The BCHL schedule for the 2015-16 season has been released.
Opening night is Sept. 11, but unlike the last three years, the Bauer BCHL Showcase will not kick off the regular season. There will be two weekends of action before the Showcase takes place Sept. 24 to 27 in Chilliwack.
The Penticton Vees open the season on the road at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm against the Silverbacks, who they ended last season against.
Their first home game at the South Okanagan Events Centre is Sept. 16 against the Vernon Vipers. The first rematch of last year’s BCHL championship with the Nanaimo Clippers will be Nov. 7 at the SOEC at 6 p.m. The Vees will visit Nanaimo on Feb. 5.
Their first meeting with the Wenatchee Wild will be at the SOEC on Jan.13/16 at 7 p.m. and they make their first trip to the Town Toyota Center 10 days later on Jan.23/16. The Vees’ final regular-season game will be against the Silverbacks on Feb. 27 in Salmon Arm.
The Wild are the BCHL’s 17th team giving the league 493 games.
Each team plays 58 games this season. After playing twice at the Showcase, each team will have 28 home dates and 28 on the road.
The BCHL will again have a full interlock schedule, meaning each team will host every other team. This will be done once each with out-of-division teams while in-division rivals will meet multiple times.
The regular season concludes on Sunday, Feb. 28 with the playoffs starting Friday, March 4.