in the late 1980s. The SOJHL moved to Junior C league in 2012.^[9]

Tier I

The United States Hockey League (USHL) is currently the only Tier I league in the country, consisting of teams in the central and midwestern United States. The USHL provides an alternative to the Canadian Hockey League, which pays its major junior hockey players a stipend, for players who wish to maintain NCAA eligibility for later in their career.

While playing in the USHL, all player expenses are paid for by the team; no membership or equipment fees are charged. Unlike major junior teams, free-college stipend does not exist. Historically, professional leagues have drafted less directly from USHL teams, although this trend has shifted in recent years, coinciding with the USNTDP moving to the USHL in 2009-10. In the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 17 of the 44 players drafted out of the USHL played for the USNTDP. Those 44 draft picks were 16 more than any of the three leagues in the Canadian Hockey League, and included 9 first round picks (8 of which came from the USNTDP) and 7 second round picks.^[10]

For most of its existence the USHL was considered inferior in quality of play to the major junior levels. But it continued to improve and as of 2019 about 21 percent of NHL players had played USHL in their career.^[11] Between 80 and 90 percent of USHL players continued into NCAA hockey.^[12]

Tier II

Currently, the North American Hockey League is the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II league in the United States. The NAHL consists of teams spread across the western two thirds of the United States with a significant concentration of teams in the central and southwestern parts of the United States, although the league began to expand to east coast as of 2015. In October 2016, the Tier III United States Premier Hockey League, a league predominately located on the east coast, applied to USA Hockey for approval of a Tier II league to begin in the 2017–18 season,^[13] however, the league was denied that December^[14] and decided to operate its Tier II league independently.

The NAHL, like the USHL, provides young players an alternative to major junior hockey, although the skill level is considered significantly lower than major junior hockey and typically filled with those who would not or did not make the roster of a Tier I team. Unlike Tier I, the NAHL does not pay for all players' expenses, such as room and board, but there is no tuition cost to the player as in Tier III.

Tier III

In addition to paying for room and board, players at the Tier III level pay a fee or tuition, commonly ranging from $4,000 to $9,500.^[15] This is for all accounts and purposes an amateur level, although some players go directly to NCAA Division I schools. Most Tier III players are looking to increase their skills in hopes to move up to Tier II or I,^[16] while other players go directly to NCAA Division III, ACHA and CHF schools.

Prior to July 2011, USA Hockey split Tier III into Junior A and B divisions. USA Hockey currently has one sanctioned Tier III league, the North American 3 Hockey League^[17]

AAU

The Amateur Athletic Union returned to sanctioning the sport of ice hockey in 2011. Prior to the 2011–12 season, the Western States Hockey League^[19] became the first large-scale junior league to exit USA Hockey in favor of the AAU. In 2012, the AAU formed the United Hockey Union for managing its hockey leagues and held a championship tournament in 2013 and 2014. All junior hockey leagues under the UHU umbrella operated under a similar pay-to-play USA Hockey Tier III and Hockey Canada's Junior A structure, although the WSHL was later considered Tier II within the UHU hierarchy.^[20] The UHU announced that starting in 2017 it would launch a free-to-play Tier I league called the Central One Hockey League;^[21] however, plans for the league were later called off and the people behind the C1HL launched the non-sanctioned USA Central Hockey League in 2018.

One of the main reasons that some teams and leagues chose the AAU was for the looser player import restrictions. In most USA Hockey sanctioned leagues, each team has been limited to a maximum of four non-US citizen players (with a loophole for non-US citizens that have been registered USA Hockey members for three seasons).^[22] However, under AAU sanctioning, teams have been allowed up to 14 non-North American players (meaning players from Canada and the United States are not counted as imports in either country). The increased import limit led to more competitive teams where it was more difficult to recruit local talent. It also allowed more European players opportunities to play in the junior level of North American hockey leagues that would normally be limited under Hockey Canada and USA Hockey restrictions.^[23]

As of 2022, there were no junior leagues still operating with AAU sanctioning after both the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League and Western States Hockey League appeared to have ceased operations.

Self-sanctioned leagues

Other leagues have their own guidelines for team and player restrictions with no outside oversight by a governing body.

Since 2006, the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League has operated as an independent league in Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. The league widely recruits players from outside of North America.^[24]

In late 2016, the United States Premier Hockey League, an organization composed of several USA Hockey Tier III junior as well as many youth hockey leagues, applied for a Tier II league. The Tier II status was denied in December 2016 but the USPHL moved forward with the new league anyway, creating the National Collegiate Development Conference. In response, the USPHL has removed all their junior level leagues (the NCDC and the Tier III-level Premier and Elite Divisions) from USA Hockey sanctioning since the 2017–18 season.^[25][26]

In 2022, the Eastern Hockey League, which was operating two Tier III leagues, also left USA Hockey sanctioning.^[27]