Last season saw the Richmond Sockeyes regular season finish with 32 wins, 11 losses, three overtime losses along with two shootout losses finishing second in the Tom Shaw Conference, with 69 points, three points behind the Delta Ice Hawks.

Given the success of the Sockeyes organization and winning tradition, congratulations go out to the 1986-87 Richmond Sockeyes who achieved remarkable success by clinching multiple titles, including the prestigious Centennial Cup. 

The team won the Mowat Cup as BC Junior A champions, the Doyle Cup playing Alberta’s champions, the Abbott Cup over Saskatchewan’s top team giving them the Centennial Cup championship in Humboldt.

Canucks broadcaster Dave Tomlinson led the team in scoring in 51 regular season games with 43 goals and 65 assists for 108 points while Jason Phillips was top scorer and Centennial Cup MVP. 

Changes in the off-season saw the hiring of a new coach Scott Hewson who played three seasons (1995-96 to 1997-98) in the BCJHL with the Penticton Panthers. He elevated his career to play with Bowling Green University for four seasons then taking his skills to play in the East Coast Hockey League from the 2003 - 2004 seasons.

For the players they realize that while you can be a star player on one team playing multiple shifts per game doesn’t mean that will continue at the next level of the game, which Scott knows first-hand. 

He returned to North Vancouver where he coached in the CSSHL for three seasons knowing that the first item on his agenda is to gain the trust of the players to play for the crest on the front of the sweater rather than the name on the back of the sweater.

Gaining the trust of the players is one of the most important qualities for any new coach to achieve when taking over a new role with an existing team. It’s also important for players to learn at each level of the sport that they can advance through hard work and team spirit given the available opportunities.

Teams make management changes when needed and the Richmond Sockeyes are no different.  Starting the 2025-2026 season you will see a new coach behind the bench and joining Scott on the bench are Matthew Stewart (player development/assistant GM) and assistant coaches Bob Delorme and Andrew Wolf who bring a wealth of hockey knowledge to the Richmond Sockeyes.

The off-season saw changes within the hockey league itself with a two-division league with the Sockeyes playing in the Tom Shaw division who was the league president as well as a Richmond resident in the 1980s. 

The league continues to take major steps forward allowing the PJHL to play for Hockey Canada’s Centennial Cup emblematic of Junior A hockey supremacy in Canada. 

Given pre-season play the coaching staff are still evaluating players at camp who are looking to “crack” the line-up to fill vacant positions, knowing that some of last year’s players are at other camps wanting to elevate their game. Knowing this, management wish them all the best.

On a positive note returning this year is Sockeyes Captain Teo Lin who finished last season with 32 goals, 36 assists, seven power play goals and four short-handed goals in regular season play. In playoff action he collected six goals, one assist and one power play goal in 11 games. Teo will no doubt once again be the team leader offering mentorship to the new players on the Sockeyes’ roster. 

Currently the Sockeyes are still playing pre-season exhibition games as the coaching staff have goaltending positions to fill with both Max Fowle and Mathias Hasselmann signing with other clubs in the off-season. 

On a positive note, the Sockeyes have acquired David Yoon from the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in exchange for future considerations as well as Keelan Wyke who played last season with the Border Bruins in the KIJHL.

In addition the Sockeyes have acquired Brydy Lindal who played last season in the VIJHL as well as Dylan Nazzartth who played in Saskatchewan for LaRonge Ice Wolves finishing the season with 16 points in 43 games. 

Adding to the broadcast team this year is Steve Daniel who is the official statistician for the CFL and is the only pro sports analyst/statistician inducted into any Hall of Fame, NHL, CFL, Major League Baseball and NFL. For Steve Daniel, from a colour broadcaster and team stats analyst point of view “as we head into the 2025/26 season there is of course much to think about.” 

Every club goes through change in the off-season and this year is certainly no exception. With new coaches and an even more upgraded roster, this year has plenty of promise already. Though the club's final roster is not quite set, you can expect some turnover to be sure. If the Sockeyes can hold onto their high producers from last season with a mix of some young '09' talent it promises to be another solid 2025-26 season for the Sockeyes. And that makes it fun for the commentary side on our broadcasts and in our reports for the Richmond Sentinel. 

With Junior One Tier One hockey now a reality, access to the highest level of Junior talent increases and that shows up on the ice in an even greater performance level.

In the many analytical areas that we track such as goal differential, shot attempts, net front shots on goal, fewer defensive zone turnovers and the like, we will likely see even better results than in 24/25.