The National Hockey League season started last week, with 29 BCHL grads on opening night rosters.
Seventeen NHL teams have at least one BCHL grad on the roster and Nashville leads the way with four — Ryan Johansen (Penticton Vees), Kyle Turris (Burnaby Express), Matt Irwin (Nanaimo Clippers) and Colton Sissons (West Kelowna Warriors).
Montreal’s roster includes Carey Price (Quesnel Millionaires), Jordie Benn (Victoria Grizzlies) and Mike Reilly (Penticton) while Edmonton’s roster includes Jason Garrison (Nanaimo), Milan Lucic (Coquitlam Express) and Jujar Khaira (Prince George Spruce Kings).
The Anaheim Ducks have a pair of Salmon Arm Silverback grads in the fold with Josh Manson and Ben Street.
Detroit’s roster includes first round pick Dennis Cholowski (Chilliwack Chiefs) and Danny DeKeyser (Trail Smoke Eaters).
The Winnipeg Jets have Brandon Tanev (Surrey Eagles) and Laurent Brossoit (Cowichan Capitals) and the Pittsburgh Penguins have Derek Grant (Langley Chiefs) and Justin Schultz (West Kelowna).
Tyson Jost (Penticton) and Alexander Kerfoot (Coquitlam) are young guns with the Colorado Avalanche.
Danton Heinen (Surrey) is making a name for himself with the Boston Bruins.
Riley Nash (Salmon Arm) is with Columbus this year after spending the last two seasons with the Bruins.
Chicago’s Duncan Keith is a callback to the old Penticton Panthers.
NHL superstar Jamie Benn plays for the Dallas Stars and is a Victoria alum.
The remaining BCHLers are Travis Zajac (New Jersey, Salmon Arm), Tyler Bozak (St. Louis, Victoria), Troy Stecher (Vancouver, Penticton) and Brad Hunt (Las Vegas, Coquitlam).