BCIHL Returns to Tournament Format for 2024 Championship

LOGAN LAKE, BC – The British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League announced that the league will be returning to a single-weekend tournament for the 2024 Championship.

For the second time in the league’s 23 year history, the BCIHL will depart from the traditional best-of-three playoff format in favour of a single-weekend mini-tournament to crown the 2024 provincial champions.

The 2024 BCIHL Championship will kick off on February 29th in Logan Lake, borrowing the tournament format from the 2021 playoffs that saw SFU defeat VIU for their 4th championship in program history.

The tournament format gives the two teams who finish atop the league at the end of the regular season an additional opportunity to compete for the championship, instead of facing elimination after their first loss of the tournament. This year, the Vancouver Island University Mariners (34 pts.) and University of Victoria Vikes (29 pts.) finished first and second in the BCHIL standings respectively, and the team that wins between them in the quarter-final will earn a bye into the finals while the team that loses will have an opportunity to earn the second spot in the finals in the semi-final game.

The 2024 BCIHL Championship will be held at the Logan Lake Recreation Centre (31 Chartrand Ave.) in Logan Lake, BC. Tickets start at just $10 and are available now via shop.bcihl.ca.

SCHEDULE

02.29: GAME #1 - PLAY-IN | #4 SFU vs. #5 Logan Lake; 7:30pm | Logan Lake def. SFU 5-3

The host and #5 seed Logan Lake Miners will face the #4 seed Simon Fraser University Red Leafs in a play-in game to determine the final four team bracket.

03.01: GAME #2 - QUARTER-FINAL #2 | #3 Okanagan vs. Winner, Game #1; 3:00pm | Okanagan def. Logan Lake 4-0

03.01: GAME #3 - QUARTER-FINAL #1 | #1 VIU vs. #2 UVic; 7:00pm | VIU def. UVic 4-3

The winner of SFU vs. Logan Lake will face the #3 seed Okanagan Lakers in quarter-final #2, while the #2 seed UVic Vikes and #1 seed VIU Mariners will face off in quarter-final #1 with the victors earning a spot in the championship game on March 3rd.

03.02: GAME #4 - SEMI-FINAL | Winner, Game #2 vs. Loser, Game #3; 2:00pm | UVic def. Okanagan 4-0

The semi-final matchup will be between the winner of quarter-final #2 (Okanagan or SFU/LL) and the loser of quarter-final #1 (VIU or UVic), with the winner earning the second spot in the championship game.

03.03: GAME #5 - CHAMPIONSHIP | Winner, Game #3 vs. Winner, Game #4; 1:00pm | VIU vs. UVic

The winner of the semi-final will face the winner of quarter-final #1 (VIU or UVic) for the 2024 BCIHL Championship.