Annual General Meeting May 26 and 27 in Salmon Arm,
B.C.
At the league's October Governors meeting, the
Board voted in favour of adopting a scorecard to
measure the current standards across the BCHL. The
scorecard covers all areas of team operations,
including hockey operations off-ice business
standards and facility infrastructure.
In an effort to emphasize the business direction of
the league, the Board decided to change Chris
Hebb's title from Commissioner to CEO and
Steven Cocker's title from Deputy Commissioner
to COO.
As part of the four-year plan, the BCHL will
eliminate player fees across the league by year
four. Another requirement will be to install video
review in all arenas. The Chilliwack Chiefs adopted
video review last year and a number of other teams
are set to introduce it for 2022-23.
The Board of Governors approved a five-year
strategic plan for BCHL events, starting with the
2022-23 season. The league's slate of events
for next season includes the BCHL Showcase, the
Road Show, the Top Prospects #and the 60th
Anniversary outdoor event, scheduled for January
2023 after it was postponed last season.
The Governors also voted in favour of adopting an
official policy to allow BCHL athletes to report
any type of abuse, harassment or discrimination
they may incur while playing in the league. As part
of the policy, the league will appoint a Safe Sport
Officer who will be on call and act independently
from the BCHL and its teams. At the team level,
each organization will introduce an Athlete
Advocate who will act on behalf of the players.
Players will be able to report any incidents to
either the Safe Sport Officer, the team's
Athlete Advocate or previous reporting avenues
already in place. The BCHL created the policy using
the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada
(SDRCC) as a resource.
The Board of Governors approved the creation of a
BCHL Officiating Development Program. The stated
goal of the program is to focus on developing
current officials, recruiting future officials and
retaining the best officials by creating a
professional environment.
The league unveiled the winners of two year-end
awards at the Annual General Meeting. Victoria
Grizzlies Governor Ron Walchuk was voted as the
BCHL's Executive of the Year. The BCHL also
announced the co-winners of the league's
Marketer of the Year Award. This year's
recipients are Allison McCarthy, Corporate Sales
and Event Manager for the Trail Smoke Eaters, as
well as Chris Laurie, President of the Warriors.
The BC Hockey League has announced new dates for
its 60th Anniversary event after it was postponed
last season due to the pandemic.
The rescheduled event will be held in Penticton,
B.C. from Jan. 20 to 22, 2023. The format will be
the same as last year's planned event and will
include activities on the newly built outdoor rink
in the downtown area.
Schedule:
- Friday, Jan. 20: Top Prospects #(South Okanagan
Events Centre)
- Saturday, Jan. 21: BCHL Alumni #and Skills
Competition (Outdoor rink)
- Sunday, Jan. 22: 3-on-3 BCHL All-Star #
(Outdoor rink)
The BC Hockey League has hired three new staff
members for the league office.
The league has brought in Mario Galea as
Coordinator of Finance, Alex Waddington as
Coordinator of Events and Monique MacKinnon as the
league's first Safe Sport Officer. Galea has
been an accountant dating back to 2001 and has
worked for various companies, including Chantelle
Management in Langley, Specialty Care Inc. in
Toronto and Pico of Canada in Burnaby. He received
his accounting education and training at the
University of British Columbia, British Columbia
Institute of Technology and the Certified General
Accountants of British Columbia. Galea replaces
Jake Baker who was previously the league's
Manager of Finance.
As the Coordinator of Events, Waddington will
oversee the planning and execution of the
league's 60th Anniversary outdoor event, as
well as the BCHL Road Show in Burns Lake, B.C. She
is already very familiar with the league, having
worked as the Penticton Vees Director of
Sponsorship and Business Development from 2018 to
2021. She currently works for Canucks Place
Children's Hospice as the Officer of Events and
Sponsorship. Waddington previously worked for the
Vancouver Canucks for over two years as an Account
Executive. She received a Bachelor's Degree
from Simon Fraser University in 2014.
MacKinnon will fill the volunteer position of Safe
Sport Officer as part of the league's Abuse,
Harassment and Discrimination Policy that was
passed by the Board of Governors in May. She will
be on call for all BCHL athletes who wish to report
an incident and will act independently from the
league and its teams. In addition to taking medical
courses related to pain management, prescription
drug use and brain health, MacKinnon received
training at the U.S. Center for SafeSport and will
be taking Safe Sport and Respect Group training
from Hockey Canada. MacKinnon graduated with an
Honours Bachelor of Physical Education degree from
the University of Ottawa. She is currently a
Leadership, Employee Management, Workplace Culture
and Change Specialist that has over 30 years of
experience as an international speaker, consultant
and coach.
BCHL set to launch video review pilot project at
2022 Showcase
The BC Hockey League Board of Governors has
approved a pilot project to expand video review at
the 2022 Showcase event Oct. 17 to 20 in
Chilliwack.
Through the use of the Sporfie video system,
officials will be able to review all penalties
where a player would be ejected from the #, except
for Abuse of Official or Gross Misconducts.
Upon review, the officials will have the ability to
confirm if the call on the ice is correct, elevate
the call to a Match Penalty, lower the call to
where the player will not be ejected or eliminate
the penalty all together.
These situations are in addition to rules already
in place where officials can review whether or not
a puck entered the net, whether it entered as a
result of an illegal play, goaltender interference
or whether the net was knocked off.
The current video review regulations were
originally tested out at the 2021 Showcase and
approved by the BCHL Board of Governors last
December.
Officials will also be wearing microphones at the
Showcase to announce penalties and video reviews
in-arena, so that fans and broadcasters are aware
of what is being called on the ice.
BCHL to become independent league
The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) has
announced a new path, continuing its mission to
build a world class college-track junior league for
players seeking NCAA and U Sports Scholarships and
to establish a tier of hockey that to date has not
been seen in Canada.
To grow and create more opportunities for players
and more excitement for fans, the BCHL's Board
of Governors has voted to not renew the
league's agreement with Hockey Canada, meaning
its 18 franchises will operate outside Hockey
Canada's system as of June 1, 2023.