1. What are the changes taking place in the Forest City Hockey League and the Jr. Knights?
The reorganization of the Tier 1 Division of the Forest City Hockey League (FCHL) will have these teams moving to the Alliance seeded league where they will play a complete schedule in that league, including playoffs. This is a one-year pilot project, which has been approved by the Jr. Knights and the Greater London Hockey Association (GLHA) in conjunction with Alliance Hockey and the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF). There will be one seeded team (formerly Tier1) and a minimum of one FCHL MD team (formerly Tier2) in each age category from Atom to Midget.
2. How do I register to play in the FCHL next year?
You register the same as you have in the past through The West London Website. You will be given two tryout dates which you must attend to play in either the Seeded League (formerly Tier1) or FCHL MD (formerly Tier2). The two initial tryouts will be held in late August. Dates and locations will be posted on our Website in May.
3. Can I tryout for the JR. Knights?
Yes a player can try out for the Jr. Knights but he/she must start with their AAA tryouts and must remain with the Jr. Knights tryout program until released. This means the player cannot attend the WLMHA-FCHL tryouts until being released by the Junior Knights and must be registered with West London.
4. Who is running the August WLMHA-FCHL tryouts?
The coaches who are selected by WLMHA will conduct these tryouts. The Jr. Knights will also have people watching these WLMHA-FCHL tryouts and may invite players to attend the Jr. Knights AA team tryouts. If a player is invited to the Jr. Knights tryouts he/she must attend or the player will automatically be assigned to the FCHL MD team (formerly Tier2) and will not be allowed to play or AP to the Seeded League (formerly Tier1).
5. I’ve always played FCHL Tier1 and want to continue to play at this level, how do I make sure this happens?
All competitive players must register with their home association and they will then be assigned to the proper age Division. All players who wish to play on a competitive team must attend two 1½-hour tryouts for their respective age group, to be held in late August. These tryouts will be attended by representatives from the London Jr. Knights and players may be invited to attend the Jr. Knights tryouts. If a player is invited to these tryouts he/she must attend. If a player declines the invitation he/she will be immediately moved to the FCHL MD team (formerly Tier2) tryouts. Players who are not invited to the Jr. Knights tryouts will remain on the tryout schedule for the seeded team (formerly Tier1) and will be required to attend tryouts for these teams that will continue in early September. Players released from the seeded team (formerly Tier1) will then be moved to the FCHL team (formerly Tier2) tryouts. If a player is not selected for this team he/she will then move to the recreation league (CHL). All players must go through the steps of the tryout progression in order to play competitive hockey on a London team.
6. What are the costs going to be for competitive teams next year?
There will be a $275 up charge for Seeded League (formerly Tier1) players and a $225 up charge for FCHL MD (formerly Tier2) players. There is also a $75 tryout fee to cover the costs of tryout ice. The base cost will be posted on the West website in May.
7. I only want to play house league hockey, do I have to go to the tryouts in August?
If you only wish to play in the recreation league (CHL) you will register with WLMHA and will attend the balancing sessions held by WLMHA in late September.
8. Who are the teams in the seeded league (formerly Tier1)?
London Jr. Knights, Brantford, Burlington, Cambridge, Kitchener, Sarnia, Stratford, Waterloo, Woodstock, St. Thomas, North London, Oakridge, SSE/LMHA, West London.
9. Who runs the seeded league?
The seeded league falls under the jurisdiction of Alliance Hockey. The league play beings in mid September and after each team has played a home and home series with the other teams the league is split into two divisions with the top teams being classified as AA (Constellation) and the lower “seeded” teams being classified as A (Bristol). The two divisions then continue playing within their own group to playoffs. The AA teams playdown to decide a champion that competes in the OHF Provincial Championships in April. The A teams compete for the Alliance Championships and then move to the OHF A Championships.
10. Where does the FCHL fit in this?
The FCHL will continue to operate as it has in the past under the jurisdiction of the GLHA. The teams will be classified as MD and will compete with the following Associations; Oakridge, West London, North London, SSE/LMHA, Sarnia (where applicable), Woodstock (where applicable), and Stratford (where applicable).
11. What tournaments will the Seeded League teams be allowed to enter?
The seeded teams (formerly Tier1) will enter A level tournaments and above (AA). The FCHL (formerly Tier2) teams will enter A/MD tournaments and House League Select 1 tournaments. Tournaments for the seeded league teams (formerly Tier1) will have to be selected by early August as part of the Alliance scheduling process.
12. Will the teams continue to have a Christmas break and a March Break when no league play takes place?
The seeded league teams (formerly Tier1) will not have a March Break. The teams will be participating in playoffs that start in February. Once playoffs begin no team is allowed to participate in tournaments which conflict with playoffs.
13. Will the seeded teams (formerly Tier1) be traveling during the week?
Most out of town games for all teams are scheduled on weekends. London in-city teams will play each other during the week depending on ice schedules etc.
14. I only want to play FCHL (formerly Tier2), can I go directly to that level?
No, all competitive players must attend the two tryouts being held in August. Players who are released from the Seeded League team (formerly Tier1) will then go to the FCHL MD (formerly Tier2) tryouts. If a player does not attend the August tryouts he/she will only be eligible to play recreation (CHL) hockey.
15. How long are the games in the Seeded League?
Minimum times are Atom 10-15-15, PeeWee, Bantam and Minor Mid.15-15-15, Midget 15 -15 Flood 20. There may be centres that run longer games.
16. How is the practice ice being assigned?
WLMHA will operate the same as in past years to try to accommodate both The Seeded League teams (formerly Tier1) and FCHL MD teams (formerly Tier2) with 3 hours of practice ice every 2 weeks.
