2024–25 KIJHL season

2024–25 KIJHL season
League	KIJHL
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September – February
Number of games	44
Number of teams	21
Streaming partner(s)	flohockey.tv

The 2024–25 KIJHL season is the 58th season of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. The regular season began on September 20, 2024, with 18 of 21 franchises in action on opening night, the Kelowna Chiefs and defending champions the Revelstoke Grizzlies started the season the next night while the Ghostriders started their season the following Friday night. The only rematch of the 2024 Teck Cup Finals occurred on December 7, 2024, in Revelstoke, with the Grizzlies wining 4-3 in a shootout. The season will run until February 22, 2025. The playoffs will begin a week later on February 28, 2025, with 16 teams competing for the Teck Cup.

League changes

The first major off-season change occurred on March 22, 2024, when the KIJHL's board of governors approved the sale of the Summerland Steam to a new ownership group including Tyrel and Robin Lucas, Parnell Pinette, Brad Paddison, Gerald Overton, and Aaron and Nathan Zurak. The new ownership moved the team to Williams Lake where they became the Williams Lake Mustangs, a moniker previously used by the RMJHL team that played from 1978 to 1996.

On March 31, 2024, the league announced that the Merritt Centennials, formerly of the BCHL, would join the KIJHL as an expansion franchise in the 2024–25 KIJHL season. The franchise will retain the Centennials moniker, colours, arena and branding.

The second relocation of the 2024 off-season occurred five days later when the North Okanagan Knights were sold to a Quesnel-based ownership group who moved the team north, expanding the league footprint by 100 kilometres into the Cariboo region where they would be rebranded as the Quesnel River Rush.

The Kelowna Chiefs were sold to Kelowna businessman Darren Tymchyshyn.

On May 5, Rebels' forward Nathan Jackman was killed in a car accident. Nate's number 23, was retired on September 20th at the Rebels home-opener. Jasper Tait, who started the season with William's Lake before being traded to Grand Forks, and Caden Still of the Nelson Leafs, have changed their numbers to 23 to honor Nate.

On December 2nd the Nelson Leafs fired head coach/general manager Briar McNaney after the team's 12-11-0-0 start to the season that saw six different goaltenders play. Assistant Coach Gianni Mangone would be promoted to the role of interim-head coach, the Leafs organization has yet to announce the full-time plans going forward.

Regular season

League map

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Legend

• Kootenay Conference
• Eddie Mountain Division
• 1
  Golden Rockets
• 2
  Columbia Valley Rockies
• 3
  Fernie Ghostriders
• 4
  Kimberley Dynamiters
• 5
  Creston Thundercats
• Neil Murdoch Division
• 6
  Nelson Leafs
• 7
  Castlegar Rebels
• 8
  Beaver Valley Nitehawks
• 9
  Spokane Braves
• 10
  Grand Forks Border Bruins
• Okanagan/Shuswap Conference
• Bill Ohlhausen Division
• 11
  Osoyoos Coyotes
• 12
  Princeton Posse
• 13
  Merritt Centennials
• 14
  Kelowna Chiefs
• 15
  Sicamous Eagles
• 16
  Revelstoke Grizzlies
• Doug Birks Division
• 17
  Chase Heat
• 18
  Kamloops Storm
• 19
  100 Mile House Wranglers
• 20
  Williams Lake Mustangs
• 21
  Quesnel River Rush

On July 3rd 2024 the KIJHL announced the regular season schedule as well as the new division format in the Okanagan Conference, the Revelstoke Grizzlies and Sicamous Eagles would move from the Doug Birks Division to the Bill Ohlhausen joining the Centennials, Chiefs, Coyotes, and Posse. While the River Rush and Mustangs would take their spots in the Doug Birks along with the Storm, Heat, and Wranglers. The KIJHL season will be 44 games long for each team. The KIJHL erroneously reported that each team would play 10 out-of-conference games but in reality the 10 clubs in the Kootenay will in fact play 11. Each team's schedule can be broken down as follows:

• Neil Murdoch Division
  • 1 game against each Doug Birks team (5 total: 5 away)
  • 1 game against each Bill Ohlhausen team (6 total: 6 home)
  • 2 games against all-but-one Eddie Mountain team (9 total: 4 home, 5 away)
  • 6 games against the other Neil Murdoch teams (24 total: 12 home, 12 away)
• Eddie Mountain Division
  • 1 game against each Doug Birks team (5 total: 5 home)
  • 1 game against each Bill Ohlhausen team (6 total: 6 away)
  • 2 games against all-but-one Neil Murdoch team (9 total: 5 home, 4 away)
  • 6 games against the other Eddie Mountain teams (24 total: 12 home, 12 away)
• Doug Birks Division
  • 1 game against each Neil Murdoch team (5 total: 5 home)
  • 1 game against each Eddie Mountain team (5 total: 5 away)
  • 2 games against each Bill Ohlhausen team (12 total: 6 home, 6 away)
  • 5 or 6 games against the other Doug Birks division teams (22 total: 11 home, 11 away)
• Bill Ohlhausen Division
  • 1 game against each Neil Murdoch team (5 total: 5 away)
  • 1 game against each Eddie Mountain team (5 total: 5 home)
  • 2 games against each Doug Birks team (10 total: 5 home, 5 away)
  • 4-5 games against the other Bill Ohlhausen teams (24 total:12 home, 12 away)

