Sometimes in Junior hockey, the team that wins does so in a year you wouldn’t expect.
In 2016-17, the Wenatchee Wild were the winners of the Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy as BCHL regular-season champs. Their 45 wins, 94 points and +159 goal differential were far and away the best in the league. Forward Brendan Harris won the Brett Hull Trophy as top scorer and his linemate Charlie Combs led the league with 51 goals.
And yet, the Wild were unceremoniously brushed out of the playoffs in the second round by the Chilliwack Chiefs.
This year, Wenatchee made the move to the Interior Division and finished third behind Penticton and Vernon. They again had a league-leading scorer in Jasper Weatherby but had to go through the higher-seeded Vipers in Round 2 and the upstart Trail Smoke Eaters in Round 3 just to face the Mainland No. 1 seed Prince George Spruce Kings in the league Final.
But the league’s newest franchise proved more than capable, dousing the Vipers in six games, the Smoke Eaters in five and PG in five.
Now, Wenatchee awaits the winner of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Finals which currently has the Spruce Grove Saints leading the Okotoks Oilers 3-1. Wenatchee is the first American-based franchise to win the BCHL since the 1979 Bellingham Blazers.
