Each KIJHL team can now have a maximum of seven 20 year old’s on the roster, as new changes come into effect following the leagues AGM Meeting held in Nelson last month.
The increase from six to seven eligible 20 year old’s will help keep the ongoing Junior A Tier 1 application highly competitive.
Currently 12 clubs have been reviewed, with the other nine to be completed this summer and the final report should be completed by November.
“We’re designated as Junior A tier two now after being junior B for decades,” said KIJHL Commissioner Jeff Dubois.
“There’s a pathway in front of us to be full on junior A and compete nationally at that level which is really exciting and not something we would have anticipated.”
“The BCHL filled the Junior A designation in our province for you know for decades, so their decision to leave sanctioned hockey opened a bit of an opportunity for us.”
KIJHL 2024-25 Season Schedule
The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League has released its 2024-25 regular season schedule, which begins on Friday, September 20th with 18 of the league’s 21 teams in action.
All KIJHL teams will play a 44-game regular season that includes 34 games each against divisional and conference opponents and one game each against teams from the alternate conference. For inter-conference play, Okanagan-Shuswap Conference clubs will host opponents from one division in the Kootenay Conference while travelling to the other division, and vice versa.
The KIJHL will observe a holiday break from December 22-26 with games resuming December 27th and the regular season concluding on Saturday, February 22nd. The KIJHL playoffs begin on Friday, February 28th when 16 teams begin their quest for the Teck Cup.
The 2024-25 regular season schedule includes a total of 462 games.
Key dates include the first-ever KIJHL regular season home games for the Quesnel River Rush (Friday, September 20th vs. Merritt), Williams Lake Mustangs (Friday, September 20th vs. Sicamous) and Merritt Centennials (Friday, September 27th vs. Kamloops), as well as the lone rematch of the 2024 Teck Cup Finals between the defending champion Revelstoke Grizzlies and runner-up Fernie Ghostriders on Saturday, December 7th in Revelstoke.
The KIJHL’s 2024-25 exhibition schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
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