There is nothing worse than teams and leagues that practice deceitful recruiting of unsuspecting players and parents. While some leagues may make claims to players who move up and onward as “alumni” to take advantage of having had a player in the league for a time, the BCHL is next level when it comes to making claims it cannot support with any level of a straight face.
In an email marketing piece for the newly branded BCHL Futures Series, the BCHL makes the following claim twice:
“THE BCHL IS TIER 1 JUNIOR HOCKEY”
Lets look into that claim just a little bit deeper.
Does the BCHL offer completely free to play junior hockey? No. Not every team is free to play. Not every player on every team is playing for free.
Does the BCHL provide all equipment, including skates? No.
How does the BCHL compare to the NAHL by way of commitments to NCAA D-1 in 2025? The BCHL has 49 commitments to NCAA D-1 programs since the NCAA rule change regarding Major Junior players took effect in October of 2024. The NAHL has 46 NCAA D-1 commitments in the same period of time.
Does this make the NAHL also Tier 1 junior hockey? No. The NAHL is Tier 2.
There are four leagues in North America that are of a Tier 1 level. The OHL, QMJHL, WHL and USHL. Thats it. No other leagues offer what these four leagues offer. These leagues account for the vast majority of NCAA D-1 commitments.
All of this information is publicly available. So why does the BCHL chose to attempt to mislead parents and players in this way? Why do parents and players chose to talk themselves into believing these claims when they are not supported by any evidence?
Lets remember that the “tier system” was developed by USA Hockey as a “business model”. Tier 1 being completely free to play, Tier 2 being that the players paid for housing and meals, and Tier 3 being pay to play. It has morphed into being a level of play system because the bestter players naturally gravitate and arrive in the free to play or least expensive to play leagues.
That “tier system” has become bastardized over the years with pay to play teams and leagues claiming to be a higher level than they are.
Another interesting piece of information the British Columbia Hockey League has in this email piece is that the two “futures events” are not happening in British Columbia. They are taking place in Ontario and Quebec. Strange isnt it that a league that says they want to develop more British Columbia area players would be having these events outside of British Columbia?
Saying you are one thing does not make you that thing. My son when he was a child used to say he was a cowboy, but he has never ridden a horse. My Seiko watch may look like a Breitling from a distance, but it’s not a Breitling when you look closer.
I sure would like to have a Breitling one day, and I am sure the BCHL would like to be a real Tier 1 league some day. But wanting is not the same as having or being.
Its time for the BCHL to just tell the truth. They have a very good, highly competitive league. Theres nothing wrong with that, in fact its a good thing. Being the Canadian Juniior A leader in NCAA commitments is the truth. The league is not Tier 2 by US standards, so stop using the US labels. Be what you are. Dont claim to be Tier 1 when you simply are not.
