History

BCHL History
The Richmond Sockeyes were founded in the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League in the 1970's. As members of the PCJHL, the Sockeyes went on to win the Mowat Cup as British Columbia's Junior "A" hockey champions in both 1977.
In 1979, the PCJHL merged with the BCJHL. During their time in the BCJHL, the Sockeyes finished first place in the league three times and won the league in 1987. After winning the league, they defeated the Peace Cariboo Junior Hockey League's Quesnel Millionaires to win their second Mowat Cup. Following that, the Sockeyes then went on to capture the Doyle Cup, the Abbott Cup, and the Centennial Cup as National Champions.
In 1990, the town of Chilliwack purchased the franchise rights to the team and created the Chilliwack Chiefs, who now reside as the Langley Chiefs. Due to this move, the Richmond Sockeyes joined the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.

PJHL/PIJHL History
In the early 2000's, the Sockeyes got back to their winning ways of their BCHL days.
In 2003, the Sockeyes after winning the Cyclone Taylor Cup as BC's top Junior B team, they went on the capture bronze at the National Keystone Cup.
The next year, the Sockeyes won the Cyclone Taylor Cup and made it back to the Keystone Cup. This time improving to a second place finish.
After a five year hiatus, the Sockeyes finished tops in the PIJHL by beating the Abbotsford Pilots in the league championship. They then went on to win the Cyclone Taylor Cup for the third time defeating the Nelson Leafs at home as the Sockeyes hosted the Provincial tournament. Their third trip to the Keystone Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario would prove succesful as this time the Sockeyes did what they couldn't do in '03 and '04. The Sockeyes won the Keystone Cup to win the National Championship as top Junior "B" team in Canada. Richmond defeated the Thunder Bay K&A Wolverines in Overtime.

The 2010/2011 Richmond Sockeyes managed to get back to the dance. After winning the regular season, the Sockeyes went on to win the PIJHL Championship defeating the Abbotsford Pilots four games to none in the Final. Sockeyes advanced to the Cyclone Taylor Cup, where they finished fourth place.


With the name change to the PIJHL in 2012/2013 to the Pacific Junior Hockey League, the Richmond Sockeyes hoped for a better season than last year losing in the Tom Shaw Conference finals to the Delta Ice Hawks 4-2. This would be Richmond 40th year of existence and the Sockeyes would have another outstanding regular season finishing first for the third straight year and fourth time in five years with a record of 32-8-4. The playoffs started with a 4-0 sweep of the North Delta Devils, followed by an extremely hard fought seven game series versus the Delta Ice Hawks. Richmond would end up dominating the Aldergrove Kodiaks in four games to claim their 9th PJHL title. Richmond would then go on to the Cyclone Taylor Cup being hosted by the Comox Valley Glacier Kings and go 3-0 in the round robin and face the Victoria Cougars from the VIJHL in the championship game. Richmond would end up winning 4-1 and book their ticket to the 2013 Keystone Cup in St. Malo, Manitoba. 
After four tough games in four days in Comox, the team had only a couple of days of rest before flying to Winnipeg and boarding a team bus to St. Malo, Manitoba to represent British Columbia at the 2013 Keystone Cup – the Western Canadian Junior B Championships. Facing a daunting travel and game schedule that included six games in four days, the Sockeyes proved to be the class of the tournament. They went 5-0 in the round robin and outscored the provincial championship teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario by a total of 39-10. They faced the Saskatoon Royals for a second time in the final on Sunday, April 21. After a fast paced first period that ended 0-0, the Sockeyes depth and focused, persistent play once again led to some quick goals and a 3-0 lead after two. The big Saskatoon team battled hard in the final frame, but the Sockeyes held on for a 5-2 win and their second Keystone Cup championship in franchise history. The Sockeyes depth was again a big factor in their success in the grueling schedule as valuable contributions from Jordan Andrews, Derek Hughes, Bret Higham, William Latimer and affiliate player Austin Adamson proved crucial. The Red Line torched the tournament and MVP Rudi Thorsteinson scored an incredible 11 goals in 6 games (after scoring 7 in the regular season). Thorsteinson led the tournament in scoring with 16 points while he, Roder and Hamaguchi combined for an amazing 39 points. Super rookies Heinen and Lange also notched five goals apiece while veteran Stephen Campbell scored four. Allison and Chichak played exemplary two-way hockey, typically shutting down the other teams top forwards. All of the teams at the Keystone Cup had some very talented players, but the Sockeyes two deadly powerplay units, stellar penalty killing and their ability to roll four lines and play both goaltenders separated them from the other provincial champions. In total, 19 different Sockeyes notched at least a point in the tournament, and every player contributed with key shot blocks, face-off wins and strong, team-first play. In the tournament Richmond was able to outscore its opponents 44-12 and outshoot them 264-125. The Sockeyes have also been tied or leading a game for 871 minutes and 25 seconds in 900 minutes of hockey, that means they only trailed for 28 minutes and 35 seconds in 15 hockey games. The only times that the Sockeyes were down since game 6 of the Tom Shaw Final was in game 1 of Cyclone to Victoria for 2:06, the gold medal game against Victoria for 24:10, and briefly to the Saskatoon Royals for 2:06 and Thunder Bay Northern Hawks for 0:13 in the Keystone Cup.

2013 Keystone Cup

5-3 over Alberta (Okotoks Bisons - HJHL)
9-1 over Hosts (St. Malo Warriors - KJHL)
10-2 over Saskatchewan (Saskatoon Royals - PJHL)
7-3 over Ontario (Thunder Bay Northern Hawks - TBJBHL)
9-1 over Manitoba (Peguis Juniors - KJHL)
5-2 FINAL over Saskatoon Royals 

1972-1973 Original Sockeyes team. Sockeyes Owner Doug Paterson as Captain and on the team was Dennis Minns our Director of Scouting. Also Ron Beaman, our Alumni coach.








 Photos from the Sockeyes 2004 Cyclone Taylor Cup win in Campbell River.


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Photos from the 2003 Keystone Cup in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba







Photos of Jason Garrison from the 2004 season.