Manitoba Centennial Cup
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 Royal Bank Cup
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season |
1996 (1971 Prior to RBC sponsorship) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Cobourg Cougars (1st) |
| Most titles |
 Vernon Vipers (6) |
| TV partner(s) |
TSN FASTHockey |
| Sponsor(s) |
Hockey Canada Canadian Junior Hockey League |
| Related competitions |
CJHL Prospects Game World Junior A Challenge Anavet Cup Doyle Cup Dudley Hewitt Cup Fred Page Cup |
| Official website | Royal Bank Cup Website |
The Royal Bank Cup is an annual ice hockey competition that determines the Canadian Junior A champion. It is played under the supervision of Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Royal Bank of Canada is the title sponsor of both the tournament and the Royal Bank Cup championship trophy.
The forerunner to the Royal Bank Cup was the Manitoba Centennial Cup, which ran for 25 years from 1971 to 1995 inclusive.
The current tournament structure is a five-team round-robin followed by a playoff. The participating teams are the four regional champions and the host team.
The Anavet and Doyle Cups were replaced by the Western Canada Cup from 2013 to 2017. Prior to 1990, the Doyle and Anavet Champions previously played off for the Western Canadian Championship, the Abbott Cup, to advance to the Royal Bank Cup.
In May 1996, the inaugural Royal Bank Cup was held in Melfort, Saskatchewan, continuing the fine tradition of a National Junior ‘A’ championship. Each league across Canada sends their championship club to a regional qualifier, playing for the right to represent the region at the Royal Bank Cup tournament. The first ever winner of the Royal Bank Cup was the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League.
Since the first Royal Bank Cup tournament, every tournament has been played as a round robin tournament with a host city/team and four regional champions competing. By 2013, 18 Royal Bank Cups had been awarded. The winner of the Doyle Cup as Pacific Region champions has won a leading ten times. The winner of the Anavet Cup as Western Region champions and the winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup as Central Region champions have both won twice. The winner of the Fred Page Cup as Eastern Region champions has also won twice. Although four host teams have won the Royal Bank Cup, two of which won their region to compete in the event they were hosting (Fort McMurray Oil Barons in 2000, Halifax Oland Exports in 2002) while two played strictly as hosts and not regional champions (Summerside Western Capitals in 1997, Weyburn Red Wings in 2005). In 2014, the Anavet Cup and Doyle Cup were retired in favour of the Western Canada Cup. The Western Canada Cup tournament included the champions of the four western leagues and a predetermined host city. The top two teams from event gain birth into the Royal Bank Cup. When the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League won the 2014 Royal Bank Cup, they gained entry into the tournament as the Western Canada Cup runner-up making them the first team in Centennial Cup/Royal Bank Cup history to win the national championship with out being the host or a regional champion.
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