The British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) is a university

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

league based in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The BCIHL was created with the purpose of offering a venue for competitive, high-calibre hockey for players beyond their

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

hockey careers. Teams play a 24-game regular season schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs consisting 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. The league operates as one of two Division 2 leagues in Canada when compared to the Division 1

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

league, the other being Alberta's ACAC. BCIHL teams, however, regularly play

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

teams.

History

In 2011, the BCIHL accepted its first US-based team in

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington, United States. It shares its satellite campus in Spokane, Washington with Washington State University. Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided in ...

, which had previously played in the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegi ...

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 The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

alumni as former

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

forward Patrick Holland would join the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

Vancouver Island University Vancouver Island University (abbreviated as VIU, formerly known as Malaspina University-College and Malaspina College) is a Canadian public research university serving Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia. Malaspina College opened in 196 ...

was confirmed as the sixth team to join the BCIHL in 2017, and joined the league for the 2017/2018 season. In 2019,

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The ...

's men's and women's hockey programs were officially accepted into the

Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canada West (formally the Canada West Universities Athletic Association or CWUAA) is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs ...

starting in the 2020-21 season. 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. 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 league's first independent club, consisting of student-athletes from both the University of British Columbia-Okanagan and

Okanagan College Okanagan College is publicpost-secondary institution with multiple campuses spread across the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. The College was established in 1963 and grown to become one of the largest colleges in British Columbia ou ...

. On February 8, 2022, the Logan Lake Miners were added to the BCIHL via expansion, consisting of student-athletes from

Thompson Rivers University Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a Public university, public research university located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The university's name comes from the two rivers which converge in Kamloops, the North Thomp ...

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

and the

Nicola Valley Institute of Technology Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) is the only public Indigenous post-secondary institution in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. It started in 1983. History NVIT is British Columbia's Aboriginal public post-secondary ...

in Merritt. The team plays out of the Logan Lake Recreation Centre. 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.

Teams

Former teams

Championships

The championship results for each season are listed below.

Notable players

* Patrick Holland -

* Jordan Wood -

Huntsville Havoc The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the SPHL. They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. History The team began play in the 2004–05 season, following the defunct Huntsville ...

* Anthony Collins -

Rapid City Rush The Rapid City Rush are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Rapid City, South Dakota, and play their home games at The Monument. The Rush are currently a minor affiliate of the Calgary Flames NHL franchise. History On June 2, 2 ...

* James Isaacs -

Fife Flyers The Fife Flyers are a Ice hockey in Scotland, Scottish professional ice hockey team in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Established in 1938, the Flyers are the oldest still-extant club in the country. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena, which ...

* Elijah Vilio -

Atlanta Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast ...

Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, the team plays its home games at Norfolk Scope. The Admirals replaced the American Hockey League (AHL) team ...

Savannah Ghost Pirates The Savannah Ghost Pirates are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Savannah, Georgia. The team began play in the 2022–23 ECHL season with home games at Enmarket Arena. History In January 2021, the city of Savann ...

References