The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was well represented once again this year at the Centennial Cup in Oakville, Ontario. Commissioner Kyle McIntyre even joined the Melfort Mustangs on their trip to the finals, as you can read about the week that included some tourist stops below.

While they haven't won the big one, the SJHL has certainly made a statement with appearances in the past two Centennial Cup finals. The Melfort Mustangs dropped the championship this year to the OJHL's Collingwood Blues, one year after the Battlefords North Stars lost out to the AJHL's Brooks Bandits.

It was definitely a year to remember. The league, and in particular Director of Marketing Jacob Faith compiled some great statistics from the season that bode well for Saskatchewan's Junior "A" league into the future.

  • Attendance in arenas was up 9.72 percent from the 2022-23 season across the league
  • Eight markets in the post-season reported a whopping average of 1,250 paid fans per game, up 71.52 percent from the regular season
  • Over 423,000 unique viewers logged in to SJHL.ca during the post-season
  • The website was viewed just under 4.5 million times between the beginning of the playoffs on Mar. 22 and the end on Apr. 30.
  • 357 per cent growth in engagement on X/formerly Twitter from the fans; Instagram up nearly 30 per cent
  • Approximately 330,000 minutes were watched on FloHockey and IKS Media’s presentation of the SJHL’s Warman Showcase in mid-November
  • 3,130 unique viewers on average watched the four SaskTel TV Games of the Month in Kindersley, Weyburn, Melfort, and Melville
  • SJHL Finals: Average of 4,719 unique viewers per game tuned in to the SaskTel TV broadcast
  • 57 players from the 23-24 SJHL season have committed to post-secondary hockey programs

The commissioner McIntyre also gave a farewell to the great season. Find that and more in the full release from the SJHL above.

Related Stories