Sport Ice hockey No. of teams 5 | Founded 2006 Most titles Selkirk College (4) | |
Country Canada (5 teams)
United States (1 team) Most recent
champion(s) Selkirk College (2015-16) | ||
The British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) is a university hockey league based in British Columbia and the US state of Washington. The BCIHL was created with the purpose of offering a venue for competitive, high-calibre hockey for players beyond their junior hockey careers.
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The league operates as one of two Division 2 league's in Canada when compared to the Division 1 U Sports league, the other being Alberta's ACAC. BCIHL teams however regularly play U Sports and NCAA teams. Simon Fraser University plays a combined BCIHL and NCAA schedule every year as well as hosting the Great Northwest Showcase involving top NCAA and U Sports teams.
Each BCIHL team plays a 24-game league schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs. Beginning in 2012, the playoff format has consisted 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.
History
In 2011, the BCIHL accepted its first US-based team in Eastern Washington University, which had previously played in the American Collegiate Hockey Association 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 it's first NHL alumni as former Montreal Canadiens forward Patrick Holland would join the University of Victoria. Vancouver Island University was confirmed as the sixth team to join the BCIHL in 2017, and will be joining the league for the 2017/2018 season.