The British Columbia Hockey League announced today that it will not renew its agreement with Hockey Canada and will operate as an independent league going forward.
There’s been much written about the BCHL’s stance over the last few years as it relates to the league leaving the Canadian Junior Hockey League and producing a document to modernize Canada’s junior hockey system. The announcement about leaving Hockey Canada is the apex of those discussions.
As part of our coverage of the BCHL’s decision to become an independent league going forward, BCHL Commissioner Steven Cocker took time to answer questions posed by BCHLNetwork owner and editor-in-chief Brian Wiebe regarding the decision.
BCHLNetwork: With the move to leave Hockey Canada, what will change operationally for each team day to day?
Steven Cocker: Not a lot. Our teams, our athletes, and our fans should expect a lot of the same. We’re going to be still operating out of our 18 communities and we feel the talent in our league is going to rise. Players are going to be challenged more and I think that’s going to bring about a more competitive (league) and honestly, in the end, a better degree of development in the BCHL.
BN: A big role Hockey Canada played was the certification and training of coaches and athletic trainers. What plans does the BCHL have now to equal or better the level of training upheld by Hockey Canada?
SC: There’s been a ton of work behind the scenes to get us to this point, in terms of making sure we have everything in place that equals, if not gives us a bit more, the coverage we had inside Hockey Canada. That goes from insurance down to as you said, certifications for officials and coaches.
We will still, in the short term, keep the National Coaching Certification Program, which is a government-funded operation that runs Hockey Canada’s coaching certification, as a requirement for our coaches. It is a great tool and a great resource for our coaches.
We know that under Hockey Canada regulations right now, they have a specific clause calling for that resource, so certification should be made available, even for those who are not under Hockey Canada’s umbrella. It is something we will certainly, for the short term, continue to have as a requirement and we’ll just continue to look at filling in any blanks that we need to.
BN: What does the BCHL being independent of Hockey Canada mean for junior B and U18 AAA players who want to be affiliate players for a BCHL team?
SC: There’s obviously a lot to be determined between May 1 and June 1, especially with that kind of transfer into the new season under Hockey Canada. Again, our goal is to have more opportunities for athletes across the country. We understand there are some regulations in place right now that may hinder an athlete’s ability to play under Hockey Canada and affiliate and practice with our teams.
All I will say is that we want more opportunities for those athletes, and if we can tutor or lobby that being involved with the BCHL is good for them, and good for their development, and will continue to work on raising the standards and the level of development in this province. I think there’s something we can come to in terms of an agreement with the governing bodies. As for now, it’ll be a wait-and-see approach we take throughout the summer.
BN: What mechanisms will the BCHL have in place now to handle issues like injuries, harassment, and rule infractions?
SC: The good thing is we started building up those services and that framework even into last year. Our Safe Sport officer mimics what the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner has in place. It’s a contact point for our athletes to report any abuse, harassment, and anything they’re experiencing in the BCHL that needs to be reported to an independent body. That independent person will still be in place.
Our Safe Sport Officer is an independent position with the league as a third party and if something gets to a point where it needs to be investigated, that individual has the ability to put that into an independent investigation. We’re not starting from scratch, we already have that position in place.
BN: How about rule infractions like penalties, suspension guidelines, and things like that? It’s governed by Hockey Canada and the BCHL has to come up with that on its own now.
SC: The BCHL has done a lot of work over the past two to three years to look at where it wants to adjust some playing rules. We had a significant stance in reducing the ability for players to get involved in fights and really strengthened our stance when it comes to fighting majors.
It’s something I think we have an extremely strong handle on internally and know the direction we want to go as a league. Everything we do is preparing our athletes for college hockey and that’s what we’re gonna continue to do so. This goes back to your first question about what’s going to change. We’re going to try to make minimal changes and have an ease of transition to keep an even keel into next year.
BN: Hockey Canada states that on-ice officials, including referees and linespeople who choose to officiate non-sanctioned league games, may not be granted assignments for Hockey Canada-sanctioned programming for the remainder of that season. I read that as though the door might be open for officials to participate in both. How does the BCHL interpret that statement?
SC: This was a discussion we had internally and what we went pretty deep on is what is going to be the status of officials in this province. We came to the conclusion that the status of officials available in the province right now is declining. There are not a ton of officials involved in hockey in B.C. and we want to be a part of the solution to fix that. So that’s going to be one of our strongest points coming to the table with BC Hockey and saying, “Look, we have 17 teams based in British Columbia and we think there are still areas we can work together on, and one of those is the officials in this province.”
I think any side, whether that’s us or them taking the opposite approach, will just have a negative effect on the entire province and hockey from youth up into the BCHL. So again, we’re going to take the approach of — and we’ve always taken this approach — doing what’s best for the officials and doing what’s best for the athletes. More opportunity is great and it helps them in their development as professionals, and again, we want to continue being a leader on that front and developing officials for the next level, just like we do for athletes.
BN: What are the plans for roster sizes as an independent league?
SC: We’ve had a lot of discussions and a lot of planning up until today over the past 2-3 months and even beyond. We are going to increase our rosters and it will kind of mimic that college hockey field of bigger rosters. The rationale for that is exactly what we touched on before, which is the possibility that we won’t have access to affiliates. We want to make sure that our teams have the ability if injuries come up or anything is needed that we have expanded rosters.
BN: It was mentioned in the release and in the FAQ on the league website about B.C. players. There’s concern that an expanded roster, the potential of recruiting players from out of province that are under the age of 18, and even from the United States and other countries around the world could impact B.C.-born players. Is there a minimum number of B.C. players that BCHL teams are required to have right now?
SC: Our minimum currently is five from the province of British Columbia and that will continue to remain. One thing we prioritized from the initial conversations our group had internally was — at the forefront of any decision we make, the development of British Columbia athletes and those pursuing an education and a playing career through the NCAA need to be our priority.
You probably read in the FAQ that 97% of British Columbia-born players in the NCAA came through our league. We want that to remain. We want to be the primary league of development for all British Columbia athletes and that’s going to continue to be a mandate.
BN: Is it the birthplace that will determine whether a player is considered a B.C. athlete or not?
SC: Correct, it will be that. Again, the process of residency changes was all done through Hockey Canada — that was a Hockey Canada regulation. The BCHL was not in the process of approval for those residency changes. For us, it will be homegrown B.C. players.
BN: What changes to the roster regulations are decided at this point?
SC: There will be more to be announced by our annual general meeting at the end of May when a lot of those details will come out. I will say we are opening the eligibility of non-North Americans into the BCHL, which will be capped at two. But again, I do want to reiterate that everything we’re doing is making sure that we have B.C. players as our one mandate and everything else falls under that, including the rest of Canada second, and then everything beyond that is third.