It’s August 17th. That means we’re just a little more than a month out from game 1 of the 2014/2015 BCHL season, beginning in Chilliwack at the Showcase. I went on a mild Twitter-flood last night, updating fans on what the basic timeline is between now and then. Realising that not everyone is on Twitter, here is that same timeline (expanded on a little bit):
- Players have begun arriving into Powell River. Some will be on hand to help with ice sessions at the annual Kings Hockey School, which runs Monday-Thursday. Along with the coaches, this years crop of players (both old and new) will help train the next generation of Kings.
- Camp is August 29th to 31st, all at the Hap Parker Arena. I’ll post a more detailed schedule later this week, as I know that many fans enjoy watching the scrimmages and in particular the Green vs White game at the conclusion of camp. There is already a lot of excitement for this season. On Friday, Powell River held its annual Blackberry Festival Street Party and many fans that I ran into were asking about camp, and expressed their eagerness to check out this year’s crop of Kings.
- The 3-day camp will likely cut the numbers from around 40 to the 25-30 range, then that number will get fine tuned down to 22 in time for the Showcase on September 20th. The Kings will use 3 exhibition games on the lower mainland between September 12th and 14th to help select the roster.
Once September 20th hits, it’ll be on until the end of the season as this year’s schedule is 2 weeks shorter, but still with the same number of games.
Enjoy the warm temperatures. Before you know it, it’ll be at the rink every weekend to cheer on the Kings. I’ll be at the rink this week and will post some updates and interviews from camp both here on the blog and on the Kings YouTube account.
