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BCHL Today: Kings add three new players, Centennials reduce losses by $65K, and more…

Brian Wiebe

 

Kings add three new faces

The Powell River Kings announced three new players for 2020-21 on Thursday. Heading to the Sunshine Coast are 2001-born forwards Ben Raymond and Caleb Parkhouse along with 2003-born defenseman Josh Wessels.

Raymond, from Newton, Massachussetts, split last season between Dexter Southfield School prep and the Neponset Valley U18 AAA River Rats.

In 67 games, he finished with 23 goals and 18 assists for 41 points. The centre is set to attend Colgate University in September 2021.

Parkhouse returns to his hometown team after spending 2019-20 playing in Colwood, BC with the junior B Westshore Wolves of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.

He wound up with 16 goals and 11 assists in 41 games during his first season of junior hockey. Parkhouse added five points in five VIJHL playoff games.

Wessels spent the 2019-20 season with the Burnaby Winter Club prep team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League and had 25 points in 34 games on the blueline as a 16-year-old.

The Richmond, BC product also added one goal in two CSSHL playoff games for BWC.

Cents add new members to board of directors

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The Merritt Centennials held their annual general meeting on Thursday night. In addition to electing their 2020-21 board of directors, there were some other tidbits that came out of the meeting.

The Centennials still operated in the red for the 2019-20 fiscal year, with a loss of $31,087. Despite the loss, it’s an improvement of $64,558 over the previous year.

Merritt director of hockey operations John Stuart reported that the Cents, like their other Interior Conference counterparts, won’t likely play any games against Coastal Conference teams this upcoming season.

Stuart also noted the Centennials won’t have any American players on their roster this season, so the issue of getting those players across the border during the COVID-19 restrictions doesn’t apply to them.

Olver inks a new deal with Schwenninger

Forward Darin Olver (34 goals, 55 assists in 59 games with Chilliwack in 2002-03) has signed with the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the DEL, which is the highest level of pro hockey in Germany.

Olver, 35, has spent the last dozen seasons in the DEL, including the last three with ERC Ingolstadt. He is a two-time DEL champion and also was named the BCHL Coastal Conference’s most sportsmanlike player in 2003.

Brandon Cox (15 goals, 44 assists in 168 games with Williams Lake, Quesnel, Coquitlam, and Trail from 2002-05) is the new head coach of the Kerry Park Islanders of the VIJHL.

In addition to coaching the Islanders, Cox, 36, is also the fourth owner the team has had in as many seasons. Kerry Park finished the 2019-20 season with an 11-34-3 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Brian Wiebe

Brian's been involved in the BCHL in a variety of capacities for 17 years. From 2002 to 2012, he served in several roles around the Merritt Centennials organization, including as team president, board member, beat writer, colour commentator, webmaster, media and communications coordinator and marketing assistant. He's been writing about the BCHL since 2008 and served as colour commentator on the TSN 1040 broadcasts in 2012-13. BCHLNetwork is one of Brian's many passion projects that he balances around his full-time job as an instructor in the Radio Arts and Entertainment Program at BCIT in Burnaby.