Image credit: Chad Hellingman/Kamloops Storm

By Victor Kaisar

KIJHL Hockey

Storm, Centennials, Heat to play preseason hockey this week as KIJHL season draws near

Sep 1, 2025 | 9:00 AM

KAMLOOPS — A trio of Kamloops-area Junior A teams are set to play preseason hockey in just a few days as the 2025-26 KIJHL season approaches.

The Kamloops Storm will play four preseason games in September — two at home and two away. They’ll begin in Sicamous this Friday (Sept. 5) against the Eagles, and they’ll host the Merritt Centennials at McArthur Island the following night, Sept. 6.

The Storm will play in Merritt the following Friday, Sept. 12 and they’ll host the Princeton Posse on Saturday, Sept. 13.

The Merritt Centennials will play five preseason games ahead of their sophomore season in the KIJHL.

In addition to the two games against the Storm, the Cents will host the Osoyoos Coyotes at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena on Sept. 5 and the Quesnel River Rush on Thursday, Sept. 11. The Cents will also travel to Princeton to play the Posse on Sunday, Sept. 14.

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The Chase Heat will play three of their six preseason games at the Art Holding Memorial Arena. They’ll host Revelstoke on Sept. 5, Sicamous on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and Golden on Sept. 12.

The Heat are also set to play in Sicamous tomorrow (Sept. 2) night, in Revelstoke on Saturday, Sept. 6 and in Golden on Sept. 13.

The Storm and Centennials will transition to Junior A Tier 1 hockey after this season, while the Heat will remain as a Junior A Tier 2 team under the KIJHL umbrella. The 100 Mile House Wranglers, Quesnel River Rush, Sicamous Eagles and Williams Lake Mustangs will all be assessed to determine what level they’ll play at in 2026-27.

This upcoming season with the final on where the KIJHL will operate as a Tier 2 league after it was granted Junior A status in 2023. That decision was made after the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) cut ties with Hockey Canada and became independent.

The Storm and Heat will begin the 2025-26 KIJHL regular season with a home-and-home on Friday and Saturday, (Sept. 19 and 20). The Centennials will open the season in Quesnel on Sept. 19 and they’ll host Castlegar Rebels in their home opener on Friday, Sept. 26.

You can find the Storm’s regular season schedule here, the Centennials’ here and the Heat’s here.