2021-22 BCHL season



This is the 2021-22 British Columbia Hockey League season. This is the league's 31st season under this name and its 60th season overall dating back to the founding of the Okanagan Mainline Junior Hockey League in 1961.

This is the league's first season after withdrawing from the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

Season Format

 * Each team plays 54 games
 * Regular season begins October 8
 * BCHL Showcase October 20-24 at Chilliwack Coliseum with each team playing 2 games
 * BCHL Road Show February 19-20
 * Regular season ends March 20
 * Playoffs begin March 25

On October 1st, the league would modify the schedule and have teams fly into the US and drive back home as the border is open going into Canada by ground but not the other way around. Traveling players would have to provide a negative test to cross either way and four home dates involving the Wild will not be played. The league will use point percentage to determine league standing for the season as the four Canadian teams will add dates against each other and Wenatchee will only play 50 games.

On December 22nd the British Columbia Hockey League which had its schedule severely disrupted by flooding that had hit the province during the fall had redone its schedule to include only in-division games to alleviate weather and COVID-19 related travel issues as much as possible. The schedule adjustment would give Wenatchee the possibility of playing a full schedule to match the rest of the league teams.

Membership Changes

 * Due to the Canadian-US border closure the Wenatchee Wild sat out the 2020-21 season. The team returns for the 2021-22 season

Realignment
With the addition of the Cranbrook Bucks for 2020-21 the league realigned from a 3 division format to a two conference nine team each format with the top eight teams in each conference qualifying for the playoffs.

Standings
To be added upon completion of the regular season.

Format
With the slight realignment of the conferences for the 2020-21 season the playoff format was modified. The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs with the traditional 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5 match-ups. Teams are re-seeded after the first round. A 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 format is used in the conference semifinals. Conference semifinal winners meet in the conference final and the conference winners meet in the Fred Page Cup final. All series are best-of-seven. Traditionally, the Fred Page Cup winners advance to the Doyle Cup against the champion of the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs for a spot in the Centennial Cup, however the BCHL withdrew from the Canadian Junior Hockey League after the 2020-21 season and are now ineligible to compete for the Doyle Cup or Centennial Cup or to participate in any events sponsored by the CJHL such as the World Junior A Challenge or the CJHL Prospects Game.