The PJHL regular season came to an end for the 2024-25 season that was again productive for the league as the PJHL hosted for the third time the BCHC Prospects game hosted by the Langley Trappers.
In addition the Trailblazers hosted the return of the All-Star game that saw both Conferences which saw several talented young players put their tenants on display in a game that saw the Tom Shaw Conference pull out a 6-5 win in O/T.
Both games were well received and saw a sell-out crowd at both games that showcased up and coming talent as well as several graduating players suiting up in the All-Star game.
This year again saw the return of the PJHL Winter Classic which was played over the Christmas break and again hosted by the Richmond Sockeyes.
All of the above games not only showcased the talent in the league but also attracted scouts from several WHL teams who are all looking for the next superstar to suit up for their squad.
The season wrapped-up a 48 game schedule with the Ridge Meadow Flames capturing first place with a record of 42-4-1-1 over the 48 game schedule in the Harold Brittain Conference in a fight to the finish going neck and neck with the Jets.
The big difference between both the Flames and the Jets saw the Flames manage 318 Goals For, 92 Goals Against while the Jets managed 243 Goals For and 123 Against.
The Tom Shaw Conference saw a race to the final week between the Delta Ice Hawks (34-10-1-3) narrowly getting the jump on the Richmond Sockeyes (32-11-3-2).
Penalties for any team can be its downfall and given the way the season went one might say that for some teams “Discipline” clearly wasn’t in their game plan.
If there was a down-side to the season it was the dismal play of the Aldergrove Kodiaks who had a record of zero wins and 48 losses along with 1288 penalty minutes.
It’s fair to say that you won’t win a championship in the penalty box and given the 48 game schedule the Kodiaks played shorthanded 26.83 minutes per game – almost a period and a half.
With the season wrapping up regular season play the number four seed plays against the number five seed in a wild-card best of three to see who will grab fourth place and advance.
Both Conferences offer this format and then it’s one play four and two play three in the best of seven series to see who will advance to the Conference final round.
The other part to the play-in or “wild card” is that the first place team has to book tentative ice slots as they have to wait for the winner before booking any ice slots with the rinks.
In conversation we are hearing that the second place team is at the mercy of the rinks to book ice and in the case of the Ice Hawks and the Whalers the first game will be played at Centennial Arena.
This is so the league can get the schedule in as each series has to be finished by a specific time to move on to the second round.
Regardless of what’s right and what’s wrong both teams and the league have agreed to this format and if it works everyone’s happy – unless you drop the first game in the other team’s barn.
The or play-in for the Tom Shaw Conference has the Langley Trappers host game one and three if possible which could be finished Friday with the winner advancing to face the Ridge Meadows Flames.
In the case with the Grandview Steelers and Port Coquitlam both finished with 56 points overall as per league rules as stated in the rules – thus allowing the Trailblazers to advance.
Should the teams have won the same number of games, then the higher position shall be awarded to the team having the best goals for and against average (determined by taking the goals for and subtracting the goals against).
Delta sits in wait as do the Flames and no doubt both teams are getting injured players back in the line-up as well as hitting the ice for some intense practice time.
Stay tuned – we’ll keep you posted.
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