Twelve By 2030?

There was an interesting report written by Chris Windeyer and published on the CBC website last week that spoke of Yukon University's commissioned study that examined whether or not it would it would be feasible for them to join one of the college-level conferences in British Columbia or Alberta. The study noted that five sports would work best if they were to join one of the conferences, but the costs were high for them to do so - "$17 million to $24 million over the first 10 years" - without the figures including potential new facilities for the sports. The study got me thinking, though: could Canada West conceivably add schools and hockey programs over the next few years?

Let me be clear: Canada West is not looking expansion nor have any schools tabled their intentions to join Canada West on the hockey front. If there were any teams that were interested, I'm sure there would have been announcements already, so we'll run this article today as a thought experiment. In setting up this exercise in academia, we'll lay down a few ground rules as well:

• Programs who are currently underway will be considered.
• Programs who had a history in Canada West, but no longer exist, will be considered as well. Historical relevance matters.
• Any team considered would need to be ready to play in Canada West by the 2030-31 season. That gives seven seasons to re-establish a program or to improve a program's application.
• Underserved areas on the map with respect to university hockey will be given priority.

Those ground rules shoukd help us identify specific schools where hockey could thrive with the right funding and program leaders. I'm no clairvoyant so don't expect any of this to happen anytime soon, but the potential for a twelve-team conference does exist if Canadas West wants to sell itself as a premiere hockey program in Canada.

Who should be considered? Let's dive into this.

With their recent football troubles well-documented, it's hard to think that Simon Fraser University in British Columbia would have no major varsity sports playing anywhere on this side of the border. Simon Fraser was a football factory for many years as they produced a number of professional players, but they could easily shift into being a hockey school considering that they already recruit players from all over Canada. Could the Red Leafs jump into Canada West and compete with the likes of UBC, Alberta, and Calgary in seven years?

SFU has an established men's program, but they have no official women's hockey program at the institution. That would need to change very quickly if the Red Leafs wanted any hope of joining Canada West, but there are enough players in and around BC that they could start building a solid program if they had a bit of a head start on their CanWest days. The men's squad already plays at the 2000-seat Bill Copeland Arena, so they have a facility that would be suitable for both men's and women's hockey.

With UBC an hour away and Trinity Western half an hour away, there are natural rivalries that exist already. Adding a third team in BC would be good for making BC's hockey scene stronger. Of course, three teams within 90 minutes of one another might be a little oversaturation in that market, and the lack of a women's program makes it harder to justify the school's inclusion. Make no mistake that Simon Fraser University would be a candidate if they pursued admission into Canada West, but there are some glaring details that need to be addressed first.

If there's one mention of a BCIHL team, we should mention another as the University of Victoria Vikes would also be a candidate to jump into a higher level of play on the hockey scene. UVic hasn't had the same level of success as SFU on the ice in recent seasons, but Victoria suffers from the same problem that SFU has in that they don't have a women's program that plays in a prominent league. Nonetheless, they could start one fairly quickly from a large student body and by recruiting prior to joining Canada West.

Proximity to UBC shouldn't be a problem as the University of Victoria is three hours away, and that travel time includes a ferry ride across the Strait of Georgia. It's about the same distance to Trinity Western, so there certainly be a localized market on Vancouver Island from where the Vikes could draw fans and players. With Nanaimo just up the highway from Victoria, there may be talent that wants to stay closer to home by heading to the University of Victoria.

While the Vikes have been a constant for the University of Victoria for some time, it seems they'll be on the search for a new home after UVic announced that the Ian Stewart Complex, where the arena is located, will be replaced with housing for students. The demolition of the venue won't start until 2026, but that obviously forces the men's team to play elsewhere. With no women's team presently, that affects putting a program on the ice as well. It's still possible for the Vikes to make the jump, but they need to find an adequate venue.

The Red Deer Kings and Queens likely would be considered if not but for one detail: Red Deer's postsecondary institution is a polytechnic school, not a university. It's not that they haven't tried to join other schools in moving from being a recognized college to a recognized university, but it seems that process to become obtain university status was redirected as the institution became a polytechnic. Being that they aren't a fully-fledged university means their admission to U SPORTS will have to wait. Would they work as a hockey school?

Red Deer has a solid hockey program running at the school for both men's and women's hockey. Within the ACAC, Red Deer might be the best-suited candidate to move up a level to Canada West because of the strength of their programs. Add in the fact that they had a brand-new facility opened there in the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre Arena, and it would almost seem too easy to allow Red Deer to make the jump. Clearly, they'd be ready.

The Kings and Queens would be the fifth Alberta-based team in Canada West, but they're near the midway point between Calgary and Edmonton. While one could argue they aren't underserved, the fact that Red Deer players have to choose to move away from home to play hockey would change if there was a local university team. I don't know if Alberta necessarily needs another team, but it would be hard to turn Red Deer down if they were to acquire university status.

If there's one province that desperately needs a second team, it's Manitoba. The eastern wing of Canada West has just one team, and it would certainly benefit from a second team. Where would one look? I'd start with the Brandon University which had a men's hockey team until 2002 when the program was cut. There was a women's team at one point, but those records are very light when it comes to what league they competed in and which teams were their opponents. In any case, if there's a team with history who could likely pull it off again in an area that's wholly underserved by university-level hockey, Brandon would solve that problem.

The addition of Brandon University would go a long way on two fronts. The first is that women who live in Western Manitoba usually are forced to head further west to continue their education. We've seen players from the Westman Wildcats and Yellowhead Chiefs regularly end up at universities other than Manitoba, so Brandon University would offer a more local solution. The second is that the Brandon area has been pushing for U18 AAA girls' team for some time, but it seems they need more players and support for that to happen. If there was a local university team, would that keep girls in the game? There would need to be some additional research done, but having a team certainly wouldn't hurt those numbers.

The city of Brandon rolled over the 50000-resident mark in 2022, so it would feel more like a US college hockey city than a big city such as Vancouver or Calgary, but it has all the same amenities that one would expect from a city like Regina or Winnipeg. The university has seen major investments into its sports programs, and adding a hockey program for both men and women would complement the other major sports programs they offer. While they don't have an arena on-site at the university, Brandon Sportsplex isn't far away. It isn't the most modern of facilities, but it's no worse than Clare Drake Arena or Father David Bauer Arena. Could Brandon start a program? That answer is yes, but there are a few hurdles to clear before it happens.

These four institutions seem poised to be closer to joining Canada West if they wanted to do so than others. There may be others, but they seem further away as the University of Lethbridge (no funding) would likely be welcomed back if they could get their house in order; the University of Winnipeg (no team, no venue) would be a welcomed sight; Assiniboine Community College (not a university, happy in the ACHA) would be a nice addition for Brandon; and, Lakehead University (Ontario-based, plays in the ACHA) could all make Canada West stronger.

I'll reiterate here that Canada West is not expanding and has no plans to expand on the horizon, but there are some candidates that can and should be considered if they ever were to venture down that path. I'd be very interested to see more crossover between some of these teams during preseason action in order to determine the viability of these schools being added, but we'll forge on with nine teams in Canada West for the foreseeable future.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!