With puck drop on the 2025-26 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League season coming on Sept. 19, kijhl.ca is providing fans with a preview on all 21 teams. Next in the Quick Shift series are the Merritt Centennials.
Last season, their first in the KIJHL, the Centennials finished third in the Bill Ohlhausen Division with 26-13-3-2 in 44 regular season games. They lost in the first round to the Revelstoke Grizzlies in five games.
Returning Players: F- Dylan Ruff (41-15-17-32 | 116 PIMs), Brayden Thurlow (41-13-19-32), Maxim Radmanovich (40-7-17-24), Troy Horn (31-9-11-20), Rune Carlson (30-1-5-6), Marshall Wagner (31-4-1-5), Cooper Harrington (24-0-5-5), D- Alex Cordero (38-6-18-24), Ethan Nesimiuk (40-4-8-12), Jobie Siemens (42-3-7-10), Ezra Siemens (27-0-3-3).
Acquisitions: None.
Rookies: F- Zach King – Central Impact U18AAA – New Foundland & Labrador Major Midget Hockey League (30-14-16-30), Tristan Simpson – NEBC Trackers U18AA Alberta Elite Hockey League (32-12-13-25), Soren Nicol – Kootenay Hockey Academy U18 – Junior Prospects Hockey League (25-6-2-8), Aiden Baker – Burnaby Winter Club U17 – Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) (28-7-10-17), Evan Thachuk – High River Flyers – Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) (33-4-11-15), D – Koa Percival – Calgary IHA U18 – CSSHL (30-1-6-7), Brando Purinton – Pacific Coast Academy U17 – CSSHL (35-0-10-10), Tyler Smith – St. Paul Canadiens – Northeast Alberta Junior B Hockey League, Reed Belcourt – Notre Dame Hounds U18AAA – Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (43-2-5-7), Mason Ashcroft – Red Deer Elks U18AA (32-8-12-20), G- Derrick Ford – Wheatland Kings – HJHL (22-15-6-0, .929 save percentage, 2.30 goals against average), Osamu Saskiw – Pacific Coast Academy U18 Prep (24-16-5-2, .921 SP and 2.88 GAA).
Team Outlook: “I think we’re happy with where we’re starting from. Last year we came from a camp where we had five players that stuck through the entire season,” said Centennials head coach-assistant general manager Wes McLeod. “We have a good foundation to build off of and we have strong leadership.”
Returning defenceman Alex Cordero has been named their second captain in franchise history. So far his assistant captains are Thurlow and Jobie Siemens.
McLeod believes their defence core will be more diverse than last season.
“Last year we had a lot of the same, we got a few big, strong heavy defence that will play well in the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in Brando Purinton and Reed Belcourt,” said McLeod. “We also have a few really good puck moving defencemen that we’ve recruited in Koa Percival and Tyler Smith and Mason Ashcroft – it’s a more complete D-core that can do some different things well and I feel they will compliment each other nicely.”
