At long last, the British Columbia Hockey League will be returning to a sense of normalcy this coming fall.

The junior A league announced its schedule on Monday for all 18 teams – a full, 54-game schedule.

“We are excited to turn the page and get back to competing for a Fred Page Cup in 2021-22,” said BCHL Deputy Commissioner Steven Cocker. “With our schedule now out, players as well as fans will have the opportunity to look ahead to key dates and get excited for our 60th Anniversary season.”

There will be some differences from a normal, pre-COVID schedule, however – instead of the traditional four-division format, the league will instead adopt a two-conference model consisting of nine teams per side.

Teams will be split between the Interior and Coastal Conferences, in which eight of the nine teams per conference will make the postseason to vie for the Fred Page Cup.

The Centennials, of course, will be featured in the Interior Conference – along with Cranbrook, Penticton, Prince George, Salmon Arm, Trail, Vernon, Wenatchee, and West Kelowna.

The Cents will face each Interior opponent five times throughout the season, and will have limited exposure to cross-conference matchups.

Four of the five meetings with past divisional rivals the Prince George Spruce Kings will come in October, with the season starting one month later than usual.

That extra four weeks could mean the difference between fans being in seats in time for the season opener or not, with BC planning on being well into the final step of the Reopening Plan by that point.

Said season opener is scheduled for Oct. 8 against the Spruce Kings at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.

Training camp is scheduled to open in mid-September, while playoffs will begin by the end of March.

For the Centennials’ full schedule, check out www.merrittcentennials.com.