League changes
Following the annual general meeting in June 2025, the league announced a change to the playoff qualification criteria affecting teams in the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference. Recognizing that there are six clubs in the Bill Ohlhausen division while each of the other divisions have five clubs, the league introduced a wild card provision whereby the fifth place team in the Bill Ohlhausen division will qualify for the fourth playoff position in the Doug Birks division in the event that they have a superior record to the fourth place Doug Birks division club. In late January the league discreetly rebranded the playoffs and championship to the KIJHL playoffs, removing Teck as a sponsor as the contract had not been renewed On February 3rd the Creston Valley Thundercats announced a branding change as part of the Tier 1/Tier 2 split, the club has not yet officially announced the, logo or colors.. A poll was released to fans with the names to be voted on being the Creston Valley Thunder, Creston Valley Colts, Creston Valley Avalanche, and Creston Valley Cavalry, however a blank option was also provided, resulting in suggestions such as Creston Valley Chaos, Creston Valley Clippers, and Kootenay Colts, among others. The Creston Valley Thunder moniker was announced on March 8th after receiving nearly 60% of the over 600 votes cast, colors are presumed to be a return to green and gold, although black, blue and bronze are continuing to be used in the interim. On February 12th the KIJHL announced that a new team in Summerland would begin play in the 2026-27 season, this team will operate as a Tier 2 franchise bringing the number of teams to 9, 22 in total, the team would later be announced as the Summerland Jets, in alignment with minor hockey == Regular season ==
Regular season
{{OSM Location map|title=League map|float=right|width=480|height=300|coord=The regular season runs from 19 September 2025 through 28 February 2026. Each of the teams play a 44-game regular season schedule, including 33 or 34 against teams in the same conference, and one against each team in the other conference. Schedule Matrix Each team's schedule can be broken down as follows: • Neil Murdoch Division • 1 game against each Doug Birks team (5 total: 5 home) • 1 game against each Bill Ohlhausen team (6 total: 6 away) • 2 games against all-but-one Eddie Mountain team (9 total: 4 away, 5 home) • 6 games against the other Neil Murdoch teams (24 total: 12 away, 12 home) • Eddie Mountain Division • 1 game against each Doug Birks team (5 total: 5 away) • 1 game against each Bill Ohlhausen team (6 total: 6 home) • 2 games against all-but-one Neil Murdoch team (9 total: 5 away, 4 home) • 6 games against the other Eddie Mountain teams (24 total: 12 away, 12 home) • Doug Birks Division • 1 game against each Neil Murdoch team (5 total: 5 away) • 1 game against each Eddie Mountain team (5 total: 5 home) • 2 games against each Bill Ohlhausen team (12 total: 6 away, 6 home) • 5 or 6 games against the other Doug Birks division teams (22 total: 11 away, 11 home) • Bill Ohlhausen Division • 1 game against each Neil Murdoch team (5 total: 5 home) • 1 game against each Eddie Mountain team (5 total: 5 away) • 2 games against each Doug Birks team (10 total: 5 away, 5 home) • 4-5 games against the other Bill Ohlhausen teams (24 total:12 away, 12 home) Home openers Standings x-Clinched Playoffs c-Clinched the playoffs by crossing over into another division y-Clinched Division z-Clinched Conference p-Clinched best regular season record e-Eliminated from playoff contention Clinching timeline January 10th, 2026 The Beaver Valley Nitehawks became the first team to clinch the 2026 Playoffs by virtue of Spokane's 3-2 overtime loss to Princeton. January 16th, 2026 The Kimberley Dynamiters became the second team to clinch the 2026 Playoffs thanks to their 7-3