By Trevor Grimm

It is looking more and more like the USHL will become the fourth CHL league, leaving behind USA Hockey as their former umbrella organization in the process.

Two weeks after reports following a summit between the NHL, CHL, and USHL indicated all three leagues were interested in such a merger, a post on X by Clanko Media has people wondering if it’s set to be formalized very soon.

The Nov. 19 post read “a seismic tremor occurred in the CHL/USAH (USA Hockey) world today…and the aftershocks of this defection are gonna be LOUD.”

The post continued by saying “sworn to secrecy for now, more to come soon.”

While some have speculated this could be one or more franchises annoucing their plans to move leagues, similar to Youngstown and Muskegon last year, that would hardly cause the aftershocks within USA Hockey - using the term USHL would have made more sense if it was the case.

This doesn’t seem to likely involve the Youngstown and Muskegon situation, where they were accepted as OHL expansion franchises late last year, only to be blocked by USA Hockey. Antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler was reportedly hired by both teams, but there has been no indication a lawsuit was ever filed.

If the USHL becomes the fourth CHL league, Youngstown and Muskegon would get their wish of being CHL teams without the expense of a prolonged legal battle.

The CHL, often referred to as major junior, currently consists of the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). Following the regular season, each league plays four best-of-seven series to determine a league champion. The three league champions, plus the host team, then play for the Memorial Cup.

By joining the CHL, the USHL would no longer fall under the jurisdiction of USA Hockey, as the CHL is an independent stricture from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. USA Hockey rules such as the automatic 10 minute misconduct tacked onto a fighting major would no longer automatically apply, although all three CHL leagues have their own rule book.

The status of the U.S. National Team Development Program is another publicly unknown at this point. As the NDTP is run by USA Hockey, there would logically be some question if they would want to work with the CHL. If they did not, the question is, where would they play?

At this point, we have more questions than answers - but those may become clear in the near future.

If this happens, it can only be viewed as a big win for the USHL, a league that has lost several players to the CHL over the past year since the NCAA ruled players who have played CHL were eligible to play NCAA hockey.