Opinion: It's Time Hockey Canada And USA Hockey Take Junior Women's Hockey Seriously

Each year the men's hockey world gets to celebrate multiple national championships, and league's across Canada fight for historic titles. Nationally there's the Memorial Cup and Centennial Cup at the Major Junior and Junior A levels respectively. As you climb down the ladder you get events like the Junior B Sutherland Cup in Ontario or the Fred Page Cup in British Columbia for the newly aligned BCHL. In the United States there is the Clark Cup for the USHL and the Robertson Cup for the NAHL.

In women's hockey, only the USA has a true national championship for their 19-U teams, but there are no national junior competitions in Canada, despite the fact the level of competition is high across the nation. The Esso Cup is the lone national event at the club level, but it's an event that doesn't feature the top teams or players in the nation.

Canada's top junior league is the Ontario Women's Hockey League (OWHL), previously known, coincidentally, as the PWHL, short for Provincial Women's Hockey League. From this league, more than 200 alumni are currently playing NCAA D1 hockey, and 43 alumni are in the PWHL.

Powerhouse teams include the Etobicoke Dolphins, Stoney Creek Sabres, Durham West Lightning, Whitby Wolves, Ottawa Lady Senators, Burlington Barracudas, Mississauga Hurricanes and many others.

These teams regularly face off against the best in Canada and the USA in tournament play, but there is no formal crossover, and once they've won an Ontario title, there is no where to go from there. The league itself could and should feature multiple tiers to create more logical pathways. Beyond Ontario however, teams are all over the place, and the level of coordination plummets, and there is no solution in view unless Hockey Canada decides to support women's hockey in Canada, something they've never done before.

Other top programs in Canada include Ligue de Hockey Collégiale du Québec (QCHL). The John Abbott College Islanders, Limoilou Titans, and Champlain College-Lennoxville Cougars are some of the best from the QCHL. But they aren't the only programs in Quebec that could compete at the top level, and this is where things really get confusing in Canada. There's also Stanstead College who plays in the Junior Women's Hockey League (JWHL), a loop spanning Canada and the United States, and the independent Bourget College. Both are top programs in Quebec, with Bourget College fighting for any recognition from governing bodies.

Moving West, top teams typically play in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) like RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna and another British Columbia program Shawnigan Lake. Each province has U-22 junior teams, but they are spanned in many leagues, and vary greatly in skill. In the JWHL, there are also the Pacific Steelers (British Columbia), Northwood School (New Brunswick), and Mount Academy (PEI). The CSSHL has teams like Balmoral (Manitoba) and Calgary Edge (Alberta).

It's a mishmash. Even in the USA. Bishop Kearney and Shattuck St. Mary's are perennial powerhouse programs. Then you can jump all over the USA to find teams like the Chicago Mission, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, Detroit Little Caesars, Newark Ironbound, NAHA, East Coast Wizards, Anaheim Lady Ducks, St. Louis Blues and on and on. There are elite programs in almost every state, and there are also elite high school programs like Minnetonka, Hill-Murray, Edina, and Andover that annually produce top talent.

It's a confusing web that provides no clear pathway for girls to move into women's hockey at higher levels. Players are forced to jump from team to team and city to city, province to province or state to state, or country to country, to find the best teams each year. Men's hockey has been designed to tier development from minor programs and AAA hockey, to Junior C and Junior B, Junior A and Major Junior. There are clear pathways to the NCAA and pros. Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have allowed women's hockey players to flounder and figure it out themselves without providing structure or clear development pathways to college hockey and the pros.

In women's hockey, many of the best players join 5-10 programs in North America who dominate their competition year after year. Lining up against Bishop Kearney or the Etobicoke Dolphins, RINK Academy Kelowna or Shattuck St. Mary's in a tournament is knowing a loss is coming. If those teams, and another dozen on each side of the border formed top level leagues, the path would become more defined.

In Ontario, there is U-18 'AA' hockey, sport school programs, and then 25 teams who play under the OWHL umbrella. Even within that league, the level of play differs so greatly that multiple tiers should be forming to outline pathways to progress for players. For example, many cities feature multiple teams that if combined, would be top level "Major Junior" calibre programs. In Ottawa it would be an amalgamation of the Lady Senators, Nepean Wildcats, East Ottawa Stars, and Lady 67s. Four teams in one city in the top league in Ontario doesn't make sense. If you look to Southwestern Ontario, the same pattern emerges. London has the Devillettes and nearby Bluewater Hawks. There are the Waterloo Ravens and Cambridge Rivulettes. Merging some of these teams, or putting one in the OWHL Elite division, and one in a newly formed tier below of U-22 teams, would help guide programs.

In many states and provinces, there are several programs to choose from within an hour of each other, and it dilutes the development pathways to a point that has hindered bottom up development in women's hockey. The sad part is, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have done little to assist. Men's hockey is constantly evolving at the Junior ranks. Unless however, a league like the OWHL chooses to break free from Hockey Canada as the BCHL did, and bring in additional programs, teams, and players, including from Europe, nothing will change.

Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have put in the time and money to support boys and men's hockey from the grassroots to Junior. It's time they do the same for women's hockey and create a more clear pathway, with logical steps, and tiered competition, for women and girls to follow as they move toward the NCAA, U Sports, and eventually the PWHL.