Chilliwack’s long wait for a WHL team is over, and the new club arrives with a strong Vancouver Canucks connection.
On Wednesday, the league approved an ownership group that includes former Abbotsford Canucks coach Jeremy Colliton and former Vancouver left winger Mason Raymond. The expansion franchise becomes the WHL’s 24th team.
Colliton will wear several hats right away: general manager, head coach and team governor. The team is set to begin play next season at the Chilliwack Coliseum, a building that has already hosted WHL hockey before. The Chilliwack Bruins played there from 2006-11 before relocating to Vancouver Island and becoming the Victoria Royals.
The league has not made the franchise fee public, but league sources have placed it in the $20 million range. When Penticton joined last season, sources said that expansion fee topped $16 million, with part of that money going to the Kelowna Rockets for entering their official territory.
There has also been no official confirmation on whether the Vancouver Giants, who play at the Langley Events Centre, will receive any compensation from the new Chilliwack team.
Colliton said the chance to help shape young players’ careers means a lot to him: “That experience, with what you go through in a junior career, is a big part of who I am today. So to have a chance to create something for kids that age and have a hand in their development personally and then hopefully professionally is a pretty cool opportunity and something I’m really excited about.”
Penticton and Chilliwack were originally announced together as expansion markets, though Penticton arrived with an established hockey operation from the BCHL version of the Vees.
The WHL’s decision to announce Chilliwack before naming an owner was an unusual move. Still, the city has wanted a higher level of hockey for years, and the return drew support from existing WHL clubs such as the Rockets and Giants, who backed the move as a way to help reduce travel costs.
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