BCIHL Announces Addition of Okanagan Lakers and 2021/22 Season Overview

The BCIHL is pleased to announce the addition of the Okanagan Lakers for the 2021/22 regular season, scheduled to start on October 15th. 

The Lakers are an independent collegiate team based in Kelowna and consisting of student-athletes from both UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College. Kevin Bathust has been named the head coach for the inaugural season, with Gage Colpron joining the team in a hockey operations role. 

Bathurst has over 14 years of sport leadership experience including coaching, scouting and management at the USport, Junior A, Junior B and CSSHL levels. He has been coaching with the Pursuit of Excellence Midget Varsity team since 2018 and is NCCP High Performance I certified.

Colpron joins the Lakers after playing 4 seasons with the VIU Mariners and ACAC's Alberta-Augustana Vikings. Colpron is a former VIJHL standout, serving as the captain of the Campbell River Storm.

The BCIHL has approved a 12-game regular season followed by a 4 game provincial championship for 2021/22, with plans to return to a 24 game schedule for the 2022/23 season. In addition, the BCIHL has plans to announce unique exhibition tournaments throughout the 2021/22 season. Individual teams have added additional regional events to supplement the regular season while navigating the potential for COVID-19 restrictions, providing as close to a typical 24 game schedule as possible. 

"We're thrilled to finally have a timeline for our return to action," says BCIHL President Chris Munshaw.

"Our teams and their institutions have been significantly impacted by COVID-19, and I would like to thank our coaches and student-athletes for remaining committed to a full return during the extended offseason," says Munshaw. 

The BCIHL continues to explore opportunities for expansion with the support of BC Hockey. 

"The Okanagan has so many strong junior teams, the Lakers have seen a lot of interest and community support and it's very encouraging for the prospect of our continued growth as a league." 

"We opened the door to independent teams for the next year in order to create some new opportunities. I think we'll see growing support from universities and colleges for official teams at either the sport-club or varsity level as things get back to normal," says Munshaw.

More information about the Okanagan Lakers can be found online at www.okanaganlakers.com. The BCIHL has announced additional expansion prospects for the 2022/23 season which can be found online at www.bcuniversityhockey.ca

The official BCIHL schedule will be released in the coming weeks.