Revelstoke Grizzlies season schedule released

The Revelstoke Grizzlies’ inaugural Junior ‘A’ season schedule was released yesterday (Aug. 11), and local fans will have to wait for the team’s return to the Revelstoke Forum as they won’t play a home game until October.

After a stunning end that resulted in a Cyclone Taylor Cup victory, the Grizzlies will be poised to get the next season started on a strong note. Despite starting the regular season on the road, the Grizzlies will be in town for exhibition games in early September.

Although Revelstoke won’t be at home for a while, their regular season will get underway on Sep. 22 when the team travels to Nelson for their season opener against the Nelson Leafs. The Grizzlies will then play Grand Forks, Chase, and Sicamous in their respective homes before returning to the forum for their home opener against Columbia Valley.

A few weeks ago, the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL), and the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) all announced that they would step up from their previous Junior ‘B’ leagues to join the Junior ‘A’ league.

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The change means that the Grizzlies, along with the all the other teams who made the jump to Junior ‘A’, will be in Tier 2 for the first year with the other KIJHL teams as they all duke it out to establish themselves to move up to Tier 1.

Tier 1 status teams will compete to join the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which would give them the opportunity to play in a National Junior ‘A’ tournament –the Centennial Cup– in future seasons.

The road to Tier 1 and national championships will be a long one, but for the Grizzlies it will start on Friday, Sep. 22 at 7 p.m. in Nelson. For more information about the Revelstoke Grizzlies season and schedule, visit the Revelstoke Grizzlies website.

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