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Written by Eric Clarke on

 

Over the past two years, I have written quite a few articles about BC Hockey League teams and their jerseys. From looking at all 18 teams’ current threads to the best and most questionable jerseys in each team’s history. I did the top five jerseys of all time in the league and even a jersey watch on the ever-changing jerseys in junior hockey.

Interestingly enough, I noticed some of the changes and festivities put in place over the last couple of years by the teams and even the BCHL itself.

In this article, I’ll look at some of the changes to references I have suggested in my past articles that are being put into place around the BCHL.

Wenatchee Wild

As obvious as the changes can be, a few teams have implemented some of the suggestions I made and their jerseys are much better than what they formerly had.

(Wenatchee Wild)

The Wenatchee Wild appear to have taken my suggestion of having mirrored home and away jerseys. The Wild went with Hartford Whalers-inspired jerseys by adding grey to their colour scheme.

Chilliwack Chiefs

The Chilliwack Chiefs have introduced new home white jerseys, going away from gold striping and having a 1950s Detroit Red Wings-style jersey.

I suggested this idea in my Chilliwack-Michigan connection article as a way to honour the ongoing connection between the Chiefs and the teams in the State of Michigan.

Salmon Arm Silverbacks

Salmon Arm has gone back to its roots. This season the Silverbacks revitalized the old silverback gorilla logo and the purple that made them a force as an expansion franchise in 2001-02.

Purple will always be connected to the Silverbacks no matter what colours they change to. I suggested this in my look at the 18 BCHL team jerseys article.

BCHL taking ideas

This season marks the 60th anniversary of the BCHL. One of the initiatives it has implemented for the 60th celebration is a retro theme night for every team this season as well as retro or regional history jerseys for either third or one-off jerseys.

Earlier, I suggested that if the BCHL implemented a 90s throwback event that there would be some fantastic jerseys on display as well as reverse retros, which could be used if teams choose to go with regional history jerseys in current colour schemes.

Some of the teams already introduced these jerseys or teased them for the upcoming season.

The Prince George Spruce Kings are celebrating 50 years as a franchise spanning three leagues. For those celebrations, they brought back, for two nights, the home and away jersey with their iconic spruce tree logo from the late 90s and early 2000s. I recently named the “angry Christmas tree” one of the top five jerseys in BCHL history.

Trail  teased a retro jersey for this season and I think they are trying to say it’s not their most questionable jersey in franchise history. The logo the Smoke Eaters teased looks similar to the jersey I said was their worst, with the oval logo and the “Smoke Eaters” word mark across the middle of it.

Now, of course, these designs and plans are more than likely a complete coincidence, but let me take the win on this one and believe I had a hand in some of what’s being implemented this season in terms of jerseys and celebrations.