Port Moody Panthers Staying Put as Junior Hockey Realigns

BC’s junior hockey scene just reorganized — a new Junior A league (the BCHC) formed this year, and both the Port Coquitlam Trailblazers and Burnaby Steelers moved up to it. The Port Moody Panthers deliberately chose to stay in the newly reclassified Junior B league instead.

“There were a lot more costs, a lot of checked boxes we needed for the facility,” said Panthers general manager Brian Wiebe. “It just didn’t make sense.” Instead, the Panthers are focusing on developing players for wherever fits them best next — Junior A, the CHL, NCAA, or U-Sports.

There are real trade-offs either way: players who move to unsanctioned leagues beyond a September 30 cutoff become ineligible to return to a sanctioned league for the rest of the season.

The Panthers’ first home game of the season is Saturday, September 13, 5:15pm at the Port Moody Rec Complex, against the Surrey Knights. (Reporting draws on original coverage by Mario Bartel, Freshet News.)