Gryphins And Tigers Vying For The Allan Cup

Sunday, April 19th marks the beginning of the 2026 Allan Cup Challenge tournament, which this year is taking place in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland at the CBS Arena.

Five teams have been invited to take part in the tournament, with defending Allan Cup champion Wentworth Gryphins and the Stoney Creek Tigers representing the Allan Cup Hockey League (ACHL). Also joining the pair of ACHL teams are the Clarenville Ford Caribous, the Minto 81's, and the host Conception Bay Baker Flooring Senior Blues. The tournament was originally slated to include a sixth team from Powell River, but they are no longer attending.

Each team will play a pair of round-robin games before seeding for a page-style playoff system. Defending Allan Cup champion and back-to-back Robertson Cup champion Wentworth Gryphins will open the tournament on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Newfoundland time (1:00 p.m. Eastern) against the Clarenville Caribous. Later that day, Stoney Creek will face the host Conception Bay Blues following opening ceremonies at 7:00 p.m. Newfoundland time (5:30 p.m. Eastern). Both teams will then face off against one another on Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Newfoundland time (1:30 p.m. Eastern).

Playoff action gets underway on Wednesday, April 22nd. The early game will see the fourth- and fifth-place teams battle for the right to advance to Thursday's game against the third-place team. In the other Wednesday contest, first and second place will square off, with the winner advancing directly to the championship game on Saturday, April 25th, and the loser dropping to the semi-finals on Friday, April 24th. Thursday's game will determine the second semi-finalist.

The championship game on Saturday is set for 4:30 p.m. Newfoundland time (3:00 p.m. Eastern) and will be broadcast nationally across Canada on CHCH TV, thanks to a partnership with the local Rogers channel in the Conception Bay area.

Fans can follow all the scoring on the tournament website at https://www.allancup2026.ca/home.

Follow the Allan Cup Hockey League social media on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Bluesky.

For more information contact Allan Cup Hockey Commissioner Rick Richardson at 905-328-4727 or email: rickystar911@outlook.com