BRITISH COLUMBIA HOCKEY LEAGUE - 2010's

League Years - 2010's

BCHL Logo 2011 - 50th Anniversary

The British Columbia Hockey League began the 2010s with its representative, the Vernon Vipers, winning the Royal Bank Cup. It is the Leagues' eleventh, Vernons' sixth and the Vipers' fourth National Title.

2010-11 - League sees the loss of the Williams Lake Timberwolves, while the Burnaby Express relocate to become the Coquitlam Express. The Vernon Vipers enter their third consecutive trip to the National Tournament, falling 2-0 to Pembroke in the final.

2011-12 - League celebrate it's 50th Anniversary (1961-2011). 15-year-old affiliate player draft in October, two rounds. The Langley Chiefs adopt a new name the Langley Rivermen. The Quesnel Millionaires have been sold to play out of Chilliwack as the Chilliwack Chiefs. The Chiefs will play in the Interior Conference for 2011-12. They will revert to the Coastal Conference for the 2012 season. The Penticton Vees win the 2012 Royal Bank Cup, the leagues twelfth National Title.

42 Straight

The 2011-12 Penticton Vees were always going to be a good team, but nobody could have predicted the heights they would end up reaching. The team finished second in the Interior Conference the year before, just four points back of the eventual champion Vernon Vipers. The Vees won their first-round series with the Quesnel Millionaires that year, but were bounced by a solid Salmon Arm Silverbacks team in five games in the second round.

The Vees won their first-round series with the Quesnel Millionaires that year, but were bounced by a solid Salmon Arm Silvrbacks team in five games in the second round.The Vees got off to a great start in 2011-12, going 12-3-2 through their first 17 games. On Nov. 5, 2011, they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Merritt Centennials. After that, the team reeled off 42 straight winsbefore their streak was halted on the final game of the regular season. The 42 consecutive victories not only set a BCHL record, but established the mark for the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

That season, Penticton boasted six of the league�??s top-nine leading scorers, including Joey Benik who finished second overall with 96 points in 60 games and future NHLer Mike Reilly who led all BCHL defencemen with 83 points.

In the playoffs, Penticton got by the Chilliwack Chiefs in six, the Merritt Centennials in five and beat the Powell River Kings in four straight to clinch the Fred Page Cup. They eventually capped off their magical season with a national championship after a 4-3 win over the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.

2012-13 - League reduced the games played from sizty to fifty-eight, fifty-six in the regular season & two "Showcase" games. Chilliwack Chiefs reasigned to the Coastal Conference. Realignment of the Conferences include the readdition of the Island & Mainland Divisions as well as a few teams changing Conferences/Divisions. Also, a "Showcase Series" (all sixteen teams play two games in one location, in one weekend) will take place with points awarded going towards the regular season standings. The Surrey Eagles earned a berth to the RBC Cup, loseing in the semifinal, by winning the inaugural Western Canada Cup.

BCHL Logo 2005

2013-14 - BCHL went back to an Interior, Island & Mainland Divisions. This also meant that the playoff format was changed. The Vernon Vipers hosted the 2014 Royal Bank Cup with a semifinal lose to eventual National Champion, Yorkton Terriers (SJHL). The League Champion the Coquitlam Express failed to qualifiy bowing out, of the playoff run, in the Western Canada Cup

2014-15 - League champion, Penticton Vees, won the Western Canada Cup but, lost in the semifinal of the Royal Bank Cup.

2015-16 - The Wenatchee Wild of the USA entered the league to play in the Mainland Division for the season. The West Kelowna Warriors won the Fred Page Cup, Western Canada Cup and the Royal Bank Cup for the leagues 13th National Championship.

2016-17 - Season the playoff format was tweeked with the elimination of the Divisional round-robin started for the 2014 playoffs. This year the winner of the Island and Mainland Divisions play a series to determine who plays the Interior Champion. Penticton won the league Western Canada but, lost in the National semifinal.

2017-18 - Playoff format was re-adjusted to include a cross-over event of the lowest two seeds in the Island/Mainland to the Interior for the 2018 playoffs. The Wenatchee Wild, as League Champion, and Chilliwack Chiefs, as Host, play in the National Tournament. Chilliwack claims the leagues fourteenth national title. After fifteen years on the job, this was the final season(June 1) for John Grisdale as commissioner of the BCHL.

2018-19 - Chris Hebb became the new Commissioner, joined the BCHL in June 2018. Playoffs, top two of the three last-place teams, determined by regular-season points total, will go into the Interior Division for Round 1. The Island and/or Mainland team crossing over will be the No. 7 or No. 8 seed if they have a higher points total than the Interior last-place team.

2019-20 - BCHL season cancelled, after first round of playoffs, March 13, 202, due to recent concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting a New Standard at the Draft

We've talked a lot about the BCHL's performance at the NHL Draft through the decades and how it peaked in quantity in the 2000s where there were the most players selected in any other decade.

But, if you're looking for quality over quantity, the 2010s might be the best stretch for the league. The 2016 draft in particular set a new standard for first-round picks as three BCHL players were chosen on the first day of the draft, the most in league history.

