A beginner’s guide to the CHL
Their names are familiar, their pedigree unquestionable. The WHL, the OHL and the QMJHL have long been considered the standard for talent development. No league in the world for players under the age of 20 is comparable to these three when it comes to producing world-class talent. The three leagues all feature a majority of Canadian teams (in the case of the QMJHL – all Canadian) but out of 60 teams total, there are also eight American teams competing.
The Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League together form the umbrella organization CHL, Canadian Hockey League. While governing and regulating the three junior leagues is the CHL’s primary task, it also hosts a combined championship tournament at the very end of the season – the Memorial Cup – pitting the champions of each individual league against one other plus the “host team” that is chosen to organize the event at the beginning of the year. The four-team tournament is usually considered a huge success for whichever city wins the bidding war to host the Memorial Cup. In the last ten years, the cup has been won by OHL teams five times (including the last three tournaments), QMJHL teams three times and WHL teams two times.
Outside of the Memorial Cup, the CHL host two additional events; one being the annual CHL Top Prospects Game where the top 40 prospects eligible for the NHL Entry Draft get a chance to put their talent on display in front of an array of scouts. The other is the Super Series, a collaboration with the Russian hockey federation where a team of the best Russian prospects currently playing in their native country travel to Canada to take on representatives from each of the three CHL leagues. The series is played over six games with the Russian team facing each league twice. The best Russian players from each respective leagues are allowed to represent their nation in the two games that are played against their particular league.
Despite all three being primarily Canadian junior leagues, the OHL, WHL and QMJHL aren’t as homogeneous as you might think, with each distinct league having its signature quirks. If you happened to catch my earlier article about Aleksi Heponiemi’s torching of the WHL, you’d notice I mentioned the WHLs reputation as being a defense-first league. While Heponiemi is making people come around on that impression it does still feature a pretty defensive style, at least compared to the most skill-oriented of the leagues; the QMJHL. Many of the individual CHL records – the organization keeps a joint record book – are currently held by players from the QMJHL.
The OHL is the oldest of the three and also the most well-represented when it comes to the amount of NHL players it has produced. Judging by the success of OHL teams in the past three Memorial Cups, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call it the most competitive section of the CHL currently.
I’ll leave you with a selection of some of the most talented players to come out of each league:
OHL: Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Paul Coffey, Chris Pronger, Steve Yzerman
WHL: Joe Sakic, Scott Niedermayer, Carey Price, Jarome Iginla, Mike Modano
QMJHL: Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur