The Lethbridge Lightning will host a handful of Sr AA hockey teams from across the province in April for the provincial championships.
At the beginning of February Hockey Alberta announced the 2025 Senior AA Male Provincial Championships would be held in the city from April 3rd to 6th. Spokesperson for the event Scott Davis says the local team was originally supposed to host the competition before the pandemic and then afterwards it wasn’t an option with COVID having a significant impact on the program.
“The big thing is, this year is the Ranchland 50th season. It’s a big anniversary for us,” Davis says. “Having it in Lethbridge and representing the Ranch League is a big thing.”
According to Davis over the past couple of years, the league has seen an uptick in interest, with one new team being added this year and two more teams possibly being added next year with the entire country seeing a “big resurgence.”
“It looks like there’s a fair number of guys at a high level who want to continue playing hockey at a high level. So there’s been a lot of interest in senior hockey and especially with leagues popping up all over Canada, not just AA, but also in our division, which is the AA division.”
However, before the league can look to add new teams they will need to finish out the 2025 season. As the hosts the Lightning already are set to compete in the tournament at the beginning of April and will be joined from the top teams in the four Sr AA leagues in Alberta; including the North Central Hockey League, North Peace Hockey League, Ranchland Hockey League and Saskatchewan/Alta Senior Hockey League along with one wild card team.
Davis says what makes Sr AA unique is it is blue-collar hockey.
“We’ve got the whole gamut of people from around Lethbridge. We’ve got a pretty solid group of guys who are just Lethbridge boys who want to play high-end hockey. So you could see everybody from a high school teacher who taught you right through to the policemen who arrested you for speeding.”
The tournament will run from April 3rd to 6th, with all games scheduled to be played at the Cavendish East arena.
