BCHL News & Trades:

I found these press releases off team websites, twitter accounts, blogs or online. All Vipers news-trades are posted on this blog as soon as released-announced.

BCHL News & Trades:

Chiefs Name Dzaman New Director Of Business Development:

The Chilliwack Chiefs are excited to welcome Sara Dzaman as the newest member of its front office staff. Sara will be fulfilling a newly-created role as Director of Business Development to which she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in marketing and event-planning. “We are thrilled that Sara has chosen to join our team,” says Brian Maloney, Head Coach and General Manager. “We know Sara’s leadership will take our business to the next level in fan engagement and entertainment, and that her contributions will be appreciated by our season ticket members and corporate partners.” Sara comes to the Chilliwack Chiefs from her position as Event Coordinator at the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce where she had immense success in creating a variety of memorable events, while also building a network of relationships throughout the community. She was born and raised in Chilliwack and has been married to her husband, Kirk, for 16 years. They have three daughters, Abby, Emma, and Olivia, whom she is proud to be raising in the city she loves. Of the new partnership Sara is enthusiastic. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to work with a great organization like the Chilliwack Chiefs,” Sara says, “and to see how we can develop it to be an outstanding community member.” Sara is a very well-respected member of the Chilliwack community. Her positive attitude and outgoing personality will be an excellent addition to our team and to the Chiefs family at large. We look forward to this exciting new chapter in Chiefs history!

Day Signs Extension With Silverbacks:

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks are pleased to announce the two-year contract extension of Marketing Director Russell Day. Day joined the organization last summer, after graduating from Camosun College in Victoria, B.C. with a degree in sports management, and has been an integral part of the Silverbacks’ business operations since his first day. “Our organization is extremely happy to have Russell signing a two-year extension with us,” Silverbacks General Manager Brooks Christensen said. “Since Russell has joined, he has made a positive impact on our corporate partnerships, our game night operations and our store operations. I am excited to see what the future holds for our organization and know Russell’s position plays a big role in that.” Day said he is very excited to return for another two years. “This past year has been fantastic, working alongside the Silverbacks staff and getting back into the hockey world,” he said. “I cannot say enough good things about the community of Salmon Arm. They are tremendous and I love how supportive they are towards their local team.” Before joining the Backs, the Vernon, B.C. native had a decade of experience in the golf industry, as he worked 10 years at the Vernon Golf and Country Club.

Plenty Of Optimism As Grizzlies Look Towards Next Season:

The Victoria Grizzlies’ 2020 B.C. Hockey League post-season lasted only four games but staff is hoping that was enough of a smell for the young team to be hungry for more in the future. “We have a lot of young guys who will be returning as veterans,” said GM and head coach Craig Didmon. Chief among them is team leading scorer and BCHL rookie of the year runner-up Cody Monds, who is committed to Providence College of the NCAA the season after next. The Interior Division third-seed Salmon Arm Silverbacks swept the Island Division fifth-seed Grizzlies 4-0 in their best-of-seven opening round BCHL playoff series. Three of the games were decided by one goal. “It could have gone either way,” said forward Henri Schreifels, who was the Grizzlies’ leading goal scorer in the regular season. Didmon saw much progress after a slow start to the season. “We had a good push at the end of the regular season with a lot of development shown, and lessons learned, and that bodes well for next season,” he said. Among the Grizzlies losses in terms of players moving on to the NCAA are captain Marty Westhaver to Alabama-Huntsville, Schreifels to Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, blue-liner James Davenport to Northeastern and goaltender Liam Souliere to Penn State. Also graduating is 20-year-old forward Trevor Bishop. “That’s not a big turnover for this league,” added Didmon. “We have a good nucleus returning.” That nucleus includes touted 18-year-old rookie forwards Chase McInnis, who’s committed to Northeastern for 2021, Brendan Bowie (St. Lawrence in 2021), and Andrew Amousse, along with defencemen Isack Bandu and Chace Oliver. The Grizzlies may also see veteran forwards Vincent Nardone, who is a University of Nebraska-Omaha commit, and Alex DiPaolo return for their 20-year-old seasons. Meanwhile, there will be no more cross-over series next year such as the one that featured Victoria and Salmon Arm. With Cranbrook entering the BCHL for 2020-21, there will be balanced Coastal and Interior conferences of nine teams each. Divisions will be eliminated and the standings tabulated in terms of the two conferences. The top eight in each conference will make the playoffs. The end of the Island Division has its benefits, said Didmon. “We’re excited by the change to a straight conference system,” he said. “It will give our fans more variety,” by seeing conference-rival Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley teams more often during the course of a season.

