The Countdown is on for the 2021/22 BCIHL Season

The countdown is on for the 2021/22 BCIHL regular season, kicking off on October 22nd. 

This year SFU, UVIC, VIU and the expansion Okanagan Lakers will compete for the 14th BCIHL Championship. The 12 game regular season concludes on March 4th 2022 with the four teams taking part in the championship tournament. 

Prior to the regular season, SFU, UVIC and VIU will join TWU and UBC Men's Hockey for the fourth annual Captains Cup tournament, taking place from September 17th - October 9th. Games involving USports-bound TWU will be the first since the cancellation of the 2019/20 BCIHL season. The Captains Cup will be awarded following a single game championship between the top two teams on Saturday October 9th at UBC.

From January 6-8th 2022, UVIC will host the first annual Tom Harris Cup, prior to the start of the spring semester regular season. The Tom Harris Cup will be awarded on Saturday January 8th to the tournament winner. VIU is also set to play a pair of exhibition games against the Senior Men's Powell River Regals on January 15th and 29th. 

SFU is planning a unique event of their own this year, hosting NCAA Division 1 University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks for the 3rd Great Northwest Showcase in Burnaby on January 21st and 22nd. The event will also feature a BCHL game between the Surrey Eagles and Coquitlam Express, as well as a showdown between the Vancouver Canucks Alumni and Burnaby Fire Department. Information about the Great Northwest Showcase can be found here. 

All BCIHL games will have live scoring and all regular season games will be broadcast via PPV on HockeyTV. Exhibition broadcast information will be made available prior to each game. To keep up to date with the latest scores and information, follow @bcihl on Twitter.

As per the Provincial Health Office announcement this week, the BCIHL will require masks and proof of vaccination for all fans, staff/volunteers and players in attendance at BCIHL games. 

"We're thrilled to finally be getting back on the ice," says BCIHL President Chris Munshaw. "Our teams have been impacted by the pandemic, but interest from student-athletes has grown and we're excited to get back and focus on growth for 2022/23. Credit goes to our returning teams for navigating the uncertainty and re-building over the extended offseason."

The Kamloops Pioneers and Fraser Valley Brigade are both in the recruiting stage for the following season, while the BCIHL aims to host another identification camp in the spring. More information about camps will be made available over the course of the season. 

The full 2021/22 BCIHL schedule can be found here.