For the second year in a row, close to a dozen of the BCHL’s most beloved veterans will lace up their skates in Penticton.
The league has announced its roster for the 2024 Alumni and Friends Game, set for Jan. 20, on the city’s outdoor rink as part of the BCHL All-Star Weekend.
Former Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris and Scott Gomez, the NHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2000, will be among the stars playing in the league’s annual event.
Turris played for the Burnaby Express from 2005 to 2007, before embarking on a 14-year NHL career. The then-called Phoenix Coyotes selected the forward with the third-overall pick in the 2007 draft, the highest anyone coming straight from the BCHL has ever picked.
Gomez won a Fred Page Cup title with the South Surrey Eagles in 1997, before becoming an integral part of the New Jersey Devils’ mid-2000s success in the NHL. With two Stanley Cup rings, the Anchorage, Alaska product returned to Canada this past fall to serve as an assistant coach with Surrey in the BCHL.
The outdoor game will begin at 1 p.m.
Current BCHLers — Tyler Hodges from the Nanaimo Clippers and Penticton Vees’ Sharky Nowek — will serve as the game’s goaltenders.
Other players confirmed to play in the event:
• Dave Babych -Vancouver Canucks defenceman during the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994
• Dave Tomlinson -Starred for the Summerland Buckaroos and Richmond Sockeyes before playing four NHL seasons
• Dylan Playfair- Star in the hit TV show ‘Letterkenny’ and played one season for the Merritt Centennials
• Tyler Johnston - ‘Letterkenny’ star
• Colton Gillies - First-round pick of the Minnesota Wild before playing five NHL seasons
• Neil Eisenhut- Member of the Langley Eagles, Merritt Centennials and Penticton Knights before suting up for the Canucks during the
• Angus Redmond - Salmon Arm Silverbacks goaltender from 2013 to 2016 before a five-year professional career
• Mark MacMillan- Member of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and Penticton Vees from 2009 to 2011 and current assistant coach for the latter
• Mitch MacMillan- Recorded 165 points in 172 BCHL games with the Powell River Kings, Cowichan Valley Capitals, and Alberni Valley Bulldogs from 2007 to 2010
• Neil Clark - Member of the Langley Hornets, Merritt Centennials, Cowichan Valley Capitals from 1999 to 2002 and current actor on the TV show ‘Shoresy’