BCHL

[just popping in]

Go Warriors Go...... luv them

http://www.castanet.net/news/RBC-Cup/16 ... ake-finale

Go Warriors Go!!!!!

[GordonH]

West Kelowna has very good chance of winning RBC Cup

[Veovis]

Another win. Good for them. Win or lose we can be proud of the hockey in this valley, Rockets last year and the Warrior this year have shown we have a strong program.

[occasional thoughts]

With so many knowledgeable people on right here, please tell me, is there no Jr. A Hockey in Quebec and/or the Maritimes, and if not why not (some historical thing?), and if so, why there's no participation from them in the RBC Cup. Thanks any and all who can elucidate. Just curious, it may be travel costs, but it is a credible level of junior and hell, give me a break, it is nationals!

[JayByrd]

With so many knowledgeable people on right here, please tell me, is there no Jr. A Hockey in Quebec and/or the Maritimes, and if not why not (some historical thing?), and if so, why there's no participation from them in the RBC Cup. Thanks any and all who can elucidate. Just curious, it may be travel costs, but it is a credible level of junior and hell, give me a break, it is nationals!

There is Jr A hockey in Quebec and the Maritimes. Quebec has a 12 team league (Quebec Junior Hockey League) and the Maritimes has a 12 team circuit (Maritime Junior Hockey League) with teams in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and one in PEI. The champions of those two leagues compete, along with the champions of the Ontario-based Central Canada Hockey League, for the Fred Page Cup, which serves as the eastern Jr A championship. The Fred Page winner moves on to represent the east at the RBC Cup. This year's Fred Page winner is the Carleton Place Canadians, who are competing in the RBC for the third straight year.

Junior A hockey has never caught on in that part of the country the way it has here, and teams from the Maritimes and Quebec tend to not be as strong as the rest of the country. Teams from the Maritime league have captured the RBC Cup on two occasions however; in 1997 (Summerside) and 2002 (Halifax). Charlottetown also won the inaugural Centennial Cup (the forerunner of the RBC) in 1971. Additionally, when our own Kelowna Spartans won the Centennial Cup in 1993, the tourney was hosted in Amherst, NS, and the Spartans defeated the Quebec representative (Chateauguay Elites) in the final.

[occasional thoughts]

Thank you, and that explains it; Quebec and the Maritimes were involved with Ontario, but the two Ontario teams advanced to the national. Thanks!

[JayByrd]

Thank you, and that explains it; Quebec and the Maritimes were involved with Ontario, but the two Ontario teams advanced to the national. Thanks!

Ontario, with it's population density, has four Jr A leagues. The above-mentioned CCHL gets lumped in with Quebec and the Maritimes for RBC qualification, while the champions of the other three compete for the Dudley Hewitt Cup, to be the "Central" representative in the RBC. It's really a pretty complex system, whittling down 126 teams from the start of the season, to the five finalists.

[GordonH]

^^^ Complex is the right word, just look at time frame West Kelowna Warriors started their playoffs at end of February its now coming to end of May. To finally get to National Finals in the RBC Cup.
2 of hardest Championship at obtain:
RBC Cup
Memorial Cup

Both have same reasons:
Teams only have players for few years, before they have to move on.
The sheer amount of teams in the entire leagues of J "A" & Juniors.

Added: to get just the right team chemistry and have clicking just so

[GordonH]

RBC Final is airing on TSN 3-4 & 5 at 3pm tomorrow.
Lloydminster Bobcats vs West Kelowna Warriors

[GordonH]

West Kelowna moves on to RBC finals with 4 to 1 victory over Brooks.

TV listings in my last post for RBC Championship game tomorrow

[GordonH]

40 down 20 to go, WKW are up 2 to 0 over Lloydminster.

[GordonH]

Congratulations to West Kelowna Warriors on being the National Champions
and winner of RBC Cup.

[jaz301]

Way to Go Warriors!!!

[occasional thoughts]

Congrats ala WK Warriors. Should help them with recruiting from now on, put them in the same perceptional level as their arch rivals Penticton, et al. And thank you ownership for renaming them the West Kelowna Warriors in time for this instead of the indefinite Westside Warriors.

[JayByrd]

Congrats to the Warriors!

I really believed their Cinderella story would conclude after their upset over Penticton, but they just kept rolling.

We've been treated to some fantastic Jr A hockey in the valley. Since I was getting into a bit of history earlier in the thread, I did a bit of fact-checking...Okanagan Valley teams have captured the Centennial/RBC Cup 10 times in it's 45 year history. I'd say that's pretty good. The breakdown:

Vernon Lakers/Vipers: 6 ('90, '91, '96, '99, '09, '10)

Penticton Panthers/Vees: 2 ('86, '12)

Kelowna Spartans: 1 ('93)

West Kelowna Warriors: 1 ('16)