COVID-19 Update:

This is posted on the BCHL website:

COVID-19 update: Mar. 27

March 27, 2020 

To our valued fans:

As we navigate the many problems that are presented by the COVID-19 crisis, the BCHL would like to assure our fans that we are working diligently to not just survive, but to thrive, when hockey returns. With this in mind, we have presented an action plan to our Board of Governors that was unanimously endorsed and, as a result, our League will be doing everything in its power to continue the amazing 59-year legacy of the best Junior A hockey league in the country – the BCHL.

We have a lot to look forward to next year. For the 2019-20 season alone, we already have a record 163 players committed to NCAA Division I programs and our total of 166 players committed to Canadian and American programs combined are just three short of our league record, with many more to come.

We are truly one of the greatest pipelines to a hockey career, or any other kind of career for that matter, that our young men can aspire to. While we help players get an education, our teams occupy positions of pride, service and financial impact in their communities. Looking ahead to next season, the current 17 communities will be joined by another, as the Cranbrook Bucks will join the league as our 18^th team, opening up the East Kootenays as another market.

We also have every intention of taking the League on the road next year, as we did with the BCHL Road Show in Kitimat just over a month ago on Family Day long weekend. On top of that, we expect that we will have yet another great Showcase Festival in Salmon Arm next season, just as we did last October.

Sadly, we were not able to finish our playoff run this spring, but that just means it is going to make next season’s playoffs doubly exciting as we intend to have 16 teams competing for the Fred Page Cup, as well as a berth in the Centennial Cup National Championship which will be hosted by Penticton.

With all that said, it’s clear we will be very busy in the months ahead and we hope you can join us for what may be the greatest season our League has ever seen, when hockey comes back. And it will come back.

As a fan of the BCHL and of the game of hockey, we would like to thank you for your continued support during these challenging times. Without our fans, the BCHL wouldn’t exist and we are driven to continue to provide you with content and entertainment during this downtime and we’d like to assure you that we will back stronger than ever when this crisis passes. We are also committed to keeping our fans up to date on COVID-19 and how it affects our league during this extended offseason with regular updates on our website, social media and newsletter.

One of those initiatives we have recently launched is our EA Sports NHL 20 simulation of the BCHL Playoffs. We’ve put a player from each team from the eight playoff teams that remained when the season was cancelled and had them faceoff in NHL 20 to decide a simulated winner of the Fred Page Cup. We’ve packaged these series into highlight reels and included BCHL broadcaster calls and videos of the participating players.

You can learn more about the initiative here.

You can also view the highlights from the simulated Coquitlam vs. Surrey series here as well as the simulated Nanaimo vs, Cowichan series here.

The Round 2 Interior Division matchups will go live over the weekend, Round 3 will take place the following week and the simulated Fred Page Cup will take place on Thursday, Apr. 9.

The virus has pressed pause on our League, and on most of the world, for the time being, but when the game returns, we will be there for you and your players with a vengeance.

We can’t wait until the next puck-drop and we hope to have you alongside us when it happens!