BC Elite Hockey League


The British Columbia Elite Hockey League is the highest level of provincial youth ice hockey league in British Columbia, Canada. The league is governed by BC Hockey and was inaugurated in 2004 as the British Columbia Hockey Major Midget League.
The league currently consists of 9 integrated teams and 5 U18 women's teams. Players range from 14 to 17 years old. BCEHL is part of BC Hockeys' "High Performance" program to develop the best U18 players around the province. The U18 league champion goes on to compete with the top Alberta Elite Hockey League U18 team to represent the Pacific region at the annual Telus Cup, Canada's national U18 championship. The Okanagan Rockets are the current 2023 champions, and the 2022 Vancouver North East Chiefs were the last team to represent the BCEHL at the Telus Cup.

History

Originally established in 2004–05 as the British Columbia Major Midget League for players under 18 years of age, a female division was initialized in 2007–08 and played under the umbrella of the Female Midget AAA League. In 2018, a U16 AAA league was created, followed by a U15 AAA league in 2019. These four divisions now comprise the BCEHL.
On September 16, 2021, the league was announced as being renamed the British Columbia Elite Hockey League.

Current teams

Integrated

Telus Cup

The Vancouver North West Giants, Okanagan Rockets and the Vancouver North East Chiefs are the only teams to have represented the league at the Telus Cup. Upon the Giants' winning the BC MML championship in 2007, a regional final with the AMHL was not necessary as Red Deer was hosting the Telus Cup that year. The Giants finished fourth in the Telus Cup tournament in 2007 before returning four years later; they again finished fourth in 2011. The 2014 Rockets, meanwhile, won the bronze medal.
Prior to the inauguration of the BC MML, the national midget championship was held in British Columbia twice – hosted by Kelowna in 1996 and Prince George in 2001. The Burnaby Winter Club Travellers represent the only B.C. team to win the national championship, defeating the Gouverneurs de Ste-Foy from Quebec in 1982, as well as winning bronze in 1980.

Timeline of franchises (since 2004)

Source:

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ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2004 till:2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Former value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a former league member
id:Current value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member
id:lineColor value:gray
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Current from:01/01/2004 till:end text:Thompson Blazers
bar:2 color:Current from:01/01/2004 till:end text:Okanagan Rockets
bar:3 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2018 text:Vancouver NW Giants
bar:3 color:Current from:09/01/2018 till:end text:Vancouver NW Hawks
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2006 text:Vancouver NE Attack
bar:4 color:Current from:09/01/2006 till:end text:Vancouver NE Chiefs
bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2006 text:Vancouver SW Hawks
bar:5 color:Former from:09/01/2006 till:09/01/2018 text:Valley West Hawks
bar:5 color:Current from:09/01/2018 till:end text:Valley West Giants
bar:6 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2006 text:Cariboo Canucks
bar:6 color:Current from:09/01/2006 till:end text:Cariboo Cougars
bar:7 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2006 text:Vancouver SE Flames
bar:7 color:Former from:09/01/2006 till:09/01/2013 text:Fraser Valley Bruins
bar:7 color:Current from:09/01/2013 till:end text:Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/2005 till:09/01/2007 text:South Island Avalanche
bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/2007 till:09/01/2013 text:South Island Thunderbirds
bar:8 color:Former from:09/01/2013 till:09/01/2023 text:South Island Royals
bar:8 color:Current from:09/01/2023 till:end text:Vancouver Island Royals
bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/2005 till:09/01/2007 text:North Island Pack
bar:9 color:Former from:09/01/2007 till:03/01/2023 text:North Island Silvertips
bar:10 color:Former from:01/01/2004 till:09/01/2006 text:Vancouver Rangers
bar:10 color:Current from:09/01/2006 till:end text:Greater Vancouver Canadians
bar:11 color:Former from:09/01/2006 till:03/01/2021 text:Kootenay Ice
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:2004
LineData =
at:09/01/2004 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66 #BCMML begins
at:09/01/2007 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66 #BCMML Female begins
at:09/01/2018 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66 #BCEHL begins