Summer is at an end, the kids are back to school, and that means only one thing in Princeton.
It’s hockey season.
And this year, it’s a whole new ball game.
Numerous changes within the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) following the 23-24 season have led to the expansion of the Bill Ohlhausen Division.
“It’s the same but different,” said Posse General Manager Mark McNaughton. “There is lots of familiar, but there are some new twists along the way.”
The division lost two teams last year, with Summerland Steam selling to Williams Lake and North Okanagan Knights moving to Quennell.
Along with other external circumstances, it resulted in the division welcoming Sicamous for the coming season and the Merritt Centennials, which left the BC Hockey League to join the KIJHL.
The division also now includes the Posse’s arch-rivals, the Revelstoke Grizzlies.
“I like playing Revelstoke,” said McNaughton. “It’s certainly going to be fun to play them five times during the season instead of twice.”
For the past two years the Posse won the KIJHL’s President’s Trophy for top team in the regular season, chased closely both times by the Grizzlies.
While the team has yet to release information about this season’s roster, McNaughton said it is filling up nicely.
“We are looking at something like 13-15 returning players from last year’s team,” he said.
Numerous new recruits have been signed, including two young players from Princeton.
Torin Bernier, 16 and Cole Hough, 17 will both join the team from their respective elite programs.
“We have a fantastic roster coming together.”
The exhibition season starts Friday, September 6, at 7 p.m., at the Princeton and District Arena, against the Merritt Centennials.
