When Major League Yakball formed, all the 16 teams were all American. This angered some Canadians, due to the growing following of the sport. The game was picking up steam in Quebec, and the Canadiens' ownership group persuade a club. When they were denied, Patrie Montreal formed and started up a small league. This quickly formed under the Yakball Association umbrella.
National Hockey League owners began following suit, because they could give themselves discounts on arena leases. Many of the teams are similar to their hockey brothers. In 2019, the league started. There were 16 teams, split into 3 divisions. The West was the largest, stretching from Winnipeg to Victoria. The Ontario division was 5 teams located around the province. The East included both Montreal teams, and stretched to St. John's. It was decided the top 2 in the division would make the tournament, then the top 2 wild card teams advanced too. Each team would play 46 games over the course of the summer.
The national team grew rapidly with 16 teams producing Canadian talent, and made the league easy to promote the league with. Companies jumped on board with naming rights and sponsorships for teams. The Canadians would go on to host, and beat the Americans in the 2024 World Yakball Cup. This was huge for the country, as they would be known for a non-winter sport.
The Championship rotated to a different division every event, and this one took place in Montreal.
It felt right that the two Montreal teams won the East. Ottawa and Hamilton won in Ontario, and Vancouver and Calgary moved on in the west. The wildcards were tight. The best wildcard team was St. John's, which only was 2 games clear. Rapid Saskatchewan lost on the last day of the league to Toronto, letting Winnipeg into the playoffs.
The teams were seeded, setting up the tournament that started the next Sunday. Patrie Montreal was the first seed, and lost to Winnipeg at home. Vancouver took care of St. John's, Calgary beat Hamilton, and the Montreal Maroons beat Ottawa. They were the last hope to defend the Bell Centre. Calgary got to play the 8th seed, and they won by 12, embarrassing the Patrie fans who bought tickets to the semifinals. Vancouver played the Maroons, and they ended the hopes of the city.
Vancouver had a core of players since day one, they had one of the best passing attacks in the league. Calgary became a huge producer of talent, only to sell their players to richer teams. Vancouver had beaten Calgary 5 of the 6 meetings this season, and didn't come out in their best form. Calgary United was hard hitting, and controlled possession. They went into half 6 points clear. Vancouver couldn't get any rebounds, and couldn't get points. Calgary, as a 4 seed, went out and won their first title.
Calgary has the traditional striped sleeves, same as the original series. The crest is based off of the city crest, and pays homage to the Flames. Vancouver is similar to the original look, but with straight stripes on the chest. The pattern also was introduced to the sleeve, to give more of a hockey look.
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