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July 8, 2026: BISONS HAVE THREE LOI PLAYERS
The Bisons have three new recruits listed on the LOI, but none are confirmed at Elite Prospects nor on the team website. They were all in the last Centennial Cup. The Bisons are heavy on players who hoisted trophies last spring. Here’s the background.
AUSTIN DUBINSKY – G – Niverville Nighthawks (MJHL)
Here we have the first Bison recruit at goaltender. The three goaltenders on last year’s roster are eligible to return, and are capable. But so is Dubinsky. He was the CJHL goaltender of the year in 2025-26, and led the Niverville Nighthawks to the Centennial Cup, which ranks him high on the recruiting list this year.
Today’s recruits are all originally from outside Friendly Manitoba. Dubinsky is from Ardrossan, Alberta. He started his junior career in the AJHL with the Grande Prairie Storm before heading to Niverville in 2024-25. His numbers in both MJHL seasons have been stellar. In 2024-25 he was 22-11-1, 2.53 GAA, .925 S% and in 2025-26 he was 34-3-1, 2.18 GAA, .931 S%.
Links:
➤ Elite Prospects: Austin Dubinsky Career Stats
NOAH LODOEN – F – Toronto Patriots (OJHL)
The Bison recruiting class this year has more out-of-province recruits than usual, and the shopping spree extends to the Centre of the Universe. The Toronto Patriots were the champions of the OJHL last year, and Bison scouts were no doubt able to watch them against Niverville in the Centennial Cup tournament. The Patriots lost the semi-final to Niverville 4-3, after holding a 3-0 lead.
Lodoen had a decent stats line (56 GP, 23 G, 27 A, 50 Pts), and added 5 points in 6 games in the nationals. He is 5′ 9″, 170 lbs, and shoots left. He is from Newmarket, Ontario.
LIAM LONGO – D – Toronto Patriots (OJHL)
While Longo has a registered LOI, he had previously committed to play of SUNY-Plattsburgh in NCAA3. That goes back to February, and the LOI was filed on June 24, 2026. So we’ll keep an eye on this one.
In any event, Longo is 6′, 190 lbs, and shoots right. The recruiting class now stands at one goaltender, two defencmen, six forwards, and one forward/defenceman.
July 2, 2026: T-IRDS RECRUITS & MONKEY MERCHANDISE
UBC THUNDERBIRDS
Recruiting news from around the loop has gone stale for a month now. The T-irds broke that slump with four new names, two of which are at Elite Prospects.The players are:
– Brendan Gee (G – Fort McMurray of AJHL & Vernon of BCHL);
– Carter Savage (D – Tri-City Americans of WHL);
– Gabriel Guilbeault (D – Kelowna & Wenatchee of WHL);
– Keaton Dowhaniuk (D – poached from MacEwan of the CW).I believe that the T-irds are losing a fair number of players this year. The three additions on the blueline are good recruits. Dowhaniuk was on the CW’s all-rookie team last year. I have mixed feelings on the no-redshirt rule. There should be many more announcements coming up.
Links:
➤ UBC: T-Birds add blend of experience and skill to blue line and goalALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS
The Evil Monkeys and Fat Pandas announced an on-lined merch store. Nothing unusual about that. It seems they’re selling the usual stuff. The unique thing is that the green jersey with a diagonal “Alberta” in Ranger-style is marked down, and a new green one with the Monkey logo is for sale. The white one always had the Monkey logo. Nice to see them embrace their primate heritage.BTW, unless they changed the rules on jersey rotation, 2026-27 is a “home team in dark” season. I prefer the “away team in dark” seasons because that way every game has a new colour.
July 1, 2026: 7TH BISON RECRUIT IS A D-MAN
COLE UNGER – D – Melfort (SJHL)
There have been no recruiting announcements since the schedule release, and the LOI update has been stalled for Canada Day, but we have news from Elite Prospects.
The Bisons have recruited Cole Unger, the first pure defenceman recruited this year. He is an Alberta boy, 5′ 11″ and 179 lbs. He started his junior career with the Calgary Canucks in 2022-23 before going to the Melfort Mustangs of the SJHL for the last three years. He played in two Centennial Cup tournaments, and got two silvers out of it.
As with most Junior A recruits, the past coaches have lavished praise upon the recruit. It is a good sign that several Bison recruits have trophies on their mantles.
I would still like to see another recruit or two on the Bison blueline.
Links:
➤ Elite Prospects: Cole Unger Career StatsJune 29, 2026: SCHEDULING DEBACLE CONTINUES
The CW released its hockey schedules last week and there are some anomalies. I was hoping that there would be an announcement of some sort to explain things, but not yet.
To start the discussion, here’s the schedule:
Oct 09-10 at U.B.C.
