The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and its three Member Leagues are excited to announce the London Knights and the Oshawa Generals as the host clubs for the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada, which will be a two-game series between the CHL and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP). This new event is being added to the calendar starting this season and it will feature many of the best prospects set to be chosen at the 2025 NHL Draft.
The first game of this new event will take place on Tuesday, November 26 at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, while the second contest will be held the following night on Wednesday, November 27 at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. Tickets for both games of the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge will be available to the public starting Tuesday, October 1 at 10 a.m. ET. By being a CHL Insider or registering to become one by Friday (September 20) at 10 a.m. ET, fans can be a part of an exclusive pre-sale and receive a special promotional code that will give them access to a select number of seats ahead of the public on-sale of each game.
Building off of one of hockey’s greatest rivalries between Canada and the United States, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see the top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the CHL’s Member Leagues – Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – face-off against those from the U.S. National Under-18 Team in a two-game series.
“We are really excited to be heading to two strong hockey markets in London and Oshawa for the inaugural edition of this brand-new event,” said Dan MacKenzie, President of the CHL. “The CHL USA Prospects Challenge will be a can’t-miss, two-game series on the prospect calendar not only for this season but for years to come. We look forward to bringing it to life in London and Oshawa this November and providing our incredible fans with a chance to come watch a future generation of NHL stars.”
The format of the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see teams earn two points for a win and zero points for a loss, regardless of whether a game ends in regulation, overtime, or a shootout. If a game is tied after regulation, teams will play a five-minute three-on-three overtime period, followed by a three-round shootout if necessary. If either game is still tied after three players have shot for each team, the shootout will continue in a sudden-death fashion using different players until a team wins the game.
If after the completion of the second game of the series, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge has the CHL and NTDP’s U18 team tied at two points each, the teams will play a three-on-three 20-minute period(s) until a goal is scored to determine the winner of the series.
Set to be a part of the calendar over the next three seasons, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see players from the CHL and NTDP’s U18 team compete before hundreds of NHL scouts and thousands of fans in an effort to improve their draft stock ahead of the upcoming NHL Draft. Players for the CHL team will be provided by NHL Central Scouting as selected by the NHL’s 32 clubs, and much like other national events in the CHL, the hosting duties of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will rotate between the CHL’s three Member League markets each year.
