Capital region junior hockey league expands to seven member clubs
The Capital Region Junior Hockey League announced on Tuesday that junior hockey will return to the town of La Broquerie, Manitoba, for the 2024-25 season.
The La Broquerie Habitants (Habs) - a team rich in hockey history - have become the CRJHL’s second expansion team since 2022.
“We are very happy to be able to build on the tradition of hockey in La Broquerie by bringing a Junior 'B' team to the community,” said team president Ken Tallaire on Tuesday. “There is already a lot of excitement from players and community members, so we can’t wait for the start of the season.”
In January of 2024, La Broquerie celebrated 75 years of Habs hockey through its senior, junior, and community programs. Not even five months later, the community has welcomed back its junior hockey club, which will compete at the highest level in its program history.
La Broquerie Habs junior hockey history dates back to 2002-03, competing as a junior “C” club in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League.
In their inaugural season, the Habs went 19-3-1-1 during the regular season, finishing as league champions after defeating Mitchell in the HTJHL final to secure their only junior title. After the cancellation of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Habs never returned to the HTJHL – leaving the town without a junior hockey team the last four years.
The Habs name pays homage to La Broquerie’s senior men’s team, which was founded in 1948-49. The club won 17 league championships in its history, including two provincial senior titles.
After 70 years, the senior Habs ceased operations in 2019 – they have yet to return.
Though the Habs’ spirit has been carried on in La Broquerie’s minor hockey programs, the community has missed its senior and junior clubs.
“Growing up, I always saw a junior team as well as senior team,” said Denise Turenne in an interview with SteinbachOnline.com during La Broquerie’s 75th anniversary of hockey celebration in January. “My son, who's also in the U18 group, will no longer have anywhere to play once that team has done this year. So, I would love to see more groups added throughout the junior and senior team.”
Just months later, Denise and her son’s wish has been granted – an opportunity to continue playing the game of hockey at a junior level within the community.
The CRJHL was founded in 2018 when five southern Manitoba teams – the Arborg Ice Dawgs, Lundar Falcons, North Winnipeg Satellites, Selkirk Fishermen, and St. Malo Warriors – split from the northern Manitoba teams of the Keystone Junior Hockey League to form a new league, citing travel as the main reason for leaving.
After welcoming Beausejour as the sixth member of the CRJHL in 2022 (the league's finalist this past season), the CRJHL now adds La Broquerie as its seventh team in the league’s six-year history.
"We are incredibly excited to welcome the La Broquerie Habs to the CRJHL family," league president Chris Poponick said. "The inclusion of this new team reflects our commitment to growing the sport of hockey in the Capital Region and providing more opportunities for young athletes to develop and compete at a high level. We look forward to seeing the Habs hit the ice and make their mark in the upcoming season."
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