LEAGUE AT A GLANCE

NAME: Maritime Junior A Hockey League

LEAGUE OFFICE: 7 Hayward Court, Fredericton, NB, E3A0A4

LEAGUE PRESIDENT:  Derryl Smith e-mail

TEAMS:

Bent Division — Amherst Ramblers; Antigonish Bulldogs; Halifax Wolverines; Pictou County Weeks Crushers; Truro Bearcats; Yarmouth Mariners;

Meek Division — Charlottetown Abbies; Miramichi Timberwolves; Moncton Gagnon Beavers; Restigouche Tigers, Summerside Western Capitals; Woodstock Slammers.

LOOKING BACK: This is the league’s 41st season. Halifax, Dartmouth, East Hants, Windsor, Kentville and Berwick all iced teams in the inaugural six-team Metro Valley Junior B Hockey League’s 1967-68 season. Truro and Amherst joined the loop for the 1968-69 campaign. The league became a junior A circuit in 1977. Moncton became first none Nova Scotia team in the league in 1983. In 1991 teams from Summerside and Charlottetown joined the league and the name was changed to the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. In 2004-05 season the league expanded to a record 12 teams.

SEASON FORMAT: Each team plays an unbalanced 56-game regular season schedule with more games against divisional opponents. The top three teams from each division automatically make the playoffs. The fourth and fifth place teams in each division following regular season play will face off in a best-of-five mini series to determine the fourth and final playoff spot from each division. The postseason begins in mid-March.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: Yarmouth Mariners won best-of-seven league final for the Kent Cup eliminating Woodstock in six games. This was the third year the Kent Cup was presented. Truro Bearcats in 2007 and Woodstock Slammers in 2006. The previous Callaghan Cup was also presented to Yarmouth as the overall regular season champion.

POSTSEASON: The Yarmouth Ramblers will represent the league at the Eastern Canadian Junior A Hockey championship — aka the Fred Page Cup.. The event is being hosted by Pictou County Weeks Crushers. It is the first of two consecutive years that it will be held in the Maritimes. 2009 will be held in Moncton. The winner advances to the national championship — aka the Royal Bank Cup.

SPECIAL EVENTS: The league holds a Showcase Weekend each season in October and holds an entry draft in June.  The Showcase Weekend is designed to showcase the league’s players to university coaches from Canada and the United States. Each of the 12 teams play twice.