The road to Wenatchee is more than 1,000 kilometres long, but that move into U.S. territory poses no hurdles to the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The addition of the Wenatchee Wild as the B.C. Hockey League's 17th franchise will have an impact on the Spruce Kings, the northernmost BCHL club, but the benefits of adding an established team like the Wild for the 2015-16 season far outweigh the drawbacks, says Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
"I think it's great for the league," said Hawes, Thursday morning from Victoria, where he's attending the BCHL's annual general meeting.
"They are an extremely stable franchise and have been for years. They have a fabulous building and they draw over 3,000 fans per game. I think it's great when you can bring an organization like Wenatchee over to our league."
Details have yet to be worked out as to how the BCHL will realign itself to accommodate the Wild but Hawes expects the team in central Washington state will become part of the Mainland Division with the Spruce Kings, Coquitlam Express, Langley Rivermen, Surrey Eagles and Chilliwack Chiefs.
"I'm almost certain they'll play in our division," Hawes said.
"We'll play four games in Wenatchee, with two different doubleheaders down there, and they'll play four times in Prince George as well. That will be exciting for our fans. I expect we'll play them early in the season."
Hawes fully expects the Wild will subsidize travel costs for visiting teams in their first year of operation in the BCHL as one of the conditions of the team's entry into the league.
"It's a bit of distance and we'll just have to travel a little farther," Hawes said. "We'll probably start our trip in Langley with a Wednesday game, travel on a Thursday and play in Wenatchee Friday and Saturday, then maybe come back to Coquitlam for a Sunday afternoon game."
Hawes has informed the Kings players they will need passports to cross the border.
The Wild joined the North American Hockey League in 2008-09 and posted winning records in each of those seven seasons. Under head coach Bliss Littler, a 21-year junior hockey coach, the Wild finished with a 27-25-8 record in 2015-16 and advanced to the second round of playoffs. Six Wild players on that team were committed to NCAA Division 1 programs.
The Wild are the first U.S.-based BCHL franchise since the Bellingham Ice Hawks, who folded in 1995. The Trail Smoke Eaters bought the Ice Hawks' franchise when they joined the league in 1995-96, a year before the Spruce Kings gained entry into the BCHL from the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League, having purchased the New Westminster Royals franchise.
In March 2007, a group which included Garry Davidson purchased the Williams Lake Timberwolves, intending to move the BCHL team to Wenatchee, but the deal was scuttled when U.S.A. Hockey objected to the BCHL's proposed limits on the number of import players for the team.
