The South Island Knights are back for a second season of hockey at Fuller Lake Arena.
The West Coast Senior Hockey League squad has already played a couple of exhibition games against Vancouver Island University, leading up to the regular-season openers.
The first home games are on Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 22 against the North Island Capitals.
Other games at Fuller Lake Arena take place on Saturday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 26 against the Powell River Regals, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018 against North Island and Sunday, Jan. 14 against VIU.
The Knights are on the road Nov. 4-5 for a pair in Powell River, Dec. 2-3 against North Island at Port Hardy and Feb. 17-18, 2018 against the Capitals at Port McNeill.
Fans witnessed an entertaining high-calibre brand of hockey from the Knights in their inaugural season, with some high-scoring games. Most of the players have extensive experience from the Junior A and minor professional ranks.
The Knights have a smattering of talent from across the region, with Chemainus, Nanaimo and the Victoria area all represented.
The Knights lost their two exhibition meetings with VIU 11-1 and 8-2, but didn’t have a full complement of players at the ready for either contest. The second game was actually much closer than the score indicates, as VIU only led 4-2 with eight minutes left before doubling its total in the late stages.
The Knights will have a couple of huge holes to fill from last season. Dependable and towering defenceman Blair Murphy has left to attend chiropractic school in Ontario and Tanner Wiersma, who didn’t miss a game, has moved to Alberta for work.
The Knights’ spokesman, defenceman and jack-of-all trades Jon Hollett from Chemainus is hoping some newcomers will fill the void. The team utilized upwards of 40 players overall last season.
“I’ve expanded the invite,” he indicated. “There’ll be some more names on the roster so we don’t go on a road trip so short.”
Hollett and wife Sarah mostly ran the behind-the-scenes affairs of the team last season, but would like to hear from others willing to make up a board for team operations.
“We are looking for people who may be able to help in certain areas,” Hollett noted.
Contact with the Knights can be made through email at southislandknights@gmail.com.