The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) released the schedule for its 58th season, and the Dragons will be hitting the ice in exhibition on Saturday, September 4.
AJHL teams will open Training Camps on August 20 with the 2021 Exhibition Season beginning on August 27. The AJHL will return to 16 teams in 2021-22 with the addition of the Blackfalds Bulldogs for their inaugural season. Each team will compete in a 60-game schedule, including 16 interlock games, and two regular-season games at the Annual AJHL Showcase.
The 46-game exhibition schedule will include a new pilot project after each pre-season game in 2021. Overtime will consist of a 6-minute sudden victory period starting with 3-on-3 play, then moving to 2-on-2 at the first whistle after the 4:00 minute mark, and to 1-on-1 at the first whistle after the 2:00 minute mark. If the score remains tied after overtime a best-of-three shootout will follow.
The Dragons will first play the Brooks Bandits on the road on September 4, and then face them at home at 4 p.m. on September 5. They will open the regular season on Friday, September 17 at home against the Calgary Canucks.
The 15th Annual AJHL Showcase has been awarded to the Brooks Bandits for September 30 - October 3, 2021. The four-day event attracts thousands of fans and over 200 members of the scouting community from the National Hockey League (NHL), NCAA Division I, II, and III schools, as well as Canadian colleges and universities and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). A game schedule for the event will be released in July.
AJHL teams are once again inviting fans to spend the holidays together with several games scheduled on holidays dates throughout the season including Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s. The AJHL will also host five games on Family Day in February 2022. Four AJHL Teams have partnered with local schools to host ‘Hooky Games’ in 2021-22 alongside a growing initiative to raise awareness of anti-bullying.
The Canmore Eagles will continue a long-standing tradition of hosting games in Banff, AB, while the Sherwood Park Crusaders will also host regular-season games in new locations including a game in Viking, AB, and Vermilion, AB.
The 2022 AJHL Playoffs begin March 4 and the prize is bigger than ever in 2022 with the AJHL Champion automatically advancing to the Centennial Cup presented by Tim Horton’s in Estevan, SK from May 20 – 29.
The top team in each division will receive a first-round bye to begin the 2022 AJHL Playoffs. The Viterra AJHL South Division and Viterra AJHL North Division will playoff to determine a divisional champion at the conclusion of Round Three. The North Division Champion and the South Division Champion will then compete in the League Final.
