Another great season of BC Hockey League action is well underway. And with a new season comes new looks for some of the teams. Before the 2022-23 season, the Pentiction Vees did a massive overhaul of the look of their franchise. The BCHL has also changed out the large league logo on the chest to a small logo under the collar, similar to the National Hockey League.
This is the second jersey watch article I have done. These articles are inspired by the website Icethetics.com and its jersey watch series for the NHL, which has now become a YouTube series.
Coastal Conference
Alberni Valley Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have switched up their look for this season, not only changing their jersey away from the terrible Reebok Edge-style Ottawa Senators-like jersey but also updating their logo. They went away from a brown-accented bulldog to a grey-accented bulldog.
The jerseys are a combo of their 60th-anniversary ones in the style of the New Jersey Devils while keeping the Chicago-style stripes on the sleeves with no striping around the waist.
Chilliwack Chiefs
Chilliwack just made a small change this season by introducing a mirrored version of its home jerseys from last season. The Chiefs have now fully embraced their connection with the state of Michigan with their full Detroit Red Wings 1950s-style jerseys.
The Chiefs are slowly fading out their gold colour with only the numbers and logo currently having gold on them. The Chiefs will also have a black sponsor jersey this season with the RBC Cup specialty jersey logo from 2018 as the main logo on it.
Coquitlam Express
Coquitlam is keeping the status quo with the same home jerseys the same as last season. However, the Express has a new dark jersey this season that will mirror the home jersey with a black base with a few grey accents around the yellow stripes.
Coquitlam has also introduced a new mascot for all the kids to have fun with.
Cowichan Valley Capitals
The Capitals’ only change this season is their 60th anniversary jersey from 2021-22 becomes their new dark jersey. Meanwhile, Cowichan Valley is keeping its white Washington-inspired jerseys from last season.
Langley Rivermen
Langley has kept the same jersey style it has had since becoming the Rivermen more than a decade ago. The only change is to their dark jerseys with the switch over to the small BCHL logo under the collar.
It also has the Shaw and Chevy logos on the chest. The Rivermen will also wear their 60th anniversary Langley Thunder jersey as a third this season.
Powell River Kings
Powell River has switched up its dark jerseys for this season. The new jersey has a green base with yellow and white stripes on the waist and sleeves.
The stripe design is similar to the Boston Bruins third jersey and the dark jersey the Coquitlam Express wore for several past seasons.
Surrey Eagles
Surrey has new owners which could mean some changes. For this season, it looks like it’s the same as last season but with a new dressing room.
The logo does feature a bit of a change in colours in the hallway leading to the locker room. You’ll notice the Eagles’ word mark features a tinge of yellow.
Victoria Grizzlies
Victoria isn’t changing anything to its jerseys this season but is recycling jerseys for returning players to wear.
At a recent game vs. Cowichan highlighted in the tweet above, you can see the different jerseys in the locker room stalls. Some have the new small BCHL logo under the collar while others have the big BCHL logo on the chest from last season.
Interior Conference
Merritt Centennials
Merritt is celebrating 50 years in the BCHL as the longest continuously-run franchise in league history and has a commemorative logo celebrating the achievement. The Cents black jersey mirrors their white jersey, with the bull logo in place of the normal logo.
Penticton Vees
Penticton has done a full-on revamp. The Vees introduced a new logo this season and it is a retro look with a modern spin. Some think it’s very similar to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The jersey is similar to the Leafs jersey of the 1930s with barber pole stripes on the sleeves with one waist stripe. In my opinion, the only downside to this look is the logo of the dark and white jerseys is the same colour. I’d prefer the dark logo used on the white jerseys and a white version of the logo featured on the dark jerseys.
Prince George Spruce Kings
The Spruce Kings have had a pretty steady look since they changed to New York Rangers-style jerseys in the early 2000s.
The Spruce Kings introduced a third jersey that is black and red with very few other accents to it, other than the Prince George wordmark.
Salmon Arm Silverbacks
The Backs have the same look as last season with their great purple jerseys. Salmon Arm has the new jersey look with the small BCHL logo located under the collar. The Silverbacks also have grey pants and gloves to go along with their white jersey.
Trail Smoke Eaters
The Trail Smoke Eaters have introduced a new black jersey for the 2022-23 season. The jersey has two stripes on the sleeves with one on the waist. The stripes are orange with a white border around them.
Wenatchee Wild
Wenatchee changed its jerseys once again this season. The Wild is going with a black and blue version of the New Jersey Devils-inspired design for its jerseys. In my opinion, the Hartford Whalers-style jerseys from last season where Wenatchee added grey to its colour scheme are the Wild’s best jerseys yet
West Kelowna Warriors
It’s hard to tell what the Warriors will wear in a season because they have no fewer than five different jerseys throughout, plus one-off jerseys for special occasions. So far they have worn a red road jersey with a “warrior” script wordmark, similar to a college jersey.
West-K has also worn its black dragon jersey already this season. It’s a black jersey with two red stripes on the sleeves and their black dragon “WKW” logo. The Warriors have also introduced a new white jersey with stripes matching the black jersey. It also has red shoulders and the dragon logo on the shoulder.
