British Columbia Hockey League


The British Columbia Hockey League is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada, a subsection of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 17 teams. These teams play in three divisions, known as the Interior, Island and Mainland divisions. The winner of the BCHL playoffs continues on to play the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion in the Doyle Cup for the right to compete in the National Junior A Championship.

History

In 1961, the heads of four junior "B" hockey teams in the Okanagan region of British Columbia got together and formed the first Junior "A" league in British Columbia's history. The Okanagan-Mainline Junior "A" Hockey League originally consisted of the Kamloops Jr. Rockets, the Kelowna Buckaroos, the Penticton Jr. Vees, and the Vernon Jr. Canadians.
In 1967, the league expanded out of the Okanagan region, bringing in the New Westminster Royals and the Victoria Cougars. With the expansion, the league decided that since it was no longer solely in the Okanagan region that it need a new name, becoming the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. A year later, the Vancouver Centennials joined the league. In the 1970s, the Victoria Cougars jumped to the Western Hockey League and the New Westminster team was forced to fold due to the relocation of the Estevan Bruins into their arena. In 1972, the Bellingham Blazers and the Nanaimo Clippers expanded the league to eight teams.
Meanwhile, in the early 1970s, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association separated the two tiers of Junior "A" hockey. The BCJHL, being a Tier II league, was then disallowed from competing for the Memorial Cup, which had traditionally been the National Junior A Championship trophy. Consequentially, the Tier II Junior "A" leagues across Canada agreed to compete for a new trophy called the Centennial Cup. The 1970s also saw the rise of a rival league for the BCJHL, the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League, which briefly existed in the 1960s, was resurrected by Fred Page for the 1971–72 season. Page had roots in managing junior hockey leagues, and today there are two championship trophies named for him - the Eastern Champion Junior "A" Fred Page Cup and the BCHL Championship trophy. The PCJHL was elevated to a Junior "A" league for the 1973–74 season, adjusting its name to the Pacific Junior A Hockey League. The PJHL champion then competed with the BCJHL champion in a provincial championship, the Mowat Cup, with the winner moving on to what was the precursor to the Doyle Cup. The PJHL's Nor'Wes Caps won the 1976 Mowat Cup, while the PJHL's Richmond Sockeyes won the 1977 and 1979 Mowat Cups. Fred Page agreed to allow a merger between the PJHL and the BCJHL for the 1979–80 season.
The existence of the two Junior "A" leagues in British Columbia caused an unusual turn of events in the 1977–78 season postseason. The BCJHL sent their regular season champion, the Merritt Centennials, to play as the BC representative in the Pacific region interprovincial Doyle Cup, excusing them from the BCJHL playoffs. The BCJHL continued their league playoffs without them, crowning Nanaimo as the playoff champion after Penticton refused to finish the playoff finals due to a series of brawls in the third game of the series. Meanwhile, the Merritt Centennials won the Doyle Cup and advanced to the Abbott Cup against the winner of the ANAVET Cup, the Western region champion Prince Albert Raiders of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Centennials lost to the Raiders, four games to one.
During the 1980-81 season, the Coastal division season was interrupted by a Ferry strike in late January. Since the mainland teams could no longer reach the island teams, the Coastal Division stopped playing, and began extended playoff rounds in place of the regular season.
In 1986, Penticton became the BCJHL's first Junior "A" national champion, defeating the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League's Cole Harbour Colts by a score of 7–4 to win the Centennial Cup. A year later, the BCJHL's Richmond Sockeyes won the league's second consecutive national title.
In 1990, the BCJHL was renamed to British Columbia Hockey League and changed its logo twice in 1990 and 2000.
The most notable star to come from the BCHL is Olympian and National Hockey League hall of famer Brett Hull who played for Penticton. Hull holds the BCHL record for most goals in a season, which he set in 1983–84, a record that still stands today. Other NHLers who once played in the BCHL include Chuck Kobasew of the Penticton Panthers, Scott Gomez of the South Surrey Eagles, Carey Price of the Quesnel Millionaires, and Willie Mitchell of the Kelowna Spartans.
As of July 2013, the TheHockeyWriters.com lists the BCHL as the sixth best developmental league, professional or amateur, in North America.
The Wenatchee Wild, previously of the North American Hockey League had been attempting to get into the BCHL since 2012. On June 1, 2015, it was announced that they would be joining for the 2015–16 season, marking the league's return to the US after a twenty-year absence. The BCHL announced the Cranbrook Bucks as a 2020–21 expansion team, replacing the recently relocated Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League.

Teams

DivisionTeamCityArenaJoined BCHL
CoastalAlberni Valley BulldogsPort Alberni, British ColumbiaWeyerhaeuser Arena1998
CoastalChilliwack ChiefsChilliwack, British ColumbiaChilliwack Coliseum1996
CoastalCoquitlam ExpressCoquitlam, British ColumbiaPoirier Sport & Leisure Complex2001
CoastalCowichan Valley CapitalsDuncan, British ColumbiaIsland Savings Centre1980
CoastalLangley RivermenLangley, British ColumbiaGeorge Preston Recreation Centre1990
CoastalNanaimo ClippersNanaimo, British ColumbiaFrank Crane Arena1972
CoastalVictoria GrizzliesVictoria, British ColumbiaThe Q Centre1967
CoastalPowell River KingsPowell River, British ColumbiaHap Parker Arena1988
CoastalSurrey EaglesSurrey, British ColumbiaSouth Surrey Arena1976
InteriorCranbrook BucksCranbrook, British ColumbiaWestern Financial Place2020
InteriorMerritt CentennialsMerritt, British ColumbiaNicola Valley Memorial Arena1961
InteriorPenticton VeesPenticton, British ColumbiaSouth Okanagan Events Centre1961
InteriorPrince George Spruce KingsPrince George, British ColumbiaRolling Mix Concrete Arena1972
InteriorSalmon Arm SilverbacksSalmon Arm, British ColumbiaShaw Centre2001
InteriorTrail Smoke EatersTrail, British ColumbiaCominco Arena1987
InteriorVernon VipersVernon, British ColumbiaKal Tire Place1961
InteriorWenatchee WildWenatchee, WashingtonTown Toyota Center2015
InteriorWest Kelowna WarriorsWest Kelowna, British ColumbiaRoyal LePage Place1994

National champions

The Centennial Cup is the Junior A National Championship, also previously known under the sponsored name of Royal Bank Cup and RBC Cup, and has been captured by a BCHL team 14 times since the trophy's founding:
Please note: In chart, league champions are bolded.

BCHL Fred Page Cup Playoffs

As of 2019, the top four teams from the Island and Mainland divisions advance to the playoffs, along with the top six Inland division teams, with the top two remaining teams in the regular season standings taking wild card spots and competing in the Interior Division playoff bracket. The postseason consists of four rounds, all consisting of a series of best-of-seven games, with the Island and Mainland Division playoff champions meeting in the league semifinals while the two remaining teams from the Interior bracket meet in the semifinals. The team that wins the Fred Page Cup championship advances to the Doyle Cup.

Timeline of teams

Individual records
Team records
Names in bold indicate inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame