It won't be long before North Central Hockey League (NCHL) games return to our local communities. 

This year, the league will be kicking off their 28th season with the same eight teams from the 2021-2022 season including the following:

  • Lacombe AA Generals
  • Bonnyville Senior Pontiacs 
  • Camrose Crush
  • Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs
  • Red Deer Rustlers 
  • Westlock warriors
  • Morinville Kings

There will be 14 regular season games. 

The Blackfalds Wranglers will not be returning to the ice due to challenges getting executive personnel and ice time. 

“The team would have its share of headaches, specifically finding ice time when they joined the league as an expansion team (Sylvan Lake Pirates) for the 2018-2019 season. They couldn't obtain ice in Sylvan Lake, so they played their games in neighbouring Bentley. In 2019, they announced their move to Blackfalds, but still had to play half of their games in Bentley due to ice shortages in Blackfalds.  With the construction of the new rink in Blackfalds, their ice problems should have gone away, but due to their inability to find interested personnel to sit on their executive, the team decided to discontinue operations,” it says in a release provided by the North Central Hockey League.

The Lacombe AA Generals will hit the ice on October 1st for the first time on the road in Westlock at the Rotary Spirit Centre at 7:00PM.  The Gens first home game will be Saturday, October 8 at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex puck drop is at 7:45PM.