BRITISH COLUMBIA HOCKEY LEAGUE

(Redirected from BCHL)

The 'British Columbia Hockey League' is a tier II Junior "A" ice hockey league under Hockey Canada, a subsection of the Canadian Junior A Hockey League. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCJHL now includes 17 teams. These teams play in two conferences, known as the Coastal and the Interior. The winner of the BCHL playoffs (BCHL Fred Page Cup) continues on to play in the Doyle Cup in a best-of-7 series against the champion of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The winner of the Doyle Cup will compete in the Junior "A" National Championship for the Royal Bank Cup.
:''For the next round of the playoffs, please go to the 'Doyle Cup'.''
:''For the National Championship, please go to the 'Royal Bank Cup 2007'.''

Contents
History
Teams
2006-07 BCHL Fred Page Cup Playoffs
BCHL Fred Page Cup Champions
Former Member Teams
External links

History


In 1961, the heads of four junior "B" hockey teams in the Okanagan region of British Columbia got together and formed the first ever Junior "A" league in British Columbia's history. 'The Okanagan-Mainline Junior "A" Hockey League', the precursor to the BCHL, was comprised originally 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 had stretched out of the Okanagan region, that it need a new name - The 'British Columbia Junior Hockey League'. A year later, the Vancouver Centennials joined the league as well. In the 1970's, the Victoria Cougars jumped to the Western Hockey League and the New Westminster team was forced to fold due to the invasion of the Estevan Bruins into their arena, this version of the Bruins is not the current team in the BCHL. In 1972, the Bellingham Blazers and the Nanaimo Clippers expanded the league to 8 teams.
On a side note, in the early 1970's the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association separated the two tiers of Junior "A" hockey. The BCJHL, being a Tier II league, was disallowed from competing for the Memorial Cup. Therefor, the variety of Tier II Junior "A" leagues across Canada agreed to compete for a new trophy called the Centennial Cup. The 70's also saw the rise of a rival league for the BCJHL. The Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League, which briefly existed in the 1960's, was resurrected by Fred Page, the man that the Eastern Champion Junior "A" Fred Page Cup and the BCHL Championship trophy are named for. The Richmond Sockeyes were the PCJHL's most dominant team, which even defeated Nanaimo in the BC Championship, the Mowat Cup, to move on to what was the precursor to the Doyle Cup. In 1979, the PCJHL and the BCJHL merged. The 77-78 season proved to be a strange one. The BCJHL sent their regular season champion, the Merritt Centennials off to play in the interprovincial playdowns as league champions without playing a single playoff game. 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. Merritt played off against the Prince Albert Raiders of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in the Abbott Cup (the Western Canada Championship) and lost in 5 games (best-of-7). The Raiders lost the Centennial Cup finals to the Guelph Platers of the Ontario Hockey Association.
In 1986, Penticton won the BCJHL's first ever National Championship 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 national title as well.
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 (105), 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 Calgary Flames who played for the since-rename Penticton Panthers, Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils, who played for South Surrey, and Paul Kariya of the Nashville Predators who played for Penticton.

Teams


'Interior Conference'
'Team' 'Centre' '2006-07 Record' 'Finish'
'Merritt Centennials' Merritt 25-27-1-7 6
'Penticton Vees' Penticton 41-14-2-3 1
'Prince George Spruce Kings' Prince George 34-19-2-5 5
'Quesnel Millionaires' Quesnel 8-47-0-5 9
'Salmon Arm Silverbacks' Salmon Arm 36-21-0-3 4
'Trail Smoke Eaters' Trail 35-19-0-6 3
'Vernon Vipers' Vernon 37-19-1-3 2
'Westside Warriors' Westbank 23-25-3-9 7
'Coastal Conference'
'Team' 'Centre' '2006-07 Record' 'Finish'
'Alberni Valley Bulldogs' Port Alberni 21-32-1-6 7
'Burnaby Express' Burnaby 34-25-0-1 4
'Cowichan Valley Capitals' Duncan 36-16-2-6 3
'Langley Chiefs' Langley 29-27-1-3 5
'Nanaimo Clippers' Nanaimo 41-12-2-5 1
'Powell River Kings' Powell River 25-27-3-5 6
'Surrey Eagles' Surrey 17-39-1-3 8
'Victoria Grizzlies' Victoria 39-17-3-1 2

2006-07 BCHL Fred Page Cup Playoffs


BCHL Fred Page Cup Champions



1962 Kamloops Rockets
1963 Kamloops Rockets
1964 Kamloops Rockets
1965 Kelowna Buckaroos
1966 Kamloops Kraft Kings
1967 Penticton Broncos
1968 Penticton Broncos
1969 Victoria Cougars
1970 Vernon Essos
1971 Kamloops Rockets
1972 Vernon Essos
1973 Penticton Broncos
1974 Kelowna Buckaroos
1975 Bellingham Blazers
1976 Nanaimo Clippers
1977 Nanaimo Clippers
1978 Nanaimo Clippers
1979 Bellingham Blazers
1980 Penticton Knights
1981 Penticton Knights
1982 Penticton Knights
1983 Abbotsford Flyers
1984 Langley Eagles
1985 Penticton Knights
1986 Penticton Knights
1987 Richmond Sockeyes
1988 Vernon Lakers
1989 Vernon Lakers
1990 New Westminster
1991 Vernon Lakers

1992 Vernon Lakers
1993 Kelowna Spartans
1994 Kelowna Spartans
1995 Chilliwack Chiefs
1996 Vernon Vipers
1997 South Surrey Eagles
1998 South Surrey Eagles
1999 Vernon Vipers
2000 Chilliwack Chiefs
2001 Victoria Salsa
2002 Chilliwack Chiefs
2003 Vernon Vipers
2004 Nanaimo Clippers
2005 Surrey Eagles
2006 Burnaby Express
2007 Nanaimo Clippers

Former Member Teams



Abbotsford Falcons

Kamloops Rockets

Kelowna Buckaroos

Kelowna Spartans

Revelstoke Rangers

Richmond Sockeyes

Williams Lake TimberWolves

External links



British Columbia Hockey League

BCHL History

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