The season began on September 20th

Standings

Team	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	GD
Kootenay Conference-Eddie Mountain Division
Kimberley Dynamiters	15	7	3	0	33	102	88	14
Columbia Valley Rockies	15	10	0	0	30	107	87	20
Fernie Ghostriders	13	4	2	2	30	88	61	27
Creston Valley Thundercats	9	15	2	0	20	62	93	-31
Golden Rockets	5	10	4	4	18	50	85	-35
Kootenay Conference-Neil Murdoch Division
Grand Forks Border Bruins	17	4	2	0	36	114	68	46
Beaver Valley Nitehawks	16	7	2	0	34	102	63	39
Nelson Leafs	12	12	1	0	25	89	113	-24
Castlegar Rebels	9	9	2	3	23	65	73	-8
Spokane Baves	4	17	1	2	11	56	125	-69
Okanagan/Shuswap Conference-Bill Ohlhausen Division
Princeton Posse	20	5	1	1	42	114	68	46
Revelstoke Grizzlies	17	3	0	2	36	87	52	35
Merritt Centennials	13	8	3	1	30	81	77	4
Sicamous Eagles	13	7	4	0	30	87	75	12
Osoyoos Coyotes	10	11	1	1	22	66	84	-20
Kelowna Chiefs	9	11	0	3	21	81	101	-20
Okanagan/Shuswap Conference-Doug Birks Division
Kamloops Storm	14	11	1	0	29	93	91	2
100 Mile House Wranglers	13	10	0	2	28	96	89	7
Chase Heat	11	11	2	0	24	67	86	-19
Quesnel River Rush	10	10	1	1	22	84	96	-12
Williams Lake Mustangs	7	11	3	2	19	80	106	-26

x-Clinched Playoffs xy-Clinched Division xyz-Clinched Conference xyzp-Clinched best regular season record e-Eliminated from playoff contention

Division Races

Top team in each division after each week

Day	Eddie Mountain		Neil Murdoch		Doug Birks		Bill Ohlhausen
	Team	Points	Team	Points	Team	Points	Team	Points
Sept 16	5 Teams	0	5 Teams	0	5 Teams	0	6 Teams	0
Sept 23	Columbia Valley	4	3 Teams (NEL, BVN, GFB)	4	Williams Lake	4	5 Teams (REV, KEL, MER, SIC, OSO)	2
Sept 30	Columbia Valley	8	Nelson	8	Chase	6	Revelstoke	6
Oct 7	2 Teams (CVR,KIM)	8	Nelson	10	Chase	9	Princeton	11
Oct 14	Kimberley	12	Nelson	14	2 Teams (MHW, CHA)	11	Princeton	15
Oct 21	Kimberley	18	Nelson	16	100 Mile House	15	Princeton	19
Oct 28	Kimberley	23	2 Teams (BVN, GFB)	19	100 Mile House	15	Princeton	25
Nov 4	Kimberley	27	2 Teams (BVN, GFB)	21	100 Mile House	19	Princeton	29
Nov 11	Kimberley	28	Beaver Valley	23	100 Mile House	21	Princeton	31
Nov 18	Kimberley	30	Beaver Valley	26	100 Mile House	24	Princeton	35
Nov 25	Kimberley	30	2 Teams (BVN, GFB)	30	100 Mile House	26	Princeton	37
Dec 2	Kimberley	31	2 Teams (BVN, GFB)	32	100 Mile House	28	Princeton	37
Dec 9	Kimberley	33	Grand Forks	36	Kamloops	29	Princeton	42
Dec 16
Dec 23
Dec 30
Jan 6
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 27
Feb 3
Feb 10
Feb 17
Feb 24