Ferguson Signs Two Year Extension With Warriors:

The West Kelowna Warriors Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club and Simon Ferguson have agreed to a two-year contract extension.  Ferguson has been named the Head Coach of the hockey club after spending the last third of the season as the Interim Head Coach.  He took over on Jan 1st, 2020 and guided the team to a record of 9-10-1-1 and a playoff berth. President Chris Laurie said, “Simon has been a pleasure to work with and he did a tremendous job turning our season around. We were a difficult team to play against down the stretch and Simon has established the culture we want here in West Kelowna.” Ferguson took over a last place team and took one of the BCHL’s youngest rosters to the playoffs.  He has been recruiting for next year, landing some highly touted prospects. Ferguson stated, “I’m very excited to be back in West Kelowna.  We want to continue to build off what we started back in January”. Owners Rod Hume and John Murphy issued the following statement, “We are thrilled to have Simon join our leadership group long term.  When we took over ownership of the Warriors in November of last year, we promised the community that we would work to earn their loyalty and support every day.  This is how Simon approaches his job.  He is a strong leader, prepares with attention to detail, and has a competitive fire that is contagious.  We look forward to supporting Simon as he leads our hockey club.” The Warriors staff, under the leadership of Ferguson, will next be at Royal Lepage Place for the spring Prospect Camp held April 17-19th.

Matta Commits To Salmon Arm Silverbacks:

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks are pleased to announce the commitment of 2002-born defenceman Lucas Matta for the 2020-21 BCHL season. The 17-year-old comes to the Shuswap from Lake Forest Academy, where he played for the last two seasons. This past year he posted 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) in just 25 games, the fourth highest-total amongst all defencemen in the U.S. High School prep circuit. In the 2018-19 season, he tallied 27 points in 41 games. “From the first time we met Lucas, our staff felt things clicked,” Silverbacks General Manager Brooks Christensen said. “To add a dynamic player with Lucas’ skillset is great for our organization. We look forward to the community getting to know him on and off the ice.” The Kleinburg, Ont. native was also named a Midwest Prep Hockey League Malloy Division all-star this past season. “I’m excited to advance to the level of competition that the BCHL offers and am thrilled to do so with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks,” Matta said. “The coaching staff and management team are running a great program and their style of play fits well with my own. I really enjoyed visiting Salmon Arm — it’s a beautiful area and great community. I can’t wait to get out there and get to work next year.” Matta already has an NCAA commitment to Northern Michigan University, who compete in the 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Centennials Give Head Coach/GM Derek Sweet-Coulter Extension:

The Merritt Centennials are proud to announce the extension of Head Coach and General Manager Derek Sweet-Coulter for the 2020-21 season. Coach Sweet-Coulter unexpectedly took over the Cents this season following a 2-9 stumble out of the gate from then Head Coach Barry Wolff. Under Sweet-Coulter’s tenure this season the Centennials went 12-31-1-3, and despite inheriting a tough situation had the Cents in playoff position ahead of the Christmas break and they saw a surge towards the end of the campaign going 4-3 in their last 7. President of the Merritt Centennials Neil Menard echoed the Board’s announcement Friday morning. “At our Board meeting on Wednesday we had a good discussion about the future of the Merritt Centennials, and the future of our coaching staff, and our Board has decided that we will extend Head Coach Derek Sweet Coulter for the coming 2020-21 hockey season.” Head Coach Sweet-Coulter says he’s excited to be back behind the bench and is looking forward to building his own team. “I’m extremely proud to lead this great organization into the future. Thank you to the executive and Board of Directors for their continued support and belief in what we are building. The culture we are creating will be something the entire community can be proud of. As a staff we look forward to building a great program.” The Centennials look to continue to build their team through camps throughout the off-season.

Langley Rivermen: Graduating Players & Eligible Returnees:

After a sweep by the Coquitlam Express in the first round of the BCHL playoffs, the Langley Rivermen now look ahead to the 2020-21 season.

The Rivermen have four players in goaltender Braedon Fleming, defenceman Brian Scoville and forwards Jonathan Stein and Tanner Versluis who have aged out of junior. Defencemen Ryan Helliwell and Jake Livingstone, along with forwards Brendan Budy, Joey Musa and Kalen Szeto are each off to NCAA hockey for next season and won’t be back in the BCHL.

A reminder that all NCAA commitment years are as posted on the BCHL website.

