NPHL celebrates 70th anniversary

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The North Peace Hockey League (NPHL) celebrated its 70th anniversary on November 12th.

Established in 1953, the league was initially comprised of teams representing Fairview, Fahler, McLennan, and Peace River. 

The Fort St. John Senior Flyers joined the NPHL in 2005. Prior to that, they played in the Central Peace Hockey League before folding for seven years in the late 90s. 

Flyers president Paul van Nostrand says winning the NPHL Championship in 2009 and 2018 were major highlights for the team since joining the league.

“Those were kind of the glory days for us in the league,” said van Nostrand. 

Van Nostrand says senior hockey takes a lot of commitment, luck, and perseverance.

“In the time I’ve been involved, just about every team has taken at least a year off, and many have folded,” said van Nostrand. 

“It’s tough to maintain. It’s a huge commitment by the players and every organization involved to keep it going.”

According to van Nostrand, maintaining a senior hockey team is challenging because the majority of players have families and full-time jobs that must take priority over playing hockey.

“I’m hoping that we’re able to maintain the team, and there continue to be players following their junior or minor hockey careers who are interested in playing competitive senior hockey,” said van Nostrand. 

“It takes a huge commitment, and I’m just hoping we can keep it going.”

Van Nostrand says the community can show their support by attending games and cheering for the Flyers. 

“I recognize that we haven’t been winning as much in the last couple of years, and perhaps people aren’t too interested to come and see us play,” said van Nostrand. 

“We would love to see people at the rink to watch us play and support us, and we’ll do the best that we can to put a product on the ice that entices people to come and watch and want to support their local team.”

It’s been a rough start to the season for the Flyers. Last weekend, they faced a challenging defeat in Friday’s home game, falling to the Dawson Creek Senior Canucks with a score of 12-3.

The Flyers look to redeem themselves as they meet the Canucks again in Dawson Creek on November 25th. 

The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. 

The full season schedule can be found on the Flyers’ Facebook page.