Player of the week

KIJHL players of the Week/Month

Week	Forward	Defenceman	Goaltender
Sep 23	Connor Hovelkamp (NEL) 3G 2A 2GP	Liam Ray (BVN) 2G 2A 2GP	Brenner Fyfe (KAM) 3GA 71SVS 2GP
Sept 30	Jaden Rusznak (MHW) 2G 5A 3GP	Nick Hughes (KIM) 2G 3A 2GP	Michael Makowsky (SIC) 3GA 67 SVS 2GP
Oct 7	Boris Hristov (BVN) 2G 3A 2GP	Andrew Morris (CHA) 2G 1A 2GP	Brendan Smith (CRE) 2GA 46SVS 2GP
Oct 14	Braycen Dube (KAM) 4G 5A 4GP	Nathan White (REV) 2G 1A 1GP	Gibson Horne (PRI) 1GA 50SVS 1GP
Oct 21	Luke Davies (KIM) 2G 4A 3GP	Grady Sterling-Ponech (PRI) 1G 4A 3 GP	Andrew Krakora (MER) 0GA 46SVS 2GP
Oct 28	Matthew Langdon (PRI) 6G 2A 2GP	Brandon Spilchen (GOL) 2G 2A 3GP	Connor Stojan (BVN) 3GA 74SVS 2GP
October	Matthew Langdon (PRI) 11G 11A 10GP	Eric Martin (KIM) 4G 11A 9GP	Andrew Krakora (MER) 1.64GAA .944SVP 5-1-1
Nov 4	JP Desabrais (WLM) 1G 6A 2GP	Nathan Laforge (KIM) 2G 1A 2GP	Ryder Ponto (REV) 0.00 GAA 1.000SVP 1GP
Nov 11	Sam Giangualano (MER) 4G 5A 3GP	Landen Janz (MHW) 2G 2A 2GP	Riley Deck (GOL) 4GA 74SVS 2GP
Nov 18	Justice Lowen (PRI) 3G 3A 2GP	Grady Sterling-Ponech (PRI) 1G 2A 2GP	Dawson Holitzki (KAM) 0GA 42SV 1GP
Nov 25	Taylor Haggerty (KIM) 4G 1A 2GP	Jonathan Strecheniuk (BVN) 1G 2A 2GP	Tyler Picha (SPO) 3GA 88SV 2GP
November	Levi Astill (GFB) 4G 12A 8GP	Declan Pocock (WLM) 7G 5A 9GP	Blake Sittler (PRI) .948 SVP 1SO 4-1-0
Dec 2	Kwentyn Oss (CAS) 3G 1A 1GP	Graham Willey (CHA) 3G 1A 2GP	Kael Svenson (SIC) 4GA 71SV 2GP
Dec 9	Brandon Gray (GFB) 4G 3A 2GP	Grady Sterling-Ponech (PRI) 3G 2A 3GP	Blake Sittler (PRI) 3GA 59SV 2GP
Dec 16
Dec 23
Dec 30
December
Jan 6
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 27
January
Feb 3
Feb 10
Feb 17
Feb 24
February

Cariboo Cup

The Cariboo Cup is an informal in Regular-Season championship between the three Cariboo based teams (Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House) organized by the three clubs and the cities' respective newspapers and radio stations, the winner will be the team with the best points percentage amongst the games played head-to-head between the three teams

TEAM	W	L	OL	PTS	PCT	vs QUE	vs MHW	vs WLM
Quesnel River Rush	3	0	1	7	0.875	-	2-0-1	1-0-0
100 Mile House Wranglers	4	1	1	9	0.750	1-1-1	-	3-0-0
Williams Lake Mustangs	0	1	3	3	0.375	0-0-1	0-1-2	-

BCHC Prospects game

The BCHC prospects game was the third edition of the game, a matchup between the best young players in the KIJHL and PJHL who formed the BCHC on September 22nd 2022. The game is used to showcase the best talent in the league to higher leagues, including the WHL. The Langley Trappers of the PJHL hosted the 2024 game on November 19th at the George Preston Rec. Centre. The team staff was announced on October 30th, team KIJHL's head coach was once again be Dave Hnatiuk of the Grand Forks Border Bruins, who was the head coach of the team at the two previous games. The assistant coaches were Nick Deschenes of the Kelowna Chiefs, Chad Scharff of the Fernie Ghostriders and Geordie Wudrick of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. Stephen Piccolo of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks was the team's opperations manager and Brian Burdikin, of the Border Bruins, was the athletic trainer and equipment manager. Team PJHL was be coached by Cullen Revel (Richmond Sockeyes), Andy Liboiron (Surrey Knights), Jarrett Craig (Abbotsford Pilots) and Caymen Froude (Coastal Tsunami), the team's co-Operations Managers were Derek Bedard (Ridge Meadows Flames) and Will Kump (Richmond Sockeyes). Jordana Robinson (Langley Trappers), Steve Sun (Port Moody Panthers) and Kristalee Walchuk (Abbotsford Pilots) formed the PJHL’s Athletic Training & Equipment Management staff. Rosters were announced November 6th. Many fans of both the KIJHL and PJHL voiced their displeasure with the concept of the game as many felt that either an inter-league all star game or a Kootenay Conference VS Okanagan Conference all star game would be more enjoyable to watch, as a game featuring the league's best players was seen as more enjoyable as opposed to a game of just the best players aged 17 or younger.

