Cloverdale Junior Hockey Club
Canadian junior ice hockey team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cloverdale Junior Hockey Club is a Junior ice hockey club and franchise of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) based in Cloverdale, British Columbia. The club debuted as an expansion team in the 2025–26 PJHL season and plays its home games at Cloverdale Arena.[1]
| Cloverdale Jr. Hockey Club | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | Cloverdale |
| League | PJHL |
| Conference | Harold Brittain |
| Founded | 2025 |
| Home arena | Cloverdale Arena |
| Colours | St. Patrick's blue Fire engine red |
| Owner | Ronnie Paterson |
| General manager | Brien Gemmell |
| Head coach | Adam Rossignol |
| Website | cloverdalejuniorhockey |
Arena
Brand
In its inaugural season, the team was known as the Cloverdale Jr. Hockey Club. The organization announced that it would seek public input and select a permanent name before the end of the 2025–26 season.[3]
History
The PJHL announced the establishment of the Cloverdale Jr. Hockey Club as an expansion franchise in 2025.[1] The announcement came at a time when the league was undergoing a restructuring process aimed at splitting the league into two separate tiers beginning in the 2025–26 PJHL season.[4] The proposed owner of the Cloverdale franchise, Ronald (Ronnie) Paterson, also founded and remained a partner of the White Rock Whalers.[5] Paterson had previously been a part owner of the Richmond Sockeyes franchise and the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL as well.[6] He was inducted into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame in the "Builder" category in 2023.[7]
Prior to opening day of the 2025–26 PJHL season, the league removed the club the game schedule and issued a statement that the Cloverdale franchise had "not been able to satisfy necessary league bylaws in order to operate as a member club in good standing".[8][9] Subsequently, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of seven PJHL franchises alleging that the league acted in "an oppressive and unfairly prejudicial manner" in relation to the cancellation of the Cloverdale expansion.[10][11]
In responding to the suit, the league stated that the club lacked an approved ownership structure and that there was a conflict of interest involving the White Rock Whalers franchise.[11] The league cited its bylaw stating that that an existing governor or member cannot have any control or financial interest in a new team.[11] The league also stated that the proposed owner had not presented any plan or ownership structure for the team and did not attend any of the required meetings.[11] Further, the league believed that the proposed owner did not want to be a part of the PJHL.[11]
On 18 September 2025, news media reported that the Cloverdale team had been reinstated.[12][13]
Inaugural season
Cloverdale finished the 2025–26 regular season in 5th place in the Harold Brittain conference with a win-loss record of 24-18.[14] They defeated the 4th place Abbotsford Pilots 4-games-to-2 in the first round of the playoffs.[14] They were eliminated in the 2nd round after losing 4-games-to-1 to the White Rock Whalers.[15]
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | Regular season | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 44 | 24 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 5th in division 9th overall | Won first round against Abbotsford (4:2) Lost second round against White Rock (4:1) |
Source: "PJHL standings". pjhl.net. Pacific Junior Hockey League. Retrieved 4 April 2026.