Riv GM and head coach Bobby Henderson has nine players eligible to return up front, four on the blueline and Jonathan Mor in goal. Langley also has eight players eligible to return who will count as 20-year-olds, which means the Rivermen will need to make a decision on two of them to get down to the allowed limit of six 2000-born players for next season.

The depth chart is based on coaches going with a 23-man roster of 13 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders.

Graduating Players

Brendan Budy (University of North Dakota)

Joey Musa (Dartmouth University)

Kalen Szeto (Yale University)

Jake Livingstone (Minnesota State University)

Ryan Helliwell (University of Notre Dame)

Tanner Versluis (aged out)

Jonathan Stein (aged out)

Brian Scoville (aged out)

Braedon Fleming (aged out)

Eligible Returnees

(* indicates an open spot – assuming the team goes with 13 forwards and 8 defencemen)

Forwards

Kaeden Patrick (00)

Sean Bunting (00)

Hunter McCoy (00)

Matthew Hubbarde (00)

Matteo Pecchia (00)

Tristan Fraser (01)

Riley Wallack (01)

Daniel O’Neill (02)

Chase Sandhu (03)

*

*

*

*

Defencemen

Colten Kovich (00)

Will Dow-Kenny (00)

Stephen Sielsky (01)

Tanner Komzak (02)

*

*

*

*

Goaltenders

Jonathan Mor (00)

*

Lawn Commits To West Kelowna Warriors:

The West Kelowna Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club is pleased to announce the commitment of blue liner Pat Lawn (‘01) for the 2020-21 season. The Waltham, Massachusetts native tallied 5 goals and 12 assists in 29 games played with The Rivers School (USHS Prep). “Pat is a blue liner every BCHL team could use,” said Warriors Head Coach Simon Ferguson. “He’s a great skater who is smart with the puck and plays mean and physical in the defensive zone.” Lawn is committed to his hometown Bentley University (NCAA) The 5’11, 170 pound defender had plenty of options on where to play next year, but decided to commit to the Warriors. “The Warriors are an up and coming team under Owner John Murphy and Coach Simon Ferguson,” stated Lawn. “Playing in the BCHL, one of the most well regarded junior leagues in the world, and it will be a great experience for me to grow as a player and a person.” Lawn has a handful of friends from the New England area that recommended playing in the BCHL. “A countless number of my former teammates have played in the BCHL. Cade Webber, Teddy Wooding and Aiden Porter are just a few. They’ve shared nothing but positive feedback from their time there and have all moved on to play division one hockey.”   The Warriors would like to welcome Pat and his family to the City of West Kelowna and the Warriors organization. The Warriors are accepting more positions for their Spring Camp.

Centennials Spring Camp Cancelled:

The Merritt Centennials have come to the unfortunate reality that in light of the current conditions and in the interest of everyone’s safety Spring Camp scheduled for April 3rd to 5th at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena will be cancelled. To all applicants we are happy to transfer your registration to our June camp in Abbotsford which is scheduled from the 5th to 7th at the Summit Centre. If you’re unable to make those dates or would instead like a refund we are happy to offer that option as well. By sticking to the mandate of Hockey Canada we hope that we can resume hockey as we know it soon. Thank you for your understanding during this time.

Van Compernolle Commits To Clippers:

The Nanaimo Clippers have confirmed the signing of 2002 born US forward, Kyle Van Compernolle, for the 2020-2021 season. Kyle is a six-foot six, 190 pound forward who will add some size to the front end of the Clippers. He hails from Williamsburg, Michigan and plays in the Fox Motor U18 program out of Detroit, Michigan. Van Compernolle has played in the US development program and has been drafted not only to the USHL and NAHL but also, the Ontario Junior hockey league (Major Junior). He is committed to the Michigan Tech NCAA Division 1 program for the 2021-2022 season. Darren Naylor, Head Coach and Vice President of the Clippers commented, “In a recent scouting trip, I was introduced to Kyle. He’s a big body hard-working player who’s tough to play against. He’s just my type of player. He had a large amount of interest from Junior A programs as he’s an elite level athlete and I was able to convince him to come to the West Coast. He’s going to fit in nicely on our team next year and is expected to be a leader on what will be a very good team. I’m very excited to be able to coach Kyle who I see as a potential NHL hockey player in years to come.” “I decided to commit to Nanaimo for a number reasons.” said Kyle Van Compernolle “Nanaimo will give me the opportunity to grow, all while being part of a first-class organization and living in a beautiful part of Canada.”