Ranchland Senior Hockey League

The Ranchland Senior Hockey League is is a men's senior AA hockey league that is based in Southern Alberta. The league started play in 1974.
==2020-22 changes==
The Ranchland Hockey League announced on July 26th, 2020 that they would be admitting the Innisfail Eagles into the league for the 2020-21 season. Innisfail has said their intent is to declare as Senior AAA thus being eligible to compete for the Allan Cup, so they will not be eligible to partake in any of the RHL playoffs.  In other league news, the Kainai Braves have changed their name to the Chiefs, and the Piikani Broncs will not return this season. The League announced on August 19th that it would delay the start of the 20/21 season until December 4th due to regulations surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak. On October 15th, the league announced that they were cancelling the 2020-21 season in it's entirety due to the restrictions imposed from the Corona virus. The league will resume operations for the 2021-22 season. 
*Disclaimer: The following was posted by an Innisfail Eagles representative and/or affiliate and shows blatant bias* 
In January 2022, Hockey Alberta announced that there would be no Allan Cup, and the Innisfail Eagles would be classified as a "AA" team. That action resulted in the member teams fraudulently removing their President and Vice President (who were brought in by Hockey Alberta in an attempt to "clean up" the Ranchland. The Ranchland then decided to remove Innisfail from their league saying they were lied to by the Eagles and were not honest about their reasons for wanting to join the Ranchland. Innisfail appealed this decision and Hockey Alberta announced on March 28 that the Ranchland did not follow HA's direction about reinstating the Innisfail Eagles for the league playoffs. HA informed the league that the Nanton Palominos were required to play the Innisfail Eagles to determine who would attend the Provincial Senior AA Playoffs as the Ranchland Rep. Nanton subsequently refused to play Innisfail so on April 1, HA announced that the Ranchland Hockey League chose not to include the Innisfail Eagles in the league playoff process which was a violation of the Appeals Committee decision and a violation of Hockey Alberta Bylaws. As a result, the RHL is hereby suspended from all operations as a sanctioned senior hockey league of Hockey Alberta. All RHL teams are now ineligible to play any further games this season, including participation at the Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships. The RHL has the summer to sort out their problems - there were a list of interested teams looking to join the RHL but it's not known at this time if the league can repair the damage caused by a select few.
*The Innisfail Eagles came to an agreement with the RHL in the summer of 2020 to play within their regular season. In their own new releases and in local newspapers, they clearly outline in their own words that they will not compete in RHL playoffs. 
Upon the news that Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada cancelled the Allan Cup, Innisfail's upper management used their connections to have themselves re-classified as AA while having a AAA roster. This roster included 2 players with NHL experience, 4 with AHL, 10 ECHL, 8 CIS/USPORTS, 10 WHL and 14 AJHL.
The Ranchland Hockey League stands by its decision to remove the Innisfail Eagles in the preservation of Alberta Senior AA Hockey. 
==Member Teams 2023-2024==
Team 	Centre 	Arena
Fort Macleod Mustangs	Fort Macleod 	Fort Macleod & District Recreation Centre
Kainai Braves 	Stand Off 	Kainai Sports Centre
Lethbridge Lightning 	Lethbridge 	ATB Centre & Nicholas Sheran Arena
Nanton Palominos 	Nanton/High River 	Tom Hornecker Recreation Centre/Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex
Siksika Buffaloes 	Siksika First Nations	Deerfoot Sportsplex
==Seasons==
Season 	Champion 	Season 	Champion 	Season 	Champion
1974-75	Stavely Spurs 	1975-76	unknown 	1976-77	Fort Macleod Broncos
1977-78	unknown 	1978-79	Nanton Palominos 	1979-80	Nanton Palominos
1980-81	Okotoks Sr. Oilers 	1981-82	Nanton Palominos 	1982-83	Okotoks Sr. Oilers
1983-84	Nanton Palominos 	1984-85	Nanton Palominos 	1985-86	Nanton Palominos
1986-87	Nanton Palominos 	1987-88	Nanton Palominos 	1988-89	Taber Buccaneers
1989-90	Okotoks Sr. Oilers 	1990-91	High River Flyers 	1991-92	High River Flyers
1992-93	Claresholm Thunder 	1994-95	High River Flyers 	1995-96	League may not have played
1996-97	Kainai Braves 	1997-98	Fort Macleod Mustangs	1998-99	Fort Macleod Mustangs
1999-00	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2000-01	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2001-02	Fort Macleod Mustangs
2002-03	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2003-04	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2004-05	Fort Macleod Mustangs
2005-06	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2006-07	Fort Macleod Mustangs	2007-08	Lomond Lakers
2008-09	Brooks Blackhawks 	2009-10	Brooks Blackhawks 	2010-11	Brooks Blackhawks
2011-12	Brooks Blackhawks 	2012-13	Blackfoot Miners 	2013-14	Nanton Palominos
2014-15	Nanton Palominos 	2015-16	Nanton Palominos 	2016-17	Nanton Palominos
2017-18	Nanton Palominos 	2018-19	Nanton Palominos 	2019-20	Playoffs Cancelled
2020-21	Season Cancelled 	2021-22	Nanton Palominos 	2022-23	Siksika Buffaloes
2023-24	Lethbridge Lightning 	2024-25	 	2025-26	
==External links==
*Official website
Category:Current Canadian Senior Hockey Leagues
Category:Ranchland Senior Hockey League
Category:Established in 1974