This is the 2017-18 Avalon East Senior Hockey League season. This was scheduled to be the league's 51st season dating back to its founding in 1967.
Membership Changes[]
- The Harbour Grace Cee Bee Stars are removed from the league by league management. The original reason given for the removal was that the league would be easier organized as a four team league and that the Stars were the least desirable geographic (and competitive) fit with the other four. However, accusations (unsubstantiated ones at that) accuse the Stars of paying some of their players (notably Sam Roberts and Matt Thomey) being paid to play. Both players had previously played in the Central/West Senior Hockey League and returned home to play near their families. The Stars have indicated they would rather play in the AESHL but could possibly end up in the CWSHL restoring the league to four members and thus stabilizing that league. The Stars had appealled the decision of the league to Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador.[1][2][3][4]
- A meeting was held just prior to September 12, 2017 involving the Harbour Grace Cee Bee Stars, Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador, and representatives of the four remaining members of the league. The Stars were apparently accepted back into the league but a letter was sent to Rob Leaman of Hockey NL stating that the four other members of the league were withdrawing from the league with the intent of starting a new league made up of the four teams excluding the Stars.[5] Furthermore in the article the Stars indicated that they didn't want to play in the Central/West Senior Hockey League due to the amount of travel required.
- In late October, the Mount Pearl Blades (who last played in 2013-14 season) and the Paradise Warriors were added as a last ditch effort to save the league. The addition of Paradise looks like it may have been doomed from the start as the arena in Paradise was facing temporary closure as the town of Paradise was involved in a labour dispute with its unionized employees. The town's youth hockey program was already scrambling to find ice time in nearby rinks to fill their needs of 65 to 70 hours per week. [6]
- The league was granted Senior B status due to two new teams making up a majority of the membership. This decision would mean that the Harbour Grace Cee Bee Stars would be ineligible to defend their 2017 Herder Memorial Trophy championship. With these set of circumstances the league season was cancelled. The Cee Bee Stars announced they would not be playing this season.[7]