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Coastal Tsunami
Coastal Tsunami
City	Gibsons
League	PJHL
Conference	Tom Shaw
Founded	2024
Home arena	Gibsons & Area Community Centre
Colours	Deep sea blue, ice blue, boundless blue, shadow blue, red alert;
Owner(s)	Julie Reeves
General manager	Brad Wingfield
Website	coastalhockey.ca

The Coastal Tsunami are a Junior ice hockey team in the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) based in Gibsons, British Columbia on the Sunshine Coast.^[1] It will debut as an expansion team in the 2024–25 PJHL season.^[2]

Arena

The team will play its home games in the Gibsons & Area Community Centre. The building opened in 2008 and is owned by the Sunshine Coast Regional District.^[3] The Sunshine Coast Junior Hockey Society (SCJHS) funded improvements to the building, including seating upgrades and construction of new dressing rooms, that were expected to be completed before the 2024–25 PJHL season.^[4] The SCJHS also secured the donation of a four-panel video display score clock that it hoped could be installed and operational in time for the inaugural season.^[3] The display was donated by the Pacific National Exhibition and used to hang above centre-ice at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.^[3] The Sunshine Coast Regional District has not confirmed whether the score clock will be installed in the arena.^[3]

Team identity

The team name was chosen by the owners from among the approximately 250 submissions from the public.^[5] The name Tsunami was submitted four times. Other submissions included references to The Beachcombers television series that was shot in Gibsons from 1972–1990 and remains an important cultural relic for the community, and The Blues, after the name used by Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey.^[5] The team's colours are based on those used by the Seattle Kraken.^[5] The official logo was designed by local designer John Ridd of Topshelf Creative. A secondary logo design featured a trident with a "C" curved around it as a reference to Poseidon, God of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses in Greek mythology.^[5]

Inaugural season

The team was founded at a time of significant flux for Junior ice hockey in British Columbia. In 2023, governing body BC Hockey announced plans to restructure its junior hockey framework following the decision of its only Junior A league, the BCHL, to become an independent league.^[6] The three Junior B leagues (PJHL, KIJHL and VIJHL) were summarily designated as "Junior A Tier 2", with plans to conduct an independent evaluation of those teams seeking to be promoted to "Junior A Tier 1". It was expected that those teams promoted to Tier 1 would eventually apply for membership in the CJHL.^[7] In April 2024, the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League announced that it would withdraw from the Hockey Canada framework and become an independent farm league for the BCHL in the 2024–25 season.^[8] The league expected the evaluations to be completed during the 2024–25 season.^[9]

In the 2024–25 season, Hockey Canada and its four western affiliates – BC Hockey, Hockey Alberta, Hockey Saskatchewan and Hockey Manitoba – will pilot the Western Canadian Development Model (WCDM). Under the WCDM, junior leagues will adopt most of the Western Hockey League rulebook, excluding some sections, and restrictions on 15-year-old affiliate players in the Western Hockey League will be loosened. Players that will be 18-years of age or older in the calendar year will be allowed to choose whether to use full-face protection or half-face protection, whilst younger players will be required to use full-face protection.^[10]

References

^ Waddell, Justin (3 August 2023). "New PJHL hockey franchise coming to Sunshine Coast". My Powell River Now. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Lypka, Ben (24 July 2024). "Abbotsford Pilots return to MSA Arena on Sept. 6". Abbotsford News. Black Press Media. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jordison, Connie (27 April 2023). "'Steps' required before the Pacific Coliseum's scoreboard can be installed in Gibsons". Coast Reporter. Glacier Media Group. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Jordison, Connie (28 April 2024). "Gibsons arena seating upgrade expedited for incoming hockey team". Coast Reporter. Glacier Media Group. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Beairsto, Bronwyn (4 December 2023). "'It was strength': Coastal Tsunami team name introduced to sold out crowd". Coast Reporter. Glacier Media Group. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ "BC Hockey announces new Junior A pathway". bchockey.net. British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ "BC Hockey Junior A pathway update". bchockey.net. British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Ewen, Steve (30 April 2024). "Vancouver Island Junior B loop cuts ties with Hockey Canada, joins forces with BCHL". The Province. Postmedia. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ "B.C. Junior A leagues partner with Blackfin Sports Group". bchockey.net. British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Ewen, Steve (12 July 2024). "Feud for thought: Rivals Hockey Canada and BCHL provide duelling announcements". The Province. Postmedia. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

Additional reading

Jordison, Connie (23 May 2024). "Tsunami sweeps up a local as its first committed player". Coast Reporter. Glacier Media Group. Retrieved 25 July 2024.