(Image Credit: Kamloops Storm/Facebook)

By Victor Kaisar

KIJHL Playoffs

Storm and Heat to meet in first round of KIJHL playoffs; Merritt to rematch against Revelstoke

Mar 1, 2026 | 4:52 PM

KAMLOOPS — The KIJHL playoff brackets are set and it’ll be the Kamloops Storm and Chase Heat who will square off in round one of the post-season, starting this Friday (March 6).

It’ll be the first playoff meeting between these two geographic foes since the 2021–22 KIJHL season. Kamloops won that first-round playoff series in seven games, and they also won all six meetings this season.

The Storm (32-10-1-1) topped the Doug Birks Division for the first time in over a decade to guarantee home ice in the first two rounds of playoffs. They beat the Osoyoos Coyotes 4-3 in overtime Saturday (Feb. 28) to end the regular season in third place overall.

Kamloops, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks (33-11-0-0), and the Kimberley Dynamiters (31-9-2-2) all finished with 66 points from their 44 games. The Dynamiters were second in the overall standings as they won the most number of games in regulation.

1000 WAYS TO HEAL

1000 WAYS TO HEAL: What are we doing with the land in Kamloops?

56m ago

LOOPED IN

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: March 2, 2026

58m ago

Week In Review

Week In Review: Week of February 23

Feb 28, 2026

The Revelstoke Grizzlies (33-8-1-2) won the KIJHL-regular season title with 69 points. The Grizzlies were swept by the Grand Forks Border Bruins in last season’s KIJHL championship series.

The Heat (14-29-1-0) were the final team to clinch a playoff berth, and they snuck into the post-season after a nervous night of scoreboard watching. Chase went 5-2-1 in February and they eliminated 100 Mile House, Osoyoos and Sicamous in the process.

Those four teams will all vying for the final playoff berth in the Doug Birks Division. Chase beat Sicamous 3-2 on Friday (Feb. 27) night to sit with 29 points, while 100 Mile House, Osoyoos, and Sicamous all finished with 28 points as they didn’t win any of their games this weekend.

The Merritt Centennials closed out their sophomore season in the KIJHL with a 7-2 win over the Quesnel River Rush Saturday. The Cents (25-15-2-2) finished fourth in the Bill Ohlhausen Division with 54 points, and they’ll face the Grizzlies in the first round of playoffs

The Grizzlies beat the Centennials in five games in the first round of playoffs last season.