Welcome to the September 4, 2018 edition of BCHL Today, a (near) daily look at what鈥檚 going on around the league and the junior A world.
If you were a regular reader of BCHL Today last season, you鈥檒l know how much I love jerseys, and the Wenatchee Wild will be wearing a new look in 2018-19.
The team unveiled the home threads late last week and they look really good.
It鈥檚 hard to not like the simple blue and white Wenatchee colour scheme, and the big horizontal bands give it a throwback look that reminds me of some of the jerseys the National Hockey League has rolled out for Winter Classic Games.
I am not as big a fan of the logo, only because I really liked the primary logo the Wild used the last few seasons.
This one reminds me too much of the Phoenix Coyotes.
I am optimistic the road jerseys will look equally good and I鈥檓 hoping there鈥檚 good contrast between the primary colour and the numbers/names. At the Royal Bank Cup last spring, Wenatchee had black jerseys with dark blue numbers/names and it was difficult for tired ol鈥� media eyes to figure out who was who.
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The Surrey Eagles are a team that has fun on social media, and whoever handles the job does some creative things.
How many teams release their goal-horn and goal-music, as the Eagles did over the weekend?
Anything to get the fans pumped up for the start of the season, but I am glad that I don鈥檛 have to be in Surrey鈥檚 building 30-ish times because I am not a fan of the song.
Our official goal horn for 2018-19! 馃攰
鈥� Surrey Eagles (@SurreyEagles)
With tunes from 馃幎
Get used to hearing it a lot 馃憤
Too鈥� techno?
Give me something with words. The Vancouver Canucks used to play Green Day鈥檚 Holiday after a goal.
But none of this is aimed at people my age, so I should sit down and shut up. If the younger crowd likes it, that鈥檚 what matters.
Question for the audience. What鈥檚 your favourite goal-song?
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BCHL teams will join the rest of the CJHL remembering the Humboldt Broncos this season.
Each of the BCHL鈥檚 17 teams will unveil a banner at an upcoming home game, and a tiny version of that banner will be on the helmet of each player.
Moose Jaw native Tyler Hutchinson designed the artwork.
鈥淟ike everybody across the world, I was shocked and saddened by the news of the tragic accident involving the Humboldt Broncos,鈥� he said in a CJHL news release. 鈥淚t hit very close to home, as I currently have cousins playing in both the SJHL and WHL. It got me thinking and I decided to try and come up with something that the entire CJHL could use, not only to commemorate the tragic events, but also help with the healing process. Hopefully the design does this.鈥�
The Broncos return to the ice Sept. 12, hosting the Nipawin Hawks at the Elgar Peterson Arena in Humboldt.
The game will be broadcast live nationally on TSN.
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A nice story that came out of Penticton last week, where forward Cassidy Bowes is going hairy to raise money for cancer research.
The 19 year old has been letting his hair grow for a year and he鈥檚 got quite the mop up top. He is pledging to not get it cut until he reaches his goal of collecting $9,292. Why such a specific number. Bowes wears jersey No. 92 for the Vees.
NEWS: to raise money for children's cancer research. Details:
鈥� Penticton Vees (@PentictonVees)
GoFundMe:
A GoFundMe account has been set up at gofundme.com/bowes039-locks-for-cancer-research
When he reaches his target, Bowes will have his hair cut and donate the money to the Children鈥檚 Cancer Research Fund. His hair, and there should be a lot of it, will be donated to help create wigs for those going through cancer treatment.
According to a tweet sent out by the Vees on Monday, Bowes was already 20 per cent of the way to his goal.
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A flurry of trades late last week saw nine junior A skaters packing their bags.
The most notable deal involved the Nanaimo Clippers, who went shopping for a goaltender and found one in Salmon Arm. The Clips sent 20 year old defenceman Sam McBean (great name) to Salmon Arm for 20 year old netminder Kyle Dumba.
Rosters are suprisingly hard to pin down, but a veteran goalie like this isn鈥檛 acquired to be a backup.
Dumba has 43 games of major junior experience with the Western Hockey League鈥檚 Calgary Hitmen, Kamloops Blazers, Everett Silvertips and Regina Pats. The Calgary kid joined the Silverbacks last season, posting a 4.00 goals-against average and .892 save percentage in 30 regular season outings. In three playoff games he had a 2.30 GAA and .947 SP.
His brother, Matt Dumba, is a well-regarded defenceman with the National Hockey League鈥檚 Minnesota Wild.
Other players on the move last week:
- Nanaimo shipped 1999-born forward Tyler Maser to the Superior International Junior Hockey League鈥檚 Dryden Ice Dogs in exchange for another goalie, 1999-born stopper Landon Pavlisin.
- The Penticton Vees picked up 2000-born defenceman Peter Muzyka from the Merritt Centennials for future considerations.
- The Langley Rivermen sent 1998-born defenceman Jordan Dawson and 1999-born forward Brady Berger to Nanaimo for 2000-born blueliner Austin Chorney, then dealt Chorney to the Vernon Vipers in return for 1998-born forward Keyvan Mokhtari and futures.
Eric Welsh is the sports editor at the Chilliwack Progress and has been covering junior A hockey in B.C. and Alberta since 2003.
Email eric.welsh@theprogress.com
