Huskies win NWJHL title, head to Hocky Alberta Provincials

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The Fort St. John Huskies captured the 2024-25 Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League championship on March 29th (Street Legal Photography, Facebook)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – With redemption and solidarity on their minds, the Fort St. John Huskies captured the Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) championship this past weekend.

Their six-game series win in the NWJHL finals over the La Crete Lumber Barons on Saturday, March 29th sealed their trip to the 2025 Hockey Alberta Junior ‘B’ Provincials which start this week.

Although happy with the win, the team isn’t about to rest on their laurels, according to their head coach.

“We don’t really have time to be complacent,” said Todd Alexander, who led the Huskies to their fifth title win in the past six seasons. “[It was] a good experience for the boys and nice to get her done in game six.

“We’re just staying in the moment, and we’ll do our best again to be ready for Wednesday.”.

The Huskies will now face champions of the Calgary Junior ‘B’ Hockey League (CJBHL), Edmonton’s Capital Junior Hockey League (CJHL), the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) and North Eastern Alberta Junior ‘B’ Hockey League (NEAHL).

In addition, the CJHL’s Morinville Jets will also compete as the tournament host.

Champions include the juggernaut NWCAA Stamps, who were undefeated in 28 regular season CJBHL games; the four-time defending NEAHL champion Wainwright Bisons; and the Sylvan Lake Wranglers, who defeated last year’s provincial champions the Carstar Okotoks Bisons and lost just one game in the HJHL playoffs.

A familiar foe also awaits the Huskies: the Sherwood Park Knights, the CJHL runner-up who will compete alongside the hosts.

The Knights defeated the Huskies twice in exhibition games back in September.

However, Alexander maintains those games were “a long time ago” and aren’t reflective of the squad going into Morinville.

“Lots of different things have gone on throughout the season,” said Alexander. “Players have grown and gotten better and [are] more accustomed to the systematical play that we have for [the] game plan and the style of play that we play.”

The 2025 Hockey Alberta Provincial tournament begins on Wednesday, April 3rd with the Huskies’ first game against the Morinville Jets.

Game time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Mountain time at the Morinville Arena.

Full scores and results can be found on Hockey Alberta’s event website.