The B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League, which is non-varsity and operates on a club basis, is at once quirky and compelling.
There is a high degree of competence on and off the ice, which will be on display Friday at 7:30 p.m. when the puck drops on the new Island derby between the defending league-champion University of Victoria Vikes and expansion Vancouver Island University Mariners. The back-to-back set continues on Saturday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre at 8 p.m.
“This is definitely going to be a great rivalry,” said UVic head coach Harry Schamhart.
The Vikes are the BCIHL holders, and have also won the league crown in 2007, 2009 and 2012, but are in a rebuilding phase after graduating fifth-year players, captain Luciano Somerville and assistant captain Shawn Mueller, signed to play pro in the Swedish Division 2.
Patrick Holland is also not playing this season. Holland is a 2010 Calgary Flames draft pick out of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. The computer-science major played pro in the AHL, ECHL, Europe and in five NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens and was instrumental in leading the Vikes to the BCIHL championship last spring.
“It’s going to take time to rebuild after losing our three core guys,” said Schamhart, whose Vikes are off to a 1-5-1 start.
“We’ve got a lot of rookies this season.”
Ten of them, to be exact. Most interesting among them is former Victoria Grizzlies goaltender Alec Dillon, an NHL draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, who is courageously working his way back after four hip surgeries and is 1-2 with a 4.09 goals-against average and .885 save percentage.
Rookie forward Jordan Evans is out of Drumheller of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and Kenny Britton from the Victoria Cougars of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
The key returnee is former Victoria Royals forward Jack Palmer, who has a goal and five assists.
This season is the 12th for the Vikes in the BCIHL, adding to a colourful hockey tradition in which UVic has competed in both varsity against the likes of Clare Drake’s Alberta Golden Bears dynasty, and at a previous club level in the old Esquimalt Friday Night League at Archie Browning. Notable UVic hockey alumni include Bob Nicholson and Tom Renney.
The newcomer Mariners, meanwhile, are 2-5 in their first season in the BCIHL and have proved competitive in all seven games.
“They have worked hard at recruiting good players and VIU is going to be a very strong organization,” predicted Schamhart.
“That’s great because it gives more opportunities to play collegiate hockey on the Island.”
Ryan Coghlan, a former WHL and BCHL blue-liner who comes from a prolific Nanaimo hockey family, has a goal and three assists for the Mariners. His brother is WHL Tri-City Americans rearguard Dylan Coghlan, who is signed to an NHL contact by the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
BCIHL teams have played exhibitions against NCAA Div. 1 teams and have held their own, such as when the Trinity Western Spartans played the Wisconsin Badgers tough in a 1-0 loss in 2016.
“This league is getting better every year,” said Schamhart.
Selkirk College leads the 2017-18 BCIHL standings at 10-0 with Trinity Western at 6-3, Simon Fraser University Clan at 5-2, VIU 2-5, UVic 1-5-1 and Eastern Washington 0-8.