Oct 16-17 Saskatchewan
Oct 23-24 at Alberta
Oct 30-31 Trinity Western
Nov 06 at Regina
Nov 07 Regina (at Virden)
Nov 12-13 at Calgary *
Nov 20-21 at Saskatchewan
Dec 04-05 U.B.C.
Jan 08-09 at Trinity Western
Jan 15-16 at Regina
Jan 22-23 Saskatchewan
Jan 29-30 MacEwan
Feb 05-06 at Mount Royal
Feb 19-20 Regina
* indicates the weekend is played on a Thursday/Friday basisRemember, this is the last of a three year failed experiment in divisional alignments. In year one, the Calgary-based teams played in a division with the BC-based teams and the Edmonton-based teams were grouped with the Man/Sask teams. In year two, the Edmonton and Calgary teams changed spots. This year, all of Alberta forms the new “Division A” and the BC and Man/Sask teams form the new “Division B”.
Also, the women’s schedule and the men’s schedule are the exact inverse of each other, i.e. when the men are at UBC, the women host UBC the same weekend.
The Man/Sask teams play each other three series (six games each), and play the BC teams twice (4 games each). They play the Alberta teams once each (two games).
The oddity is that Regina and Manitoba have one home and three away series against the Alberta teams, while Sask has three home and one away series. Problem #1 – created by the CW.
Then comes the Nov 6-7 weekend. The women’s team have an “away” weekend in Regina that week, and the men’s team was supposed to be at home. Instead, both teams are at Regina on Nov 6th, and then play Regina in Virden on Nov 7th. The latter is dubbed the “Birdtail Sioux Game”. There is no reasoning for moving the men’s game on Nov 6th from Winnipeg to Regina. In any event, the Bisons have no home games in the month of November.
Trechelle Bunn, the Chief of the band, used to play for the Bison women. There is no indication as to how much money Bunn or the band is paying the Bison men’s team for their added costs (travel, rooms, meals), time on the road, and the imbalance of home and away games on their schedule. (In Manitoba, Chiefs seldom pay for stuff.) Problem #2 – created by the U of M’s Athletic Department.
In any event, the Bisons have 12 home games, 15 away games, and one neutral site game in the regular season.
To quote Ricky Ricardo, they got some ‘splainin to do.
Links:
➤ U of M: Schedule/ResultsOTHER TEAMS
Only two sides released a story to go along with the schedule release, namely MacEwan and Mount Royal. Those are linked. MacEwan also has a story regarding the hiring of a strength & conditioning specialist, also linked. Everybody else just had a link to their new schedule/results page (except for Holy Trinity). Alberta, MacEwan, Mount Royal, Regina, and Saskatchewan included exhibition schedules. Manitoba, Calgary, and UBC have posted regular season only for now.
June 19, 2026: CONCORDIA DIV 2 GONE?
The RSEQ website is under redevelopment (which is a good thing), and no announcements have been made. However, I followed the links to a schedule page, and Concordia has no scheduled games in Men’s Div 2. There are also no games for CMRSJ nor any other exhibition games. Stay tuned!
The new Sherbooke team would play at ETS on October 3rd, and open at home on October 10th against UQO.
Links:
➤ RSEQ: 2026-27 RSEQ Div 2 ScheduleJune 19, 2026: LOGAN LAKE MINERS JOINING THOMPSON RIVERS
The Logan Lake Miners are transitioning to Thompson Rivers University (TRU) to revive The Wolfpack. TRU is a member of the CWUAA and USports in other sports. The team will still play in Logan Lake.
The Miners were an “independent college transfer team” in the BCIHL which started play in 2022. They were initially contemplated to be the “Thompson Okanagan Pioneers” and start play in 2021, but that team did not materialize. They had players from TRU in Kamloops and Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) in Merritt. Players from Okanagan College’s Kamloops campus were also eligible.
The remaining NVIT players have apparently now graduated, and going forward the team will be a traditional one-school team.
The independent college transfer teams were established in British California to keep the BCIHL viable and provide opportunities to play college hockey at schools which may not have had sufficient players or resources, or the will, to operate. The Okanagan Lakers are the other such team, established in Kelowna in 2021 using players from UBC-Okanagan and Okanagan College. The other contemplated team was the Fraser Valley Brigade (using players from the University of the Fraser Valley, Columbia Bible College, Ashton College, Summit Pacific College, and CDI College) but it never got off the ground.
TRU was formerly known as “Cariboo College” and then “University College of the Cariboo”. Its teams were called the “Cariboo Chiefs”, and then “Cariboo Sun Demons”. They played in the Pacific Intercollegiate Hockey League (PIHL) in 1971, then joined the Totem Colleges Athletic Association (TCAA), affiliated with the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA), in 1972. The TCAA changed names to British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA) in 1987-88 and the Pacific West Athletic Association (PWAA) in 2011-12.
