Burnaby – On Thursday, the Canadian Junior Hockey League suspended the regional playoffs en route to the Centennial Cup.
Today, it’s all shut down for the year.
In a release from Jesse Adamson, BCHL Communications:
Well, this is not how any of us saw the season coming to an end.
As you likely already know, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey Canada announced yesterday that all activities and events would be cancelled until further notice. That notice came today as the CJHL announced the cancellation of the remainder of the season, the regional championships and the Centennial Cup National Championship.
You can find the CJHL’s release from today in our headlines below, as well as the BCHL’s statement after yesterday’s announcement.
The BCHL Playoffs was supposed to kick of its second round today, but instead the eight remaining teams found out their seasons were prematurely over.
The league would like to extend its regrets to the fans, billets, parents, team staff and especially the players that are affected by this. They worked all year to put themselves in this position and its all been taken away in a matter of days.
Although we understand the disappointment felt by everyone involved, we fully support this decision by Hockey Canada and the CJHL as it was made solely with the interest of public health and safety in mind.
The games may be cancelled for now, but we will still be bringing you content all the way up until we get to drop the puck on next season.
So, stay safe and we hope to see you at the rink again sooner rather than later.
From the CJHL, who just 24 hours previous, was hopeful that the playoffs could continue:
The Canadian Junior Hockey League, in conjunction with its 10 member leagues and Hockey Canada, have officially cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season, due to the ongoing global COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
As a result, all hockey-related activities, including respective League Playoffs, the CJHL’s four regional championship events (Fred Page Cup; Dudley-Hewitt Cup; ANAVET Cup; Doyle Cup) and the Centennial Cup Canadian National Junior A Championship will not be held.
In further consultation with Hockey Canada, it was determined that the cancellation of the CJHL playoffs is an unavoidable outcome.
“We continue to align our direction, consistent with that of Hockey Canada, and support their overall direction completely. “ said CJHL President Brent Ladds.
“We extend our extreme gratitude, understanding and commend the due diligence put forth by the CJHL’s Executive Board, each of our 10 league commissioners/presidents, their staffs and respective clubs and Hockey Canada in their commitment to safeguard all those involved in our wonderful game,” finalized Ladds.
