Kootenay International Junior Hockey League

Kootenay International Junior Hockey League

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1966, 55 years ago
Commissioner	Jeff Dubois
No. of teams	20
Countries	Canada (19 teams)  United States (1 team)
Most recent champion(s)	Revelstoke Grizzlies (2019)
Most titles	Cranbrook Colts – 11
TV partner(s)	hockeytv.com
Official website	kijhl.ca

50 Years: 1966-2016

The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) is a Junior "B" Ice Hockey league in British Columbia, Canada; and Washington, United States sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The winner of the Teck Cup competes with the champions of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) and the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) for the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the British Columbia Provincial Title. The winner of the Cyclone Taylor Cup moves on to compete for the Western Canada "B" Crown, the Keystone Cup.

History[]

Early history: 1966–1980[]

The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League was founded in 1966 as the West Kootenay Junior Hockey League. Five teams joined the league in its first year and started play in the 1969-70 season. They included the Trail Jr. Smoke Eaters, the Nelson Plaza Oilers, the Castlegar Apollos, the Grand Forks Border Bruins, and the Rossland Warriors. The Smoke Eaters won the inaugural league championship, advancing to the provincial championship. The next year, Castlegar would withdraw from the league, leaving only four teams. In 1971-1972, the Spokane Valley Kings and Cranbrook Colts joined the league, raising the number of teams to six, and incorporating an American team for the first time. Furthermore, the Nelson Plaza Oilers were renamed the Nelson Leafs. For 1972–73, the league was rebranded the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. In this season, the Kimberley Knights joined the league, while the Grand Forks Border Bruins took a leave of absence. In 1973–74 the league expanded again, incorporating a Fernie-based team. The league did not expand for many years after this point, during a period dominated by the Colts. The next expansion occurred in 1976–77, when the Creston Clippers and the Castlegar Rebels joined the league, and the Rebels won the league championship in their debut season. Columbia Valley joined in 1978–79 season, thus bringing the league to a total of 11 teams, an all-time high.

1980–1990[]

In the 1981–82 season, Fernie would withdraw from the league, while the (Sparwood) would join in their place. The following year, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks would join, bringing the league to a total of 12 teams. Creston would withdraw from the league in 1985, and Nelson, Elk Valley and Grand Forks would do the same in 1986. Elk Valley and Grand Forks would return the next year and Nelson in 1989. The 1980s were largely dominated by the Cranbrook Colts with a 6 championship winning streak.

1990–2000[]

In 1990, the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League was formed, creating a level of competition between the two geographic rival leagues. Cranbrook and Kimberley would depart the league in 1991, while the Golden Rockets would enter. The Rossland Warriors would return to the league the following season after a lengthy absence. In 1993–94, the KIJHL gained two new teams in the form of the North Okanagan Kings and the Revelstoke Grizzlies. North Okanagan won the league title in their first year. The following year, Elk Valley and Nelson would depart the league, while the Sicamous Eagles would join. The Eagles, too, won the league in their debut season. In 1996–97, the Castlegar Rebels relocated to Osoyoos, who played one season under the Rebels name, before being renamed the Heat. Castlegar was granted an expansion franchise in 1998–99, who was named the Rebels. In 1999–2000, the Nelson Leafs rejoined the KIJHL, winning the title in their first season back, and the Rossland Warriors relocated for a single season to Summerland. The 1999–2000 had the distinction of never having won a game, finishing their only season with a record of 0-45-0, conceding 485 goals in 45 games.

2000–2010[]

The 2000–01 season saw the folding of the Summerland Warriors and the creation of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. In 2001–02, the league was split from two to three divisions, the Neil Murdoch, Eddie Mountain, and Okanagan/Shushwap. Along with the division re-alignment, the North Okanagan Kings relocated to Enderby, becoming the . The Osoyoos Heat took on the name the Osoyoos Storm, and an expansion franchise was granted to Summerland, which took the name Summerland Sting. 2001–02 also saw the presence of the KIJHL's most accomplished alumnus, Shea Weber, who played for the league champions Sicamous Eagles for this single season. In 2002–03, the Princeton Posse joined the league, becoming the furthest west team in the KIJHL, and the Enderby Ice Kings folded after one season. In 2004–05, the Fernie Ghostriders joined the league from the North American Hockey League, and the following year the Golden Rockets were renamed the Golden Xtreme. They were renamed again the following year, this time becoming the Golden Jets. Also, 2006–07 saw the demise of the Osoyoos Storm, who moved to Kamloops Storm, while retaining the Storm name. In 2007–08, the league was divided into two conferences, which were furthermore split into two divisions each, dropping the Okanagan Shushwap, while creating the Eddie Mountain Conference, East and West Divisions, and likewise with the Neil Murdoch Conference. The Golden Xtreme was again renamed, this time reverting to the Rockets name. Furthermore, the Chase Chiefs joined the league in 2007–08, while the Fernie Ghostriders would capture the league title. There were no team changes in 2008–09, and the Nelson Leafs would capture the league title. In 2009–10, however, the Summerland Sting were forced to relocate to nearby Penticton, taking the name Penticton Lakers. Furthermore, an expansion team was granted to Armstrong, and the North Okanagan Knights were founded.

