Kootenay International Junior Hockey League



The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League is a Junior "B" ice hockey league in British Columbia, Canada, sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The winner of the KIJHL playoffs competes with the champions of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League and the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League for the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the British Columbia Provincial Title. Until the 2016-17 season, the winner of the Cyclone Taylor Cup moved on to compete for the Western Canada "B" Crown, the Keystone Cup.

History
Founded in the early 1960s, the league was represented by the Trail Smoke Eaters in 1962, 1964, 1965, and 1966 for the Mowat Cup. In the '60s, the Mowat Cup determined the British Columbia seed in the Memorial Cup playdowns.

In July 2016, the league announced for the 2016-17 season that the inter-conference play between the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference and the Kootenay Conference would be eliminated during the regular season and that the schedule would be reduced from 52 to 47 games. The reduction in the number of games also nearly eliminated the use of week night games. The moves served two purposes for the players and the owners first to reduce the strain on the players with much less travel and time to spend on their studies and the reduction of travel expenses and the elimination of unprofitable games held in the middle of the week.

The Fernie Ghostriders were forced to temporarily relocate to the Elk Valley Leisure Centre in nearby Sparwood for the 2017-18 season when the Fernie Memorial Arena was made unusable due to an ammonia leak at the arena which killed three people on October 17, 2017.

NHL Alumni

 * Greg Adams
 * Ron Areshenkoff
 * Doug Barrault
 * Kris Beech
 * Steve Bozek
 * Shane Churla
 * Adam Deadmarsh
 * Dallas Drake
 * Wade Dubielewicz
 * Neil Eisenhut
 * Ray Ferraro
 * Travis Green
 * Jamie Huscroft
 * Barret Jackman
 * Dane Jackson
 * Steve Junker
 * Alan Kerr
 * Jon Klemm
 * Chuck Kobasew
 * Jeff Lank
 * Tim Lenardon
 * Scott Levins
 * Bill Lindsay
 * Brad Lukowich
 * Steve McCarthy
 * Jason Marshall
 * Derek Mayer
 * Glenn Merkosky
 * David Oliver
 * Scott Parker
 * Steve Passmore
 * Rudy Poeschek
 * Craig Redmond
 * Kevin Sawyer
 * Brian Skrudland
 * Dan Smith
 * Rob Tallas
 * Steve Tambellini
 * Gord Walker
 * Shea Weber
 * Mike Zanier