Continental Junior Hockey League

Continental Junior Hockey League

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2010
No. of teams	4
Country(ies)	United States  Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Alpena Thunder
Official website	CJHL League Website

The Continental Junior Hockey League (CJHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in the Northeastern United States and Canada. The league is currently affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union, previously independent. League President Jim Cashman is the former President of the now defunct semi-pro Gulf Coast Hockey League and North Eastern Hockey League.. League offices are based in Fort Erie, Ontario and Erie, Pennsylvania. The CJHL originally claimed to have 5 teams in Canada and the United States of America for the inaugural season in 2010-11. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

Formation

The league was officially announced on May 28, 2010 on the league website. The teams were announced on June 2, 2010 in Erie, Pennsylvania and Indiana, Pennsylvania, June 4, 2010 in Syracuse, New York and June 11, 2010 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Niagara Fury were announced on June 25, 2010 on the league website. ^[4] On September 3, 2010 the Alpena Thunder joined the league after their league, the Northern Junior Hockey League folded.^[5] Prior to the start of the 2010-11 season it was announced that Johnstown, Indiana, and Syracuse would not play until the 2011-12 season.^[6]

The league's first ever game was on October 23, 2010, when the Alpena Thunder defeated the Niagara Fury 6-4 in Alpena, Michigan. As the only two teams in the league, they played a 18-game season for the 2010-11 season.

Amateur Athletic Union

Early in the Summer of 2011, the CJHL entered into an agreement with the Amateur Athletic Union for sanctioning. As a part of this agreement the league claimed to have ascended to Tier II Junior A, which would put them on par with the likes of the North American Hockey League. When hockey blog site AmericanJuniorHockey.com inquired to the AAU about the Tier II claim, the AAU informed the blog site that they did not have "tiered" hockey structures like USA Hockey and that the claim was therefore false. The AAU also has launched an audit into the CJHL's prior roster keeping practices and allegations of using unsigned and uncarded players. Since these allegation, most mentions of the AAU have been removed from the CJHL website.^[7]

Teams

Teams
Team	Arena	Location
Erie Blizzard	Ice Center of Erie	Erie, Pennsylvania
Mentor Ducks	Mentor Civic Ice Arena	Mentor, Ohio
Niagara Fury	Chippawa Community Centre	Chippawa, Ontario
Columbus Stampede		Columbus, Ohio

Previous Teams

• Alpena Thunder -folded after 2010-11 season.

Champions

• 2011 Alpena Thunder

References

1. ^ http://www.indianagazette.com/articles/2010/08/06/a_sports/10049648.txt
2. ^ http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2659070
3. ^ http://dailyme.com/story/2010060300001502/erie-hockey-team.html
4. ^ http://www.indianagazette.com/articles/2010/07/27/a_sports/10048329.txt
5. ^ http://continentaljrhockeyleague.com/
6. ^ http://continentaljrhockeyleague.com/
7. ^ http://www.americanjuniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=73469

External links

• CJHL League Website