TThe Cranbrook Bucks will be joining the B.C. Hockey League next season as an expansion team and that's good news for Prince George Spruce King genera manager Mike Hawes.
Hawes sits on the BCHL's competition committee and he's been pushing for Cranbrook's inclusion as the league's 18th franchise ever since it became apparent the WHL's Kootenay ICE franchise would be moving to Winnipeg.
"I think Cranbrook's going to be really good market for our league," said Hawes. "Obviously they've got a beautiful facility there and the ownership group is tremendous and extremely motivated. They want to put a premier product on the ice there in Cranbrook and I expect as we watch them grow they will turn the franchise into what I'm guessing will be one of the premier locations in our league.
The Bucks will play home games in the 4,264-seat Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, giving the league its second team in the Kootenay region, 228 kilometres east of Trail, where the Smoke Eaters play.
"It's nice to see another travel partner in the league, where teams that travel into Trail can shoot down the road to Cranbrook to play another game while they're on the road."
The Cranbrook ownership group ins headed by 28-year-old Nathan Lieuwen of Abbotsford, a former Buffalo Sabres goaltender who played 11 games in the BCHL with the Westside Warriors before advancing to the NHL, AHL and ECHL.
“We are extremely excited to bring a BCHL franchise to Cranbrook and the East Kootenay,” said Lieuwen, the Bucks majority owner and president, in a league release. “The Cranbrook Bucks Hockey Club looks forward to being a proud member of the Cranbrook community and surrounding areas for many years to come. We are grateful for all parties involved in bringing the BCHL to Cranbrook and we can’t wait for the puck to drop for the 2020-21 season.”
Cranbrook his been without a junior hockey team since the Kootenay Ice of the WHL shifted to Winnipeg at the end of the 2018-19 season. The Spruce Kings haven't played there since 1996, when the Cranbrook Colts were their opponents in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League.
“We are pleased to add Cranbrook as the 18th member of the B.C. Hockey League,” said BCHL commissioner Chris Hebb. “The city already has a rich hockey history and we are excited to see them add to that legacy and bring BCHL hockey to another great community in our province.”
The addition of Cranbrook will mean realignment of the league and the Prince George Spruce Kings will be affected. The league has yet to finalize plans for its new divisions.
"There certainly is a possibility that the Spruce Kings could end up moving (to another division) as maybe some other teams might too," said Hawes. "I certainly would prefer to stay in the Mainland Division."
In other BCHL news, the league announced its approval of the sale of the Coquitlam Express to local businessman Fayaz Manji. Manji will serve as the team's governor, with Ron Veit as alternate governor and special advisor. Manji named Dave McLellan as president of hockey operations, Mark Pettie as vice-president and Alannah Kedra as manager of business operations.
The Express joined the league as an expansion franchise in 2001 and played in Coquitlam for four seasons before shifting to Burnaby. The team moved back to Coquitlam in 2010.
