British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League

The British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) is a university hockey league based in British Columbia. The BCIHL was created with the purpose of offering a venue for competitive, high-calibre hockey for players beyond their junior hockey careers.

British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Founded2006
Inaugural season2006-07
No. of teams4
CountryCanada
HeadquartersBurnaby, British Columbia
Most recent
champion(s)		Simon Fraser University (2021-22)
Most titlesUniversity of Victoria, Simon Fraser University (4)
Official websiteBCIHL.ca

The league operates as one of two Division 2 leagues in Canada when compared to the Division 1 U Sports league, the other being Alberta's ACAC. BCIHL teams, however, regularly play U Sports and NCAA teams.

In a typical season, each BCIHL team plays a 24-game league schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs. Beginning in 2012, the playoff format has consisted of a best-of-three semifinal round, and a best-of-three championship series. Prior to 2012 the championship had been decided through a round-robin tournament.

History

In 2011, the BCIHL accepted its first US-based team in Eastern Washington University, which had previously played in the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the Division II level. Before 2011, the BCIHL consisted entirely of teams from British Columbia.

The 2016–17 season would see the BCIHL get its first NHL alumni as former Montreal Canadiens forward Patrick Holland would join the University of Victoria.[1]

Vancouver Island University was confirmed as the sixth team to join the BCIHL in 2017, and joined the league for the 2017/2018 season.[2]

In 2019, Trinity Western University's men's and women's hockey programs were officially accepted into the Canada West Universities Athletic Association starting in the 2020-21 season.[3] The Spartans would finish their final season in the BCIHL as regular season champions.

In March 2021, Selkirk College announced it would be discontinuing the Saints men's hockey program due to budget constraints as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] This departure marked the first time a former BCIHL Champion has dissolved.

On June 22, 2021, the Okanagan Lakers were added to the BCIHL via expansion and became the leagues first ever independent club, consisting of student-athletes from both the University of British Columbia-Okanagan and Okanagan College. The team is slated to join the league for the 2021-22 regular season.[6][7]

On February 8, 2022, the Logan Lake Miners were added to the BCIHL via expansion, consisting of student-athletes from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt, BC. The team will play out of the Logan Lake Recreation Centre starting in the 2022/23 season.

In addition to the Okanagan Lakers, the BCIHL is currently reviewing expansion proposals for two other teams: the Thompson Okanagan Pioneers and the Fraser Valley College Brigade.[8]

Teams
Institution Team Name Location Joined BCIHL Championships Championship Years Website
Simon Fraser University SFU Burnaby, British Columbia 2006 4 2008, 2010, 2011, 2022 sfuhockey.com
University of Victoria UVic Vikes Victoria, British Columbia 2006 4 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017 vikeshockey.com
Vancouver Island University VIU Mariners Nanaimo, British Columbia 2017 0 – viuha.ca
University of British Columbia-Okanagan / Okanagan College Okanagan Lakers Kelowna, British Columbia 2021 0 – okanaganlakers.com

Former teams
Institution Location Championships Joined BCIHL Year Left
Selkirk College Castlegar, British Columbia 4 (2013 – 2016) 2007 2021
Trinity Western University Langley, British Columbia 2 (2018, 2019) 2006 2020
Eastern Washington University Cheney, Washington 0 2011 2018
University of the Fraser Valley Abbotsford, British Columbia 0 2006 2011
University of Northern British Columbia Prince George, British Columbia 0 2006 2007
Okanagan College Kelowna, British Columbia 0 2009 2012
Thompson Rivers University Kamloops, British Columbia 0 2009 2014

Championship Results by Year
YearChampionRunner-UpResult
2006–07University of VictoriaSimon Fraser University4-0 (round robin)
2007–08Simon Fraser UniversityUniversity of the Fraser Valley3-1 (round robin)
2008–09University of VictoriaSimon Fraser University3-1 (round robin)
2009–10Simon Fraser UniversityThompson Rivers University3-1 (round robin)
2010–11Simon Fraser UniversityThompson Rivers University3-1 (round robin)
2011–12University of VictoriaSimon Fraser University4-0 (round robin)
2012–13Selkirk College[9]Simon Fraser University2-0 (best-of 3)
2013–14Selkirk College[10]Trinity Western University2-0 (best-of 3)
2014–15Selkirk College[11]Simon Fraser University2-0 (best-of 3)
2015–16Selkirk CollegeTrinity Western University2-0 (best-of 3)
2016–17University of VictoriaTrinity Western University2-1 (best-of 3)
2017–18Trinity Western UniversitySelkirk College2-0 (best-of 3)
2018–19 Trinity Western University Vancouver Island University 2-0 (best-of 3)
2019–20 Playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–21 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
2021–22 Simon Fraser University Vancouver Island University 2-0 (championship tournament)

Notable players

References
  1. "Former Hab Holland finds a home with Vikes hockey team".
  2. http://www.bcihl.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3692&leagueID=11139&page=98489
  3. "SPARTANS JOIN CANADA WEST IN MEN'S & WOMEN'S HOCKEY". May 9, 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-06-30.
  4. "Selkirk College Saints". Archived from the original on 2010-11-29.
  5. "Selkirk College no longer offering men's hockey". March 31, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-07.
  6. "BCIHL votes to grant lakers membership for 2021/22 season". Archived from the original on 2021-05-13.
  7. "BCIHL Announces Addition of Okanagan Lakers and 2021/22 Season Overview". June 24, 2021. Archived from the original on 2008-03-31.
  8. "BCIHL reviewing expansion proposals in Kamloops, Kelowna and Chilliwack". May 13, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-06.
  9. "BCIHL season wraps-up: Selkirk wins championship". HockeyNow. 21 April 2013. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015.
  10. "Selkirk College Saints Repeat as BCIHL Champions". Selkirk College. 17 March 2014.
  11. "2015 BCIHL Playoffs". BCIHL.ca. BCIHL. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  12. "BCIHL announces official cancelation of 2020-21 season". November 26, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19.
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