The North Okanagan Knights have been penalized by the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) for failing to properly card a player prior to the 2019-20 season.
As a result of the carding error, the Knights have had four wins stripped from their win column in the standings.
B.C. Hockey requires that all players be carded and approved before entering a game. After a two-week investigation by the KIJHL it was found that one player on the Knights’ roster was not carded before the start of the season.
“Hockey Canada has completed their investigation and found no problem with the rostering system,” said KIJHL communications manager Emanuel Sequeira.
“The system did not show the player on the North Okanagan Knights roster.”
Sequeira has received word from League Commissioner Larry Martel that an appeal board is meeting with the Knights organization Wednesday night.
“It’s all going through Hockey Canada, so we don’t really have anything to comment because nothing’s set in stone,” said Knights vice president and general manager Dallas Keller on Wednesday, adding that the team hasn’t yet received an official document from the KIJHL about the matter.
The Knights were off to a strong start this season; with an 8-4-1 record, they were just one point behind the Kelowna Chiefs for first place in the division.
With the league penalty their record has been inverted to 4-8-1, meaning they’ll have to battlejust to get back to their previous standing.
The Knights will have a chance to start that climb this weekend with home games against the Osoyoos Coyotes and the Summerland Stream on Oct. 25 and 26.
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