2024–25 BCHL season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2024–25 BCHL season was the 63rd season of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and its second season as an independent league.[1]
20 September - 30 March
Postseason
3 April - 25 May
| 2024–25 BCHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | BCHL |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular Season 20 September - 30 March Postseason 3 April - 25 May |
| Games | 569 |
| Teams | 21 |
| Total attendance | 732,585 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Penticton Vees |
| Post-season | |
| Coastal champions | Chilliwack Chiefs |
| Coastal runners-up | Victoria Grizzlies |
| Interior champions | Brooks Bandits |
| Interior runners-up | Penticton Vees |
| Finals champions | Brooks Bandits |
| Runners-up | Chilliwack Chiefs |
The Merritt Centennials folded its BCHL operations and joined the KIJHL as an expansion team.[2]
The Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) announced that it would withdraw from the Hockey Canada framework and operate as an independent farm league for the BCHL.[3][4]
The league introduced "universal affiliate" players. Teams will be allowed to supplement their rosters with affiliate players from the VIJHL and the Junior Prospects Hockey League (JPHL).
The league granted "exceptional player status" to Eli McKamey, a 15-year-old forward, allowing him to join the Penticton Vees' roster before the age of 16.[5] He was the first player to receive that designation from the BCHL.[6] In May 2025, McKamey was drafted by the Victoria Royals of the WHL.[7]
The league's 21 teams will be organized into two conferences — Coastal and Interior — with each conference divided into West and East divisions. The five Alberta-based teams, which left the AJHL part-way through the 2023–24 season, will play in the East division of the Interior conference, as will the Cranbrook Bucks.[8] The Prince George Spruce Kings, who had been in the Interior Conference, has been moved into the Coastal Conference's East division.[9]
The teams will play a 54-game regular season with top 8 teams from each conference advancing to the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the first seed in each conference will play the eighth seed, the second seed will play the seventh seed, the third seed will play the sixth seed, and the fourth seed will play the fifth seed. Each round will be a best-of-seven series with the winner advancing to the next round.[10]
2024 BCHL showcase
The annual showcase event will take place from 13 - 17 October 2024 in the Fraser Valley cities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, co-hosted by the Vancouver Canucks. The event is an opportunity for NCAA coaches and NHL scouts to observe all 21 teams playing two regular season games each. The games will played in the Abbotsford Centre and the Chilliwack Coliseum. The 2024 event will also include a JPHL under-18 showcase.[11][12]
During the event, the league will also pilot an initiative allowing coaches to lodge a challenge when they believe that a double-minor, major or match penalty should have been assessed. If the challenge is unsuccessful, the challenging team will be assessed a minor penalty for delay of game and will not be permitted another challenge for the rest of the match.[10][13]
Standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points
| Coastal Conference | ||||||
| TEAM NAMES | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilliwack Chiefs | 54 | 37 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 79 |
| Surrey Eagles | 54 | 31 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 67 |
| Cowichan Valley Capitals | 54 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 66 |
| Victoria Grizzlies | 54 | 28 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 65 |
| Coquitlam Express | 54 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 63 |
| Nanaimo Clippers | 54 | 29 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 62 |
| Alberni Valley Bulldogs | 54 | 26 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 56 |
| Prince George Spruce Kings | 54 | 23 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 52 |
| Langley Rivermen | 54 | 21 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 52 |
| Powell River Kings | 54 | 9 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 24 |
| Interior Conference | ||||||
| TEAM NAMES | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS |
| Penticton Vees | 54 | 41 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 87 |
| Brooks Bandits | 54 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 84 |
| Trail Smoke Eaters | 54 | 35 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 74 |
| Salmon Arm Silverbacks | 54 | 32 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 71 |
| Sherwood Park Crusaders | 54 | 33 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 67 |
| Cranbrook Bucks | 54 | 30 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 62 |
| West Kelowna Warriors | 54 | 23 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 53 |
| Okotoks Oilers | 54 | 21 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 44 |
| Spruce Grove Saints | 54 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 44 |
| Vernon Vipers | 54 | 15 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 36 |
| Blackfalds Bulldogs | 54 | 15 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 32 |
Post-season
The first seed in each conference will play the eighth seed in the first round, the second seed will play the seventh seed and so on. The two last-place teams from the Coastal Conference, and the three last-place teams from the Interior Conference are excluded from the post-season.[14]
| First round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Chilliwack | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Prince George | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Chilliwack | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Alberni Valley | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Surrey | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Alberni Valley | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Chilliwack | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Victoria | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Cowichan Valley | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Nanaimo | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Cowichan Valley | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Victoria | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Victoria | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Coquitlam | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Chilliwack | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Brooks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Penticton | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Okotoks | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Penticton | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Cranbrook | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Trail | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Cranbrook | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Penticton | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Brooks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Brooks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| West Kelowna | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Brooks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Sherwood Park | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Salmon Arm | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Sherwood Park | 4 | ||||||||||||||
Scoring leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
| Player | Team | GP | GM | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Loranger | Sherwood Park Crusaders | 54 | 40 | 65 | 105 | 26 |
| Kale Dach | Sherwood Park Crusaders | 54 | 22 | 65 | 87 | 22 |
| Ryan Schelling | Langley Rivermen | 54 | 29 | 46 | 75 | 60 |
| Mateo Mrsic | Chilliwack Chiefs | 53 | 33 | 37 | 70 | 22 |
| Rasmus Svartstrom | Cranbrook Bucks | 54 | 46 | 23 | 69 | 71 |
| Dylan Kinch | Nanaimo Clippers | 52 | 27 | 40 | 67 | 4 |
| Cole Lonsdale | Nanaimo Clippers | 54 | 27 | 40 | 67 | 18 |
| Nathan Free | Brooks Bandits | 54 | 30 | 36 | 66 | 42 |
| Chase Pirtle | Victoria Grizzlies | 54 | 25 | 39 | 64 | 28 |
| Jason Stefanek | Trail Smoke Eaters | 53 | 32 | 31 | 63 | 18 |
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played, Mins = Minutes Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime Losses, GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, Sv% = Save Percentage, GAA = Goals Against Average.
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Hicks | Brooks Bandits | 21 | 1269 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 6 | .943 | 1.37 |
| Will Ingemann | Penticton Vees | 34 | 1954 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 82 | 2 | .892 | 2.52 |
| Andrew Ballantyne | Salmon Arm Silverbacks | 34 | 2011 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 87 | 3 | .909 | 2.60 |
| Teagan Kendrick | Trail Smoke Eaters | 35 | 2077 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 93 | 1 | .915 | 2.69 |
| Ryan Parker | Trail Smoke Eaters | 20 | 1143 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 1 | .910 | 2.78 |