For the Powell River Kings, their upcoming 2023-24 season will be different. For starters, it’s the first season the Kings are independent of Hockey Canada after the B.C. Hockey League left the national governing body on July 1.
Secondly, the Kings have a new primary logo. In August, they revealed a new logo on social media, and it’s the first major logo change since the 2006-07 season.
With new recruitment rules, the Kings have been busy building their 2023-24 roster. It’s something I wrote about in a previous article and since then, several more players have signed with the team.
Related: New Kings: Looking at Carter Lundie, Jace Harder, Benjamin Ramsey, and Owen Crudale
This article is about those changes. I will profile several of the new players to join the team and also talk about the Kings’ new logo. Finally, I will profile their 2023-24 regular season schedule.
New players
Joining the Kings this season is 2003-born goaltender Tresor Wotton. Wotton has Junior A experience playing for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Yorkton Terriers and the Waywayseecappo Wolverines of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He forms the new goaltending tandem with 2005-born Owen Crudale.
Among the new players on the blueline are 2005-born defenders Alex Bosland and Owen Thomas.
Bosland was recruited from the Mount St. Charles Academy 18U AAA team and already has a commitment to the University of Maine. Thomas has previous Junior A experience after spending time with the North American Hockey League’s Corpus Christi IceRays and the United States Hockey League’s Fargo Force and is committed to Providence College.
The new players up front include 2006-born forward Théodore Jetté and 2003-born Joonas Linnavuori. Jett is a recent recruit from the Saint-Eustache Vikings of the Ligue de développement du hockey M18 AAA du Québec. As for Linnavuori, he spent last season playing in Finland’s U20 SM-sarja, splitting time between Kiekko-Espoo U20 and Jukurit U20.
The new logo
The Kings’ new logo is a stylized wordmark with no crown present at all. It’s a stark departure because every previous Kings’ logo featured a crown as part of it.
Two of Powell River’s previous logos featured wordmarks. One was worn from 1998 to 2000 and the other was used from from 2000 to 2006. Their new logo is the first to feature only a wordmark.
One other BCHL team used stylized wordmarks for its logos for years — the Cowichan Valley Capitals. It’s only recently that the Caps adopted their current logo that doesn’t feature a wordmark.
Alberni Valley, Coquitlam, Salmon Arm, Cranbrook, Victoria, Langley, Nanaimo, Penticton, Prince George, Trail, West Kelowna, and Vernon all use a combination of a wordmark alongside a traditional logo.
Before Powell River’s logo change, both the Kings and Spruce Kings used a crown in their logos, but with the new wordmark, the Kings chose to be different.
Notable regular season games
The Kings open their regular season on the road on Sept. 22 with a visit to the Merritt Centennials. Powell River’s first home game is Sept. 29 against the Victoria Grizzlies.
On Sept. 30, the Kings welcome the defending Fred Page Cup champion Penticton Vees to Powell River. It is the first time Penticton and Powell River play each other this season, the second time occurs during the BCHL Showcase.
On Oct. 24, the Kings face the Vees at the Seattle Kraken Community Iceplex. On Oct. 25, Powell River takes on the Spruce Kings in its second game at the annual BCHL event.
On Nov. 3, the Kings host the Trail Smoke Eaters and on Dec. 1, they welcome the Cranbrook Bucks. The Kings’ final home games are on March 15 and 16 as they host Cowichan Valley.
Powell River closes out its season on the road. On March 23, the Kings visit the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, and on March 29, they head to West Kelowna before wrapping up the 2023-24 regular season on March 30 in Vernon.
