The Manitoba U-18 'AAA' Hockey League (MU18HL), formerly the Manitoba Midget 'AAA' Hockey League, is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

league in the province of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. It is the highest level of

minor hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

in the province. The league operates under the supervision of

Hockey Manitoba Hockey Manitoba is the governing body of amateur ice hockey in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Hockey Manitoba was founded in 1914 as the ''Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association'' and is a branch affiliate of Hockey Canada. As part of its mand ...

History

The league was founded in 1985 and provides elite hockey players in Manitoba the opportunity to play at a high level of competition. The league is heavily scouted by the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

, Junior 'A' teams, and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

programs. A number of players have gone to play in these leagues and the majority of Manitobans playing professional hockey have played in the 'AAA' league.

Teams

All teams are regionally based and are operated by Hockey Manitoba's regional minor hockey associations, with the exception of the

Kenora Thistles The Kenora Thistles, officially the Thistles Hockey Club, were a Canadian ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario. Founded in 1894, they were originally known as the Rat Portage Thistles. The team competed for the Stanley Cup, the ice hockey ...

, who are affiliated with

Hockey Northwestern Ontario Hockey Northwestern Ontario (HNO) is the governing body of all ice hockey in Northern Ontario, Canada. Hockey Northwestern Ontario is a branch of Hockey Canada. Jurisdiction Empowered by Hockey Canada, Hockey Northwestern Ontario has control ...

. The Winnipeg region has the option to field multiple teams. Players for each of the teams are selected from the local minor hockey associations within their respective regions.

Former Teams

*Parkland Stars (1985–87) *River East Royals (1985–87) *St. James Canadians (1985–87) *Winnipeg Stars (1986–87), Winnipeg Hawks (1987-03) *Winnipeg Monarchs (1985–89; 1992–94), Winnipeg Mavericks (1989–92)

League Champions

The league champion is awarded the Jack Forsyth Trophy, which is named after a former league commissioner. The MU18HL playoffs are also to determine the provincial championship for Manitoba (teams based outside of Manitoba are not eligible for the Manitoba championship). ;Notes

Telus Cup Playoffs

The Manitoba champion earns a berth to the West Regional Championship and competes against the champions from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

. The winner advances to the national

Telus Cup The Telus Cup is Canada's national Minor hockey, under-18 ice hockey club championship. It is an annual event, held by Hockey Canada each April. From 1979 to 2003, the national championship was sponsored by Air Canada. The current champions ...

, known as the Air Canada Cup until 2003 . MU18HL teams have hosted the national championships three times: the Brandon Wheat Kings in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, the Winnipeg Thrashers in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

(in Selkirk), and the Kenora Stars in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Winnipeg hosted the inaugural national championship in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, before the MU18HL was formed.

National Championship Appearances

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

- Winnipeg Hawks ''representing West Region'' *

- Brandon Wheat Kings ''as host team'' *

- Kenora Stars ''as host team''; Brandon Wheat Kings ''representing West Region'' Gold Medalist *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

- Winnipeg Thrashers ''representing West Region'' Silver Medalist *

- Winnipeg Thrashers ''as host team'' *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

- Winnipeg Thrashers ''representing West Region'' Gold Medalist

Alumni

National Hockey League Players

Other

* Corey Koskie, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player *

Daren Millard Daren Millard (born August 16, 1970 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) is a Canadian sportscaster. Millard began his broadcasting career in radio as he worked in cities including Melfort, Saskatchewan, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Yorkton, Saskatche ...

, sportscaster

References

External links

Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League websiteLeague Record Book
{{Midget AAA Hockey in Canada Hockey Manitoba 1985 establishments in Manitoba Ice hockey leagues in Manitoba Sports leagues established in 1985 Youth ice hockey leagues in Canada