The Oceanside Generals and other VIJHL teams will be classified as Junior A teams next season, taking the place of the BCHL which elected to leave the Hockey Canada system. (Gus Galloway Photography)

By Alex Rawnsley

MOVING ON UP

VIJHL officially makes the jump to Junior A status

Jul 25, 2023 | 2:36 PM

NANAIMO — It’s the dawning of a new era for junior hockey in B.C.

BC Hockey announced on Tuesday, July 25, the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL), including the Oceanside Generals and Nanaimo Buccaneers, along with their counterparts in the Lower Mainland (PJHL) and interior (KIJHL) will be granted full Junior A status for the 2023/24 season.

The move is being made in two stages: first transitioning all teams and leagues to Junior A in a tier two environment, then eventually pushing to tier one which comes with additional responsibilities and requirements.

“We’re going to take baby steps first, we’re going to let everybody crawl then we’re going to get them all walking,” Cameron Hope, BC Hockey CEO, said. “Then those who don’t want to walk, certainly those who don’t want to run have the option of staying and just saying no…but we want everyone to have the opportunity.”

An advisory board will evaluate teams at a set point to determine who moves up.

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Hope also said the leagues have already made commitments to increase the number of B.C. and Yukon-born players involved in Junior A in the province.

But ultimately, a lot still needs to be decided.

“One of the great things about this is we don’t have any fixed, ultimately golden ring to grab onto. We’re going to let the ecosystem settle and just be mindful of everybody’s best pathway to end up where they want to be.”

The three leagues had made a pitch to BC Hockey earlier this month, lobbying for the change in a bid to boost the profile of each league.

A vacancy in the hockey landscape at the Junior A level was made when the BCHL opted to go it alone in the spring and play as an independent league.

The VIJHL, PJHL and KIJHL will take their place under the BC Hockey and Hockey Canada umbrella and will include a direct working relationship with the Western Hockey League and other teams and leagues across Canada.

BC Hockey is also promising the move will bring “an enhanced player experience”, something Rick Hannibal, general manager of the defending VIJHL champion Oceanside Generals said was almost a condition of entry for the leagues to move into Junior A.

He told NanaimoNewsNOW, the move further cements the quality of play on the Island, as well as in other former Junior B leagues across the province.

“We have an opportunity to really showcase our leagues and all our players as well. We’ve had very successful teams in the past years and now it’s just going to showcase to everybody that we can show how great our league is.”

He added the team is already in the process of meeting many of the targets outlined by BC Hockey.

“There were some guidelines we had to meet and one of them was a dressing room, which a Oceanside Place we don’t have one but we’ve already got the ball rolling on that. We’ve got the City behind us, got the rink behind us and now we’re in the midst of fundraising for our dressing room.”

He said if all goes to plan, the Generals will have “one of the best junior dressing rooms in B.C.”

Other guidelines include improved practices, a commitment from coaches to enhance their qualifications and considerations made around travel.

Since news of the move broke Tuesday, Hannibal said his phone has been ringing off the hook from players looking to make the move out west.

“We’ve been running our program pretty much like a Junior A program for the past few years, so we’ve been gearing to a lot of these things if something was going to happen. I just wanted to make sure our program was a program people want to come play for. We’ve had a great team the last few years there and our team’s getting better and better.”

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