Although their arenas are located just 52 kilometres apart, the Kerry Park Islanders and expansion Lake Cowichan Kraken will square off only twice during the 2021-22 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League season.
VIJHL teams will each play 52 games this coming season, but matchups are focused largely within divisions, and the two Cowichan Valley clubs have been slotted into different divisions.
The Isles will play each of their fellow South Division clubs (Peninsula, Saanich, Victoria and Westshore) 10 times, split evenly between home and road dates, and each of the North Division teams (Lake Cowichan, Campbell River, Comox Valley, Nanaimo, Oceanside and Port Alberni) twice: once at home and once on the road.
The Kraken will face each of the North Division teams eight times (four on the road and four at home), except for the Nanaimo Buccaneers, who they will meet 10 times, and each of the South Division teams once.
The new Lake Cowichan team will play its first game on the road against the Westshore Wolves on Wednesday, Sept. 8. They will play their home opener two days later on Friday, Sept. 10 when they host the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at 7:30 p.m. The Kraken will visit their expansion cousins, the Port Alberni Bombers, for the first time on Oct. 16 and host the Bombers for the first time on Nov. 26.
The Kraken will also help the Isles kick off their season when they visit Kerry Park Arena on Saturday, Sept. 11.