BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs face ‘challenge’ in Fraser Valley with Canucks affiliate’s Abbotsford arrival
‘We look forward to hopefully working with the new AHL team,’ says Chilliwack VP of business operations Barry Douglas
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Chilliwack Chiefs vice-president of business operations Barry Douglas maintains he sees a Vancouver Canucks’ farm team in Abbotsford as both adversary and ally.
“This will present a challenge but will provide the opportunity for us to continue to provide a high entertainment value for families and all hockey fans in our area,” Douglas said via email in regards to the Canucks’ announcement earlier this week that they plan to have their American Hockey League team play out of the Abbotsford Centre next season.
“The Chiefs are fortunate to have very loyal fans, corporate partners and volunteers. We look forward to hopefully working with the new AHL team.”
The Chiefs are one of the benchmark franchises in the B.C. Hockey League, an 18-team Junior A loop. They won the national title as tournament hosts in 2018, after going to the league final in the two previous seasons.
It’s difficult to track down year-by-year BCHL attendance figures, but Douglas maintains his team has been top-three in that category annually “for the past decade.” The website hockeydb.com had them third in 2019-20, their 2,031 fans per home game trailing only the Penticton Vees (3,092) and the Wenatchee Wild (2,275).
“We have very loyal fans,” said Chiefs general manager and coach Brian Maloney.
The price point for the BCHL and the AHL is different. According to their website, the Chiefs were planning on selling season tickets for this season starting at $7.90 per game ($229 for 29 home games) before the pandemic took hold. Teams instead are playing 20-game seasons before empty arenas based out of five different pods. That wraps up Tuesday.
The Canucks haven’t announced any pricing for their Abbotsford entry, but the San Diego Gulls of the AHL were listing on their website season tickets starting at $19.59 per game ($666 for 24 home games).
This will be the AHL’s second stint in the Fraser Valley, following the Abbotsford Heat, the Calgary Flames’ farm team that debuted in 2009-10 and left town five years later, after the 2013-14 campaign. The Chiefs had moved to Langley for 2006-07 as a part of the Chilliwack Bruins joining the WHL as an expansion franchise. The Bruins’ per game attendance was 4,467 in their first year, but dropped after that, and was 3,372 in 2010-11, their final season before relocating to Victoria.
The team did struggle in the standings, too, with a 137-185-17-21 record in its time in Chilliwack.
The Chiefs were resurrected in Chilliwack in 2011-12 and drew 2,004 fans per game that year, followed by 2,194 the next season and 1,707 the one after that, according to hockeydb.com. The Chiefs were 14-35-5-2 that 2013-14 season.
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