Rosters

Team KIJHL		Team PJHL
Player	Team	Player	Team
Goaltenders
Brenner Fyfe	Kamloops	Josh Vallee	Ridge Meadows
Michael Makowsky	Sicamous	Armaan Kaila	Richmond
Defencemen
Aaron Zulinick	Kamloops	Tyler Blatz	Ridge Meadows
Brett Woodard	100 Mile House	Miller Bruckshaw	Delta
Keiran Thibault	Kamloops	Noah Marshall	Chilliwack
Ben Filippone	Castlegar	Lachlan Staniforth	Chilliwack
Rhett Serfas	Merritt	Ryan Howe	Langley
Levi Dewitt	Sicamous	Nathan Gray	Richmond
Forwards
Asher Lucas	Williams Lake	Lucas Davidson	North Vancouver
Luca D'Amore	Kamloops	Cody Johnston	Abbotsford
Phoenix Flett	Grand Forks	Beaudy Beaudin	Richmond
Berkley Gross	Creston Valley	Jesse Brideau	Chiliwack
Dylan Ruff	Merritt	Lukas Jakubec	Delta
Jaden Rusznack	100 Mile House	Jonah Ussher	White Rock
Ryker Rougeau	Grand Forks	Max Shin	Richmond
Clayton Gillmore	Sicamous	Oliver Nottingham	Coastal
Noah Paulsen	Kamloops	Dalton Toma	Ridge Meadows
Kaelen Swanson	Williams Lake	Deegan Holding	Chilliwack
Brayden Rotach	Castlegar	Avraham Brown	Langley
Luke Davies	Kimberley	Nick Kovich	Richmond

19 November 2024 18:00

KIJHL Prospects

1-4 (0–2,1-0,0-2)

PJHL Prospects

George Preston Rec. Centre, Langley

Game reference
	Brenner Fyfe (Starter)(L), Michael Makowsky	Goalies	Josh Vallee (Starter)(W), Armaan Kaila	Referees: Jagjit Cheema Malcom Simpson Linesmen: Connor Bradley Isaac La Roy
	0–1 6:37 – O.Nottingham (PP) (B. Beaudin, L. Davidson) 0–2 10:51 –N. Kovich (M. Shin) 35:43 – A. Zulinick (PP) 1-2 1-3 46:47 – T. Blatz (PP)(C. Johnston, J. Brideau) 1-4 53:36 – A. Brown
	18 min	Penalties	12 min
	23	Shots	46

Aaron Zulinick was named the KIJHL's player of the game. Whilst Cody Johnston received the honor for team PJHL.

Awards

On November 12th the KIJHL announced the 'Wayne March 'GM of the Year' award' to join the existing annual awards. The award was name after Sicamous Eagles co-founder and GM who passed away on September 28th.

Playoffs

The 2025 'Quest for the Teck cup' will begin on February 28th 2025 with the top four teams in each division making the playoffs, 1st will play 4th and 2nd will play 3rd in the division semi-finals. The winners will meet in the division final. The winners of those series will meet in the conference finals (Eddie Mountain V Neil Murdoch in the Kootenay and Doug Birks V Bill Ohlhausen in the Okanagan/Shuswap). The winners of the conference finals will meet in the Teck Cup Final. All series will be best-of-seven with games 1,2,5,and 7 being hosted by the team with the superior regular-season record. Barring any unforeseen circumstances this format, which was also used last year, will be the same format as the previous season's for the first time since the 2018 and 2019 playoffs.

Mowat Cup

The Mowat Cup is the British Columbia Jr. A hockey championship between the champions of all the leagues in BC, a new format for the completion is expected as the previous format of the winners of the KIJHL, PJHL, and VIJHL plus a fourth host team would no longer be feasible due to the VIJHL becoming an independent league as an affiliate for the BCHL in a manner similar to Jr. B. An announcement is expected in early February 2025.

Further reading

• "KIJHL releases 2024-25 schedule, hosts AGM in Nelson". The Nelson Daily. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• Kelly, Austin (1 June 2024). "Quesnel's new KIJHL hockey team is getting ready for first season". Williams Lake Tribune. Black Press Media. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• Crawley, Trevor (30 April 2024). "KIJHL remains committed to Hockey Canada after Vancouver Island league splits". Surrey Now-Leader. Black Press Media. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• Hastings, Marty (31 March 2024). "Merritt Centennials to withdraw from BCHL; expansion Centennials to join KIJHL". CFJC Today. Pattison Media. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• "Another Okanagan KIJHL team heading north". Penticton Herald. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• Moore, Wayne (13 February 2024). "Williams Lake, Quesnel councils discussing relocation of Kelowna Chiefs". castanet.net. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

External links

• Official KIJHL website