For the second year in a row, the Canadian Hockey League will not be crowning the top junior team in the nation.

The CHL made the announcement on Tuesday morning that the 2021 Memorial Cup has been officially cancelled.

“There is no question that the 2020-21 season has been difficult for all involved in CHL hockey,” reads an official press release. “We have focused on making decisions that put the health and safety of our players, staff and the entire CHL family first, while balancing the need to provide our players with the best hockey development opportunity in the world.”

Two the leagues under the CHL umbrella, the Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior League, are in the midst of shortened seasons after only recently dropping the puck. The Kamloops Blazers have been off to a hot start at 6-1-0, the second best win percentage in all of the WHL.

As it now stands, the WHL’s season will finish after the race for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, given to the top team in the league.

The other league within the CHL, the Ontario Hockey League, is yet to even begin the 2021 season.

“As a league, we waited as long as we could in hopes that this was not a decision that we were going to have to make,” continues the CHL press release. “Regrettably, we do not see a path in which we will be able to produce champions in our three member leagues due to border restrictions and quarantining requirements.

“The Memorial Cup is steeped in tradition and is one of the most difficult trophies to win in all of sport. We look forward to awarding it next season to the CHL championship team that has earned the right to hoist it.”

The 2020 version of the Memorial Cup tournament was scheduled to be played in Kelowna in May of last year before it was cancelled in late March. Though no venue had officially been chosen yet for what would have been the 2021 tournament, Ontario was to play the host.

Further decisions regarding the location and date of the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament will be made available at a later date.