PWAA and predecessor league records are hard to find. But Cariboo was the dominant team, winning the TCAA in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985, then winning the BCCAA in 1986, 1987, and 1988. The conference discontinued a hockey competition in 1989 for budgetary reasons.
The BCIHL was formed in 2004 with an unofficial competition, won by TRU. However, the Wolfpack did not enter a team until 2009-10 and played through 2013-14. They were runners-up twice.
Other USports members not operating hockey teams in the BCIHL or CW are UBCO Heat (part of the independent college transfer program), Fraser Valley Cascades (in BCIHL 2005-06 to 2010-11), and UNBC Timberwolves (in the BCIHL 2005-06).
In addition to the Wolfpack, the BCIHL is set to go with the Okanagan Lakers, Vancouver Island University Mariners, University of Victoria Vikes, and Simon Fraser University Red Leafs.
Links:
➤ BCIHL (2026): Logan Lake Miners Transition to Thompson Rivers University for 26/27
June 16, 2026: BISONS ANNOUNCE 6TH RECRUIT
The Bison website has again issued a recruiting announcement before Elite Prospects or the LOI page.
NOLAN CHASTKO – F – Everett (WHL)
Chastko is a Brandon boy coming off a WHL championship with the Everett Silvertips. He came up through the Brandon minor system before playing two seasons with the Virden Oil Capitals, then two more in Everett. He is listed as a forward but has played everywhere but goaltender. He is only 5′ 8″ and 173 lbs.
As a 16 year-old, he set a record on Brandon’s AAA midget team with 53 goals in 43 games. He spent his 17 and 18 year-old seasons in the MJHL, posting 43 points in 54 games, followed by 55 points in 53 games. In the Dub, he had 14 points in 63 games and 35 points in 68 games, and an extra 9 points in 18 playoff games. I believe that he was used primarily up front, with at least one 25-game stint on the blueline and played there in the Memorial Cup. The Bisons now have six recruits at forward, and none on defence or goal.
Links:
➤ GoBisons.ca: Bisons add WHL Champion Nolan ChastkoJune 12, 2026: BISONS RECRUIT ONE MORE
MANITOBA BISONS
The Bison website has a new recruiting announcement, which is not yet listed at Elite Prospects or the LOI page. They still need a few defencemen.HAYDEN WHEDDON – F – Niverville (MJHL)
Here we have a Stonewall boy coming to the Bisons after winning the Centennial Cup with the Niverville Nigthawks. He was the MJHL’s leading scorer, and by a fair margin of 9 points. His point total from 2025 to 2026 was up by 61 points, from 44 GP, 16 G, 13 A, 29 Pts in 2024-25 to 57 GP, 36 G, 54 A, 90 Pts. I don’t know that I have seen such a dramatic jump in one season.
His early junior career was noteworthy. He finished his AAA hockey in 2021-22, and concluded the season with short stints with the Stonewall Jets (MMJHL), Selkirk Steelers (MJHL), and Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL). In 2022-23, he played a grand total of 8 games with those same three teams, plus 42 with Niverville. The 2023-24 season was all with the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL), then it was off to Niverville for the last two seasons, as outlined.
Links:
➤ GoBisons.ca: History-making forward, elite scorer Hayden Wheddon joins the HerdJune 11, 2026: CROSS-COUNTRY NEWS ROUND-UP
CANADA WEST
The CWUAA held their AGM and the big news is that the 2-division format in men’s and women’s hockey is being shelved after the 2026-27 season. Thank God!This upcoming season is the third and final one in a rotating format. One division had 5 teams, the other had 4 teams. The top 3 in each made the playoffs, with the 1st place teams getting byes and the 2nd and 3rd place teams facing off in a cross-over format. All considered, this format did nothing to save on travel.
In 2024-25 the West Division had UBC, Trinity, MRU, and Calgary and the East Division had Manitoba, Regina, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and MacEwan. In 2025-26, the four teams from Saudi Alberta switched divisions. Now in 2026-27, the Alberta teams will form Division A, leaving the other 5 teams in Division B.
As the press release states:
The change will see the conference return to a single division structure, which was previously used prior to the 2023-24 season. The new format will feature all nine teams competing in one division, with each team playing a 28-game schedule. Teams will face six opponents four times and two opponents twice.
I will keep an eye out on the rotation system for the “two opponents twice” part of this. It is not feasible to play everybody four times for 32 games, especially when byes must be factored into the calendar.
This was also the meeting where Simon Fraser was accepted as probationary member. I had hoped that they would put their former travelling team into the CW to make it a 10-team circuit. But nooooooooooooooo. I suspect they’ll get table tennis and ultimate frisbee, perhaps even quiddich, before hockey and football.
