Welcome back to the “new look” Richmond Sockeyes 2026-27 hockey season, with several changes in place to allow you to have more of an interpersonal connection with the Sockeyes. While the Sockeyes had a great record of wins last season, they came up a “tad short” of the former PJHL championship. They are focused on a rebuild to advance them to play for the league championship. 

Last season we had mentioned the league (then PJHL) was splitting away from the past format and advancing to a Tier One level of hockey, which will now allow them to compete for the Centennial Cup and Canada’s National Junior A Championship. The change was made official in April when the British Columbia Hockey Conference was launched as the Hockey Canada and BC Hockey-sanctioned Junior A league in the province of British Columbia.

The change consists of 22 teams, which were created to offer BC athletes the opportunity to play sanctioned Junior A hockey in their home province, with the league and members competing under the Western Canadian Development Model. This change works in partnership with the Western Hockey League (WHL) as well as all Hockey Canada branches plus Junior A leagues in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The league has divided and joined the British Columbia Hockey Conference (BCHC), which is Tier One, while Tier Two hockey will still operate under the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL), playing within their own league. There will be no crossover games between the two leagues, but teams in the BCHC will be allowed to use the PJHL as a development league for player development, which will benefit both levels of hockey. The season was impressive under Head Coach Scott Hewson, who finished the season with a record of 44 wins, 5 losses and one O/T win, finishing with 88 points.

Season 2026 the Sockeyes have hired a new Coach, Brien Gemmell, who has been involved with hockey in the Lower Mainland at various levels of the game, from Minor to Junior. Most recently, he was the GM with Cloverdale Hockey Club, and prior to that, he was the Head Coach with the White Rock Whalers. In a recent conversation with Brien at training camp, I asked, “what he brings to the team?” which he mentioned, “Other than my past, my focus is to develop a winning culture with the Sockeyes and build a winning franchise, bringing a Canadian Championship to Richmond.” He was impressed with training camp, which this year opened with several spots on the roster due to the number of “over-age” players who are moving on to the next chapter of their careers. Along with Brien, the coaching staff is filled out with returning Matthew Stewart and Will Kump, the Director of Hockey Operations and Skills Provider for Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association, who has a strong belief in teamwork. Delorme and recently hired Craig Sherbaty, who put together a skills program at Tweedsmuir until 2014, then saw their careers move on to coach the Cloverdale U15 AAA as well as the U18 AAA levels. Overall, he’s not looking for aggressive players but players who can play a 200-foot game at both ends of the ice and are coachable. 

Knowing Brien the way I do, I for one know that along with his coaching staff, the Sockeyes will produce a winning product both on and off the ice. This season, the Sockeyes announced at last season’s year-end banquet that the Captain will be returning Calgary native Keelan Wyke, who started his career with the CBHA U15 Blackhawks, advancing his career through the Revelstoke to Grand Forks prior to joining the Sockeyes. 

In a recent conversation with owner Doug Paterson, he mentioned that he’s eager to get the season underway, continuing to be involved in the community as well as putting a winning product on the ice. 

Pre-season action saw the Sockeyes host the visiting Kwangwoon University, a private research University in Nowon-gu, Seoul, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs, noting that Chosun Radio Training Center, the predecessor of Kwangwoon University, was the first institution to teach electronic engineering studies in Korea. The game had the traditional on-ice pre-game ceremonies that saw the visitors take the early start, scoring a pair early in the first, followed by another pair in the second, taking a 4-0 lead to the dressing room after forty minutes. The Sockeyes managed a pair in the third, making it a 4-2 game that saw them pull “tender” Alan Pegergrym for the extra attacker, only to have the visitors jump on a loose puck, sending it 180 feet into the empty net, giving the visitors the 5-2 win. 

Pre-season continued against the Ridge Meadows Flames in a hard-fought contest that saw them come out on the losing end, dropping the game 3-0. Pre-season continued in a cross-town match-up against the Burnaby Steelers that saw the Sockeyes double up on the Steelers by a margin of 8-4, featuring some of the “vets dressed” while others sat out, giving the “rookies” a chance to “crack the line-up.” While the coaching staff are still evaluating some players, they are eager for the home opener to kick off the BCHC season. Personally, knowing Brien’s professionalism and dedication to the Sockeyes, I know that he’ll bring a championship team to the City of Richmond!!!