As the Stanley Cup final marked the end of the 2011-12 hockey season, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was looking ahead to the 2012-13 season during its annual general meeting on the weekend.
Several key points were up for discussion, but perhaps the one with the most impact is that there will be no Showcase this season. After the Battlefords resurrected the Showcase by hosting it two seasons ago, the league has decided to cancel the weekend for the 2012-13 campaign. One of the reasons was that the weekend tournament wasn't attracting as many scouts as they had anticipated.
Instead of the Showcase, there will be an identification camp for 1994 and '95 born players. Players at the camp will compete for a chance to move on to the World Junior A Challenge selection camp for Team West, which Humboldt Broncos coach Dean Brockman will coach.
Also on the agenda was the Hockey Canada Junior A Supplement, which was updated. Some of the key changes include the number of fights a players can incur before a suspension and team fine. Instead of being suspended after a player's sixth fight in the season they will be suspended after their fifth fight for one game. Six fights equals a three-game suspension and $750 team fine, seven equals four games and $1,000 fine, eighth fights results in an eight-game suspension and $1,250. Also there are harsher punishments for players identified as the instigator. After a second instigator penalty the player will receive a one-game suspension and $1,000 fine. The penalty gets more strict as the instigator penalties accumulate.
Also in regards to fighting, a players' total number of fights doesn't get reset after the regular season and before playoffs. It is a running total of the entire season.
The SJHL's governors also tabled an application by Onion Lake First Nation, which applied to be an expansion franchise in the league.
The SJHL's 54-game schedule should be released shortly, as the outline for the schedule has been set and now teams just have to approve it before it is released to the public.
Finally, training camps can begin Aug. 31 with the regular season set to start Sept. 21 and end Feb. 26, 2013.
