 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Junior B hockey champions of:
|
| Country | Canada |
| History | |
| Most wins | |
| Most recent | St. Paul Canadiens |
| Website | keystonecup |
TheKeystone Cup is the Junior Bice hockey championship and trophy for WesternCanada. From 1983 to 2017, the championship was the culmination of the champions of 12 hockey leagues inBritish Columbia,Alberta,Saskatchewan,Manitoba, andNorthwestern Ontario. In 2018, citing costs for travel and accommodations, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan withdrew from competition for the Keystone Cup, making it a championship between Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.
There is no national championship for Junior B hockey in Canada, but similar championships are held inSouthern Ontario (Sutherland Cup),Ottawa District (Barkley Cup),Quebec (Coupe Dodge), andAtlantic Canada (Don Johnson Memorial Cup)—leaving five teams at the end of each year with a shared claim to being the best Junior B team in Canada.
The Keystone Cup was donated to theCanadian Amateur Hockey Association by Keystone Sports fromSelkirk, Manitoba. The inaugural tournament took place in 1983 inPortage la Prairie, Manitoba, and was won by theSelkirk Fishermen of theManitoba Junior B Hockey League.
The championship is determined through a round-robin of the winner of theCyclone Taylor Cup inBritish Columbia, the winner of theRuss Barnes Trophy inAlberta, the winner of theAthol Murray Trophy inSaskatchewan, theKeystone Junior Hockey League, and theWilliam Ryan Trophy inNorthwestern Ontario. In previous years, the winner of the Keystone Junior B League would have had to go through theManitoba Provincial Junior B Hockey Championship, but in 2004 their only competition, theNorthwest Junior Hockey League, folded. The same thing happened in theWilliam Ryan Trophy Championship for the Thunder Bay Junior B League, as their only competition, theNorth of Superior Junior B Hockey League, folded in 2004.
For the 2018 edition of the tournament inThunder Bay, Ontario, teams from British Columbia and Alberta pulled out of the event. NEAJBHL President Ned Graling cited economic concerns whileKamloops Storm general manager Barry Dewar made claims about playing conditions and accommodations in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.[1] The Prairie Junior Hockey League followed British Columbia and Alberta and also withdrew from the 2018 Keystone Cup[2] bringing it to a cross-border clash between the Keystone Junior Hockey League and the Lakehead Junior Hockey League, won by the host Northern Hawks.[3] In mid-November 2019 the teams of the Prairie Junior Hockey League of Saskatchewan decided to send their provincial champion as their representative to the 2020 Keystone Cup.[4] However, the 2020 competition was cancelled as part of the effort to minimize theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5]
InFlin Flon, Manitoba – PBCN Selects host team
| Round Robin | ||||
| Team | League | W-L-T | GF | GA |
| St. Paul Canadiens | NEAJHL | 4-0-0 | 25 | 10 |
| Current River Storm | LJHL | 2-1-1 | 23 | 15 |
| Saskatoon Royals | PJHL | 2-1-1 | 22 | 21 |
| PBCN Selects | Host | 1-3-0 | 8 | 22 |
| Peguis Juniors | KJHL | 0-4-0 | 11 | 21 |
| Round Robin | ||||||
| Game | Away | Score | Home | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 17, 2024 | ||||||
| 1 | Peguis | 2 | St. Paul | 5 | ||
| 2 | Saskatoon | 6 | Current River | 6 | ||
| 3 | PBCN | 4 | Peguis | 2 | ||
| April 18, 2024 | ||||||
| 4 | PBCN | 2 | Saskatoon | 5 | ||
| 5 | Current River | 3 | St. Paul | 6 | ||
| 6 | Peguis | 5 | Saskatoon | 6 | ||
| 7 | St. Paul | 7 | PBCN | 0 | ||
| 8 | Current River | 8 | Peguis | 1 | ||
| |||||||||||||||
| Keystone Cup medal count by Province | ||||
| Region | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| British Columbia | 9 | 5 | 7 | 21 |
| Alberta | 5 | 6 | 6 | 17 |
| Saskatchewan | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| Ontario | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Manitoba | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |