The Spruce Grove Saints are preparing for their first full season in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) after being exiled from the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) partway through last season.
The Saints were among five Alberta teams punished by the AJHL in January of this year after rumours began to swirl that the teams were looking to join the BCHL at the end of the season.
The Saints had been part of the AJHL for 60 years. The team’s head coach is preparing the club for a new chapter in the franchise’s long history.
“It’s a very competitive training camp that we’ve had, some real good players,” Ryan Marsh said. “We’ve done a really good job of bringing in some real solid new additions to the team and we’ve got some real healthy competition right now, which makes my job tough, but that’s what we want.”
One of the appealing aspects of the BCHL is a perceived higher level of competition. The independent league allows teams to have as many as 20 out-of-province players, two of whom can be from outside of North America.
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“We’re essentially getting the best players in North America that are looking and aspiring to play in the NCAA,” Marsh said. “It’s a great level of hockey.”
For the players, that increased level of hockey could result in more opportunities.
“With the higher calibre of players, and all of those high calibre players being in one league, it attracts a lot more eyes from all those NCAA schools,” Saints centre Ryan Johnstone said. “There’s been a lot more eyes on us since last year when we were making that change and now this year.”
“Just super excited to get into the BCHL and have some better competition for myself and my teammates,” added Saints forward Ethan Kronewitt.
The Saints hope to continue to attract the community of Spruce Grove to its games as it embarks on this new chapter.
“The fans in Spruce Grove are probably just as good as it gets in junior hockey,” Kronewitt said. “They come out every night and support us and we really do appreciate that.”
The Blackfalds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers and the Sherwood Park Crusaders were the other four teams to leave the AJHL join the BCHL.
With files from Slav Kornik, Global Sports
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