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 Game 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.

Realignment:

TIE-BREAKER CRITERIA:

WITH RESPECT TO PLAYOFFS, FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING THE TOP TEAMS, THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA SHALL BE USED UNTIL THE TIE IS BROKEN:

1. The Team having the most POINTS.
2. The Team having the most WINS.
3. Team Having the Most WINS IN GAMES VS EACH OTHER
4. The team having the most POINTS IN GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER
5. The Team having the most POINTS IN GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER
6. The Team having the best GOALS FOR AND AGAINST IN GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER. (by taking the goals for and subtracting the goals against in games between the teams)
7. Should teams remain tied after the above tie breakers, the team with the MOST POINTS EARNED in games involving DIVISIONAL OPPONENTS ONLY will be used to determine the DIVISIONAL STANDINGS. (This tie-breaker only applies in determining divisional standings)

PLAYOFF FORMAT:

THE 2022 SHAW BCHL PLAYOFFS, WILL ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING STRUCTURE:

• ROUND ONE: The top-eight teams from each conference will qualify for the postseason and play a best-of-seven series based on the following seeding: 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 & 4 vs 5.
• ROUND TWO: The teams will then reseed in the next round, for the following order: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 in each conference.
• ROUND THREE: The winners will then play in their respective Conference Final.
• ROUND FOUR: The winner of the Coastal Conference final will play the winner of the Interior Conference in the Fred Page Cup BCHL Finals.