The Western Hockey League announced its schedule for the 2019-20 season on Wednesday.
The defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Giants will start their 19th season up north when they play the Prince George Cougars back-to-back nights on September 20th and 21st for the first of their two northern trips.
Vancouver’s first of four “three-in-three’s” in 2019-20 kicks off with their home opener on Friday, September 27th at 7:30pm against former Giants’ head coach Don Hay and the Portland Winterhawks for the beginning of a three-game season series between the two clubs. Fans will see their team rewarded for an historic 2018-19 season with both the BC Division and Western Conference championship banners raised into the rafters prior to puck drop.
The remainder of that weekend takes them up the Coquihalla Highway to face their division rival Kamloops Blazers, whom they will play five times at the Sandman Centre and four more at home at the Langley Events Centre over the course of the season. The Giants then have a 4:00pm puck drop on Sunday the 29th against another rival in the Kelowna Rockets.
After making their way through the Central Division last season, Vancouver will get their big Eastern Division road trip out of the way early. They open a seven game trip on October 4th in Manitoba, where they’ll play the Wheat Kings, before playing their first ever game in Winnipeg the next night against the ICE. The Giants will have a two day rest as they make their way through Saskatchewan, starting with a 2019 WHL Championship series rematch at the Art Hauser Centre where they take on the Prince Albert Raiders — a game many fans will surely have circled on their calendars after the Raiders captured the WHL title in overtime of Game 7 over the Giants.
The next night they face the Saskatoon Blades before rounding out the trip in Moose Jaw and Regina on the 11th and 12th.
After making their way home, the Giants will hit the road once again before enjoying a four game homestand for their second trip to visit the Blazers on October 18th.
One team of note that will be visiting on the homestand are the Swift Current Broncos, who will be making a trip to the Langley Events Centre for the second consecutive year. This is due to the Kootenay ICE moving from the Central Division to the East Division with their move to Winnipeg, shifting the Broncos to the Central Division.
November sees Vancouver play on back-to-back nights during three of the four weekends. They will face US Division opponents in six out of ten games that month. The Giants will also be paid a visit by three Central Division teams in Medicine Hat on November 3rd, Lethbridge on the 17th, and Edmonton on the 23rd.
The final month of 2019 starts with the first ferry ride of the season to meet the Royals in the provincial capital.
Sunday, December 8th at 4pm, the Tri-City Americans come to town for the Vancouver Giants teddy bear toss night. Last year’s game was played at the Pacific Coliseum where now Colorado Avalanche prospect Bowen Byram sent the teddies flying en route to a 2-1 overtime win over the Victoria Royals.
The Giants close out the calendar year at home against the Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets for their third meeting of the season.
Vancouver starts 2020 with a matinee game against Victoria at 2pm on New Year’s Day, followed by a weekend in the Okanagan (Kamloops and Kelowna).
A home-and-home with the Spokane Chiefs in a rematch of the 2019 Western Conference Final on January 10th and 11th is the first of what will be four consecutive weekends featuring a home-and-home. The Giants will also face off with division rivals Victoria, Kelowna, and Kamloops.
After a road game to start February, the Giants will be home for eight of the next 11 games, which includes hosting the remaining teams in the Central Division with a game against Red Deer on the 12th and Calgary on the 21st. The Giants play their final three-in-three into March as they host Victoria on the 28th before heading to the island for games on February 29th and March 1st.
The final month of the regular season will see all but two of the 12 games in March played against division rivals. The team heads up to Prince George for the latter half of the four games at the CN Centre on the 6th and 7th, followed by a home-and-home starting in Langley on Friday against Seattle.
Vancouver closes out the season at Prospera Place, home of the 2020 Memorial Cup when they face the Rockets at the tail end of their eighth and final home-and-home.
A Breakdown of Games By Day of the Week:
- Friday – 11
- Sunday – 9
- Saturday – 7
- Wednesday – 3
- Tuesday – 2
- Monday – 1
- Thursday – 1
