We have an exciting announcement to make! District 5 (and by extension Muskrat Minor Hockey) will be offering a U21 (formerly known as Juvenile) division next season.
This will allow players from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 birth years (for the 2024-2025 season) to continue playing under the Hockey Canada structure to ensure safety and fair play prior to moving on to adult recreational hockey. There are limited details at this time as your Executive is starting planning for next season. However, here are a few notes (subject to change throughout the summer):
- This is house league hockey only, so no body checking. Players that want to continue body checking hockey will have to do so through the Junior A, B or C programs.
- Majority of the season will be games, with limited practice times at the beginning of the season and a few (every 2-3 weeks) sprinkled throughout.
- Games are potentially 3x 15 minute periods and will be run with a 2 official system like adult rec hockey. They will also use the later (9PM+) ice slots to reduce impacts on work commitments.
- Number of teams will be determined by the number of registrations. Early registration helps us plan!
- Cost is yet to be determined but will need to reflect lower practice ice times and officials cost but with increased game time costs compared to U18 House.
We are excited to welcome this new division and allow our players to continue for 3 more years! Please share this news across our hockey community and especially to our U18 players who thought they were aging out this year. We also welcome your questions by email to
[email protected] but we may not have confirmed answers yet, as most details need to come from District 5 and our League.