British Columbia Hockey League alumni Kent Johnson and Brian Lebler are among those representing their countries at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship. Johnson, a 22-year-old forward from Port Moody, B.C., is representing Canada at the tournament in Sweden and Denmark. Lebler, a 36-year-old veteran who represents Austria internationally, […]
Tag: Trail Smoke Eaters
The evolution of the BCHL playoff format
The 2025 Fred Page Cup playoffs are well underway. This year, the format had the top eight teams in each conference making the playoffs, but that wasn’t always the case. Over the last six seasons, the BCHL has used three different playoff formats. For the 2020 playoffs, the Victoria Grizzlies […]
Smoke Eaters alum McCarthy named assistant coach for Team Canada
Hockey Canada has announced that former Trail Smoke Eaters defender Steve McCarthy will be an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark. McCarthy, a native of Trail, British Columbia, is no stranger to high-level international competition. A standout […]
BCHL trade analysis: Kings and Warriors connect on a multi-player deal
On Nov. 24, the Powell River Kings made a trade with the West Kelowna Warriors. In the deal, West K nabbed 2005-born defender Axel Löfgren, while the Kings acquired several assets. In exchange for Löfgren, Powell River received 2005-born defender Landen Hildtich, 2007-born forward Eliot Compton, and future considerations. A week later, […]
Powell River Kings update: Coaching and roster changes
It’s been a season of change thus far for the Powell River Kings. The Kings added to their roster on Oct. 14 by signing veteran 2004-born forward Rhett Hamilton. The Kings also acquired 2006-born forward Tommy Karmiris and 2006-born defender Jason Davenport. The Kings signed the youngest Westhaver brother to […]
2024-25 BCHL jersey watch
It’s our favourite time of the year — time for another B.C. Hockey League jersey watch. This season we get to possibly see five new jerseys for the five Alberta-based teams that came into the BCHL midway through last season. We also say goodbye to the Merritt Centennials and […]
Examining four September acquisitions for the Victoria Grizzlies
The Victoria Grizzlies have added four new players to their 2024-25 roster, signing three players before their first regular season game and trading for another. Before their first two games in Powell River last month, the Grizzlies signed Swedish defender Oscar Pantzare and acquired goaltender Tyler Hodges from the Nanaimo […]
New players and a new head coach for the Cowichan Valley Capitals
The Cowichan Valley Capitals have been busy this off-season. The summer months have seen several new players join the team and on June 25, the Capitals also hired a new head coach and general manager. The Capitals brought in Cam Keith as their new bench boss. He was the GM […]
Victoria Grizzlies schedule profile
The BCHL has released the 2024-25 season schedule and for the Victoria Grizzlies, they open their regular season on the road in Powell River on Sept. 20 and 21. This isn’t the first time Victoria has opened its season on the road. Last season, the Grizzlies opened their regular season […]
2024-25 BCHL schedule breakdown
As summer arrives, we officially start the road to the 2024-25 season. This season will see a massive change to the British Columbia Hockey League by integrating five Alberta-based teams into the regular season after they moved to join the league this past February. This is the first season that […]