Penticton Vees forward Tyson Jost went 10th overall to the Colorado Avalanche, Vees defenceman Dante Fabbro was taken 17th by the Nashville Predators and Chilliwack Chiefs blueliner Dennis Cholowski was chosen 20th by the Detroit Red Wings.

Later on in the decade, the BCHL also experienced one of the better drafts in history, but what made it more special was the fact it was hosted in Vancouver, allowing many of the league's prospects to attend in person. The 2019 NHL Entry Draft saw eight BCHL players selected, an additional four that would go on to play in the league the following year and two others that had previously played in the BCHL. The highest pick that year was Victoria Grizzlies forward Alex Newhook, fresh off lighting the league up for 100 points. He was taken 16th overall by Colorado and is currently a regular in their lineup, just two years after being drafted.

"It was a pretty crazy day," said Newhook. "It's something you dream of your whole life. To have that kind of support there with my family and my friends from Victoria, it was everything I dreamed of and more."

Source Material: 60th Anniversary Series PDF

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2010's Highlights

In the 2010's the league achieved the following.

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2010's Season by Season Overview

Below you will find a brief overview of the each season in the 2010's.

» 2010-11 » 2011-12 » 2012-13 » 2013-14 » 2014-15 » 2015-16 » 2016-17 » 2017-18 » 2018-19 » 2019-20


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  • 2010-11
  • Williams Lake Timberwolves - folded
    Burnaby Express » Coquitlam Express
  • 60 game schedule
    Coastal Conference & Interior Conference
  • Playoffs, Best-of-seven: 1st in each Conference recieve "Bye"
    Elimination Round: Each Conference - 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5
    High Seed vs Low Seed : Quarter-Finals , Semi-Finals; Finals
  • Champion - Vernon Vipers

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  • 2011-12
  • Langley Chiefs » Langley Rivermen
    Quesnel Millionaires » Chilliwack Chiefs
  • 60 game schedule
    Coastal Conference & Interior Conference
  • Playoffs:
    Top 4 in each Conference: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3
    Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, Final
  • Champion - Penticton Vees

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  • 2012-13
  • Westside Warriors » West Kelowna Warriors
  • 56 game schedule
    "Showcase Seires" added, all teams 2 games befor Reg. Season Start
    Coastal Conference - Island Division & Mainland Division
    Interior Conference
  • Playoffs:
    Coastal Conference- #1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3 Best-of-five - two rounds, final best-of-seven.
    Interior Conference- #1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3 Best-of-seven - two rounds
  • Champion - Surrey Eagles

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  • 2013-14
  • 58 game schedule
    "Showcase Series"
    Interior Division, Island Division, Mainland. Division
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Top 4 in each Division
    Winners of Round 2 host two home games in a round-robin series. One team is eliminated.
    Fred Page Cup Final with the two remaining teams from round 3
  • Champion - Coquitlam Express

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  • 2014-15
  • 58 game schedule
    "Showcase Series"
    Interior, Island & Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Top 4 in each Division
    Winners of Round 2 host two home games in a round-robin series. One team is eliminated.
    Fred Page Cup Final with the two remaining teams from round 3
  • Champion - Penticton Vees

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  • 2015-16
  • Wenatchee Wild added
  • 58 game schedule
    "Showcase Series"
    Interior, Island, Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Top 4 in each Division
    Winners of Round 2 host two home games in a round-robin series. One team is eliminated.
    Fred Page Cup Final with the two remaining teams from round 3
  • Champion - West Kelowna Warriors

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  • 2016-17
  • 58 game schedule
    "Showcase Series" moved up two weeks during Reg. Season
    Interior, Island, Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Round 1:
    Island & Mainland each Top 4
    Interior: Top 2 get bye; also 3rd to 6th
    *Should 5th Mainland have more points than 6th Interior, Mainland cross over to Interior (6th seed Rd1)
    Round 4: Island or Mainland vs Interior (Fred Page Cup)
  • Champion - Penticton Vees
  • 2017-18
  • 58 game schedule
    Interior, Island, Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Island & Mainland; Top 4 / Interior; Top 6
    * 5th Island/Mainland, 7th Interior, may cross over to Interior
    Island or Mainland vs Interior (Fred Page Cup)
  • Champion - Wenatchee Wild
  • 2018-19
  • 58 game schedule
    Interior, Island, Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Island & Mainland; Top 4 / Interior; Top 8
    5th Island &/or Mainland, may cross over to Interior as 7th 8th Seed
    Island or Mainland vs Interior (Fred Page Cup)
  • Champion - Prince George Spruce Kings
  • 2019-20
  • 58 game schedule
    Interior, Island, Mainland Divisions
  • Playoffs: All Best-of-seven series
    Island & Mainland; Top 4 / Interior; Top 6
    Next top two teams, may cross over to Interior as 7th 8th Seed
    Island or Mainland vs Interior (Fred Page Cup)
  • Rounds 2, 3, 4 Cancelled March 12 due to COVID-19 pandemic

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