The Wenatchee Wild’s schedule was released on June 9, and it begins to prepare for its 15th season as a hockey organization and its eighth season in the BC Hockey League after spending the first seven seasons in the North American Hockey League.
The season starts on Sept. 23 for the Wild in Surrey, as the team kicks off a six-game road stint. However, after opening night, the Wild will get seven days off before its next game.
The first home game for Wenatchee is 28 days after the regular season begins, on Oct. 21, as it hosts the West Kelowna Warriors.
The Wild see the Warriors a lot early, playing them five times from the start of the season to Dec. 11, and then don’t play West Kelowna again for the rest of the regular season. In total, the Wild have 26 home games and 26 road games accumulating to a 52-game season.
For Wenatchee, the most extended home stints it plays during this season are towards the end. From Feb. 10 to Feb. 18, the Wild play four games, hosting the Cranbrook Bucks in the last two, and the Nanaimo Clippers and Coquitlam Express in the first two.
Then another four-game home stretch occurs for the Wild’s last four games of the regular season. The Wild welcome the Trail Smoke Eaters for the last two games of the homestand and the Merritt Centennials and Cranbrook Bucks for the first two games.
The longest road stretch for the Wild is when the season begins and they go on a six-game trip. The Wild will play all nine Coastal Conference teams this season, once against each of them. Wenatchee faces the Langley Rivermen at the 2022 BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.
In fact, for one road trip, the Wild travel and play three Coastal Conference teams in a row before heading home.
Exciting matchups
For the Wild, the teams it sees the most during the 2022-23 season are Trail and Cranbrook, with seven games against each. Wenatchee plays three games at home against the Bucks and four on the road, while getting into four at home against the Smoke Eaters and three on the road.
In 2021-22, the Wild faced the Smoke Eaters seven times. They were supposed to play Trail eight times but a cancellation occurred early in the final game between the two teams in the regular season due to a medical emergency.
The Wild went 3-3-1 against the Smoke Eaters this past season, which shows Wenatchee was back and forth against Trail and appears set to have another great group of matchups in 2022-23. That said, the Wild’s regular season ends on Saturday, Mar. 25 against Trail.
One of the other very exciting matchups to look forward to this season is against the Bucks, as they and the Wild are the newest teams in the BCHL and quickly growing a rivalry.
The Wild saw the Bucks eight times this past season, going 5-3-0. Wenatchee plays Cranbrook seven times this coming season. Expect more close games in 2022-23 as four of the eight games between the two clubs last season were decided by one goal.
