The Centennial Cup, Canada’s national Junior A hockey championship, gets underway on Thursday. The CJHL’s nine league champions will join the host Western Capitals for the 11-day tournament at Credit Union Place. Summerside and the Metalfab MHL Cup champion Truro Bearcats will be looking to end a 24-year drought for the league, whose last national champion were the Halifax Oland Exports in 2001.
The ten teams are split into two five-team groups, with round-robin play over the course of seven days. The top team in each group earns a spot in the semifinals, while the second and third-place teams in each group will face off in the quarterfinals (2nd in Group A plays 3rd in Group B, and vice versa), culminating in the title game on May 17th.
Group A
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- Canmore Eagles – The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) champions are making their first trip to the national championship in their 31-year history after defeating the Whitecourt Wolverines in five games.
- Niverville Nighthawks – The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) champions reached the Centennial Cup in just their fourth year in existence. Ranked #2 for most of the season by the CJHL, Niverville swept the Virden Oil Capitals to win the MJHL.
- Rockland Nationals – The Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) champions are back after a loss in last year’s Centennial Cup semifinal. Rockland was ranked as the top team in the nation from December 15th onward, and was outside the top-3 just once: the very first rankings of the 2025-26 season.
- Summerside Western Capitals – The Centennial Cup hosts finished first overall in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL), but were eliminated in the Eastlink South Division Final by the eventual champion Truro Bearcats. Summerside won the national title on home ice in 1997 and reached the final as hosts in 1989 and 2013.
- Thunder Bay North Stars – The Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) champions return to the National Junior A Championship for the first time in 20 years after defeating the Fort Frances Lakers in seven games.
Group B
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- Collège Français de Longueuil – The Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Quebec (LHJAAAQ) champions have now made the national championship in three of the last five years, sweeping the Condors du Cégep Beauce-Appalaches this season. The team was ranked #1 in the nation from October 13th to December 1st, and was never ranked by the CJHL lower than 5th.
- Flin Flon Bombers – The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) swept the Yorkton Terriers to end a 33-year title drought. Flin Flon last appeared in the Centennial Cup in 2022.
- Greater Sudbury Cubs – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) champions are back in the national championship for the third season in a row after sweeping the Timmons Rock. The Cubs lost in the quarterfinals last year.
- Toronto Patriots – The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) champions were ranked in the top-5 for most of the season and beat the Newmarket Hurricanes in five games to return to the national championship for the first time in twelve years.
- Truro Bearcats – The Maritime Hockey League (MHL) champions are making their second trip to the national championship after beating the Edmundston Blizzard in five games. Their previous trip was in 2013, when Summerside hosted the tournament.
All 25 games will be livestreamed through HNLive (including preliminary round, quarterfinal, semifinal, and finals) on a pay-per-view basis. The gold medal game on May 17th will also be available on TSN+. You can purchase individual games for $17.99 per game or a tournament pass for $174.99.
Maritime Junior Hockey League team schedules:
Truro Bearcats
Friday, May 8th, 7:30 p.m. vs Greater Sudbury (NOJHL)
Sunday, May 10th, 4 p.m. vs Collège Français de Longueuil (LHJAAAQ)
Monday, May 11th, 7:30 p.m. vs Toronto (OJHL)
Wednesday, May 13th, 7:30 p.m. vs Flin Flon (SJHL)
Summerside Western Capitals
Thursday, May 7th, 7:30 p.m. vs Niverville (MJHL)
Saturday, May 9th, 7:30 p.m. vs Rockland (CCHL)
Sunday, May 10th, 7:30 p.m. vs Canmore (AJHL)
Tuesday, May 12th, 7:30 p.m. vs North Bay (SIJHL)