U.S. team pulls plug on BCHL season

The Wenatchee Wild are taking a one season hiatus from the BC Hockey League, due to issues caused by the closure of the U.S.-Canada border and restrictions in Washington state.

The Wild, the league’s only American franchise, have released all their players to give them an opportunity to play elsewhere this year.

“This is a sad day for the Wenatchee Wild organization,” said team General Manager Bliss Littler. “We feel for our players, housing families, fans, season ticket holders, corporate sponsors and the Town Toyota Center. It’s not a good day for any of us. This will hurt for a while for sure, but I know we will get through this and we will be back better than ever for the 2021-2022 season.”

“I will challenge the hockey operations staff building next year’s team to recruit harder and smarter than ever. We will challenge our front office to upgrade everything we do. We are proud of the show we put on right now, but want make it the most entertaining event in junior hockey.”

The BCHL announced Monday that they have delayed the start of their 2020-21 regular season to Dec. 8. The league will announce a schedule with the 17 other franchises in the coming weeks.

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“The BCHL is very sad that circumstances beyond the control of our valued franchise, the Wenatchee Wild, have caused this shutdown,” said Chairman of the BCHL Board of Governors, Graham Fraser. “We wish Bliss Littler and his staff the very best as they get to work on getting back on the ice for the 2021-22 season.”

The Wild joined the BCHL for the 2015-16 season. In just their third season in the league, Wenatchee captured its first Fred Page Cup championship in the 2017-18 season and went on to play in the RBC Cup national championship tournament.