2010–present[]

In the 2010–11 season, the Osoyoos Coyotes were formed, and won the league title in their debut season, while the Chase Chiefs relocated to Rutland, Kelowna to become the Kelowna Chiefs. The following year, two expansion franchises were granted to Chase and Summerland, and the Chase Heat and Summerland Steam were formed. The 2012–13 season saw no team changes, while the Castlegar Rebels won the league title. The following year, 2013–14, the Penticton Lakers were forced into relocation to 100 Mile House due to low ticket sales, which stemmed from playing in the neighbouring arena to that of the Jr. A Penticton Vees, whose national success offered difficult competition. The new team was branded the 100 Mile House Wranglers. The following year again saw no team changes, and the Kimberley Dynamiters won the league title. In 2015–16, the Grand Forks Border Bruins made the playoffs for the first time in 19 years, a provincial Jr. B record and the 100 Mile House Wranglers won the Keystone Cup; the Cyclone Taylor Cup and the KIJHL Championship in their third only season against the previous year's champion, the Dynamiters. The 2016-17 season marks the KIJHL's 50th anniversary, with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats hosting the Cyclone Taylor Cup. Prior to the 2019-20 KIJHL season, the Okanagan Division was renamed the Bill Ohlhausen Division along with the KIJHL Championship renamed the Teck Cup for sponsorship reasons. The Teck Cup not awarded due to the coronavirus pandemic and Jeff Dubois was later named the new commissioner.

Teams[]

Division	Team	City	Arena	Founded	Joined	Head Coach	Captain
Kootenay Conference
Eddie Mountain	Columbia Valley Rockies	Invermere, BC	Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena	1978		Briar McNaney (2020)
	Creston Valley Thunder Cats	Creston, BC	Johnny Bucyk Arena	1992	2000	Bill Rotheisler (2020)
	Fernie Ghostriders	Fernie, BC	Fernie Memorial Arena	1991	2004	Jeff Wagner (2018)
	Golden Rockets	Golden, BC	Golden Arena	1991		Chuck Wight (2020)
	Kimberley Dynamiters	Kimberley, BC	Kimberley Civic Centre	1972	1972-1990; 2001–present	Derek Stuart (2016)	Ryan Bennett
Neil Murdoch	Beaver Valley Nitehawks	Fruitvale, BC	Beaver Valley Arena	1981		Terry Jones
	Castlegar Rebels	Castlegar, BC	Castlegar Community Complex	1976	1976-1996; 1998–present	Arnie Caplan (2021)	Josh Wiens
	Grand Forks Border Bruins	Grand Forks, BC	Jack Goddard Memorial Arena	1969		Dave Hnatiuk (2021)	Ray Warrack
	Nelson Leafs	Nelson, BC	Nelson Community Complex	1968	1968-1994; 1999–present	Mario DiBella (2016)	Tyler Pizak
	Spokane Braves	Spokane, WA	Eagles Ice-A-Rena	1971		Darin Schumacher (2020)	Mark Oestreich
Okanagan/Shuswap Conference
Doug Birks	100 Mile House Wranglers	100 Mile House, BC	South Cariboo Recreation Centre	2013		Dale Hladun (2014)	Kolby Page
	Chase Heat	Chase, BC	Art Holding Memorial Arena	2011		Brad Fox (2011)
	Kamloops Storm	Kamloops, BC	McArthur Island Sports & Events Centre	2006		Geoff Grimwood (2021)
	Revelstoke Grizzlies	Revelstoke, BC	Revelstoke Forum	1993		Ryan Parent (2014)	Cole Berg
	Sicamous Eagles	Sicamous, BC	Sicamous District Recreation Centre	1994		Tyler Gunn (2019)
Bill Ohlhausen	Kelowna Chiefs	Kelowna, BC	Rutland Arena	2010		Ken Law (2018)	Tyler Love
	North Okanagan Knights	Armstrong, BC	Nor-Val Centre	2009		Dean McAmmon (2019)
	Osoyoos Coyotes	Osoyoos, BC	Osoyoos Sunbowl Arena	2010		Carter Rigby (2019)
	Princeton Posse	Princeton, BC	Princeton District Multipurpose Arena	2002		Mark McNaughton (2017)
	Summerland Steam	Summerland, BC	Summerland Arena	2011		Mark MacMillan (2021)	Everett Scherger

2010-11 KIJHL Team Location Map

Teck Cup Champions[]

NHL alumni[]

See also[]

• List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia

External links[]

• Official Website of the KIJHL