MACEWAN
The Family Guys have overtaken Regina and Saskatchewan in off-season website updates. The players in the press releases are:
– Evan Sundar (F – Vernon Vipers in BCHL);
– Jack Franklin (D – Simon Fraser’s indy team);
– John Szabo (F – Canmore Eagles in AJHL after 4 seasons in WHL);
– Casey Black (D – Canmore Eagles in AJHL);
– Reid Larson (D – Canmore Eagles in AJHL);
– Walker Erickson (F – Simon Fraser’s indy team).All but Szabo and Black are on their Elite Prospects page, which has the other 4 players from this post plus 2 from previous ones. Canmore won the AJHL title in 2025-26. Numerous Simon Fraser players have found new homes, including these two. I wonder how many will end up on their BCIHL team.
MOUNT ROYAL
The Bluegars posted a story by alum Riley Sawchuk on his pro career. He played in the KHL last year and made it to the all-star game. The story is worth a read. He and his former teammate, Nolan Yaremko, were a devastating 1-2 punch in their MRU days. Yaremko is now with the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL.Links:
➤ Mount Royal: Riley Sawchuk: How hockey took me around the worldYUKON UNIVERSITY
So who would like to see a Yukon team in USports? Yes, they have a university. The place now has 1,200 students, plus 5,000 by continuing education programs. They have intramural programs, and are not looking at hockey. But I would love it if they could get into the BCIHL at least. They could host the University Cup within 5 or 6 years! According to Google, the population of Whitehorse is 38,637, the Takhini Arena in town has 1,535 seats, and it is a mere 27 hour drive from Vancouver, just 2:25 by plane.Links:
➤ CBC: Go Yukon U? Territory mulls varsity sports program at university
➤ Yukon U: Athletics & RecreationSHERBROOKE
The Vert et Or are set to debut in the RSEQ Division 2 competition in 2026-27. They have a website with pictures of coaches and an Elite Prospects page with 7 players listed. The Herbert Black – Serge Savard Vert & Or Hockey Support Fund is getting the program off the ground. The team had a sring camp recently, ending with a green v gold (or Vert v Or) game before 300 curious fans.This gives the league 5 teams, plus the part-time CMRSJ Remparts.
RSEQ DIVISION 2
The RSEQ Division 2 is tough to follow. Websites can now be translated, so that’s not really an issue. But the teams do not operate traditional websites with a schedule/results page with links to game stories and summaries. In any event, UQAC finished first and won the championship. In the semi-finals they beat Concordia’s #2 team 5-1 twice, whilst ETS beat UQO 6-3, 6-0 (like tennis!). In the final, UQAC and ETS each registered a 5-4 OTW before UQAC wrapped it up with a 3-1 win.The CMRSJ Remparts played four exhibition games, all losses:
Sept 26, 2025: ETS Piranhas 11, CMRSJ Remparts 1
Oct 19, 2025: UQO Torrents 4, CMRSJ Remparts 1
Nov 9, 2025: Concordia Stingers 2 3, CMRSJ Remparts 2
Feb 14, 2026: Concordia Stingers 2 8, CMRSJ Remparts 1It looks like Bishop’s will stay in the AAU and that Laval, Montreal, and UQAM will not have hockey teams for a while at least.
June 2, 2026: NEWS FROM BANJOLAND
REGINA
The Banjo-Cats have now announced that they have completed their 13-player recruiting class. I believe that this is the largest turnover I have seen in my years following the CW. There are 9 forwards and 4 defencemen in that group.The latest additions are forwards Brett Calhoon (finished with Langley Rivermen in the BCHL, also 120 WHL games), Rhett Platt (Portage Terriers and Virden Oil Capitals of the MJHL), and Jye Zawatsky (Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL).
At a quick glance, the recruitment class has credentials similar to the players they have replaced. However, they will clearly be less experienced. I would anticipate a season of growing pains.
I also came across a link with background on the history of the team name. It seems they could have been named the Gophers, Wolves, or Bears.
SASKATCHEWAN
The Banjo-Mutts released a set of four stories on new recruits. Whereas the Banjo-Cats have a big edge in volume, the Banjo-Mutts have the edge in quality.The players are:
– Tyler Parr (F – Saskatoon Blades, was a Union College commit);
– Logan McCutcheon (D – Quinnipiac in NCAA, following Lethbridge in WHL);
– Morgan Tastad (D – Penticton & Saskatoon in WHL);
– Jaydon Dureau (F – Norfolk Admirals in ECHL)Dureau has finished four years split between teams in the AHL and ECHL, preceded by two seasons where he had a couple of pro games following his junior seasons with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.
Links:
➤ Elite Prospects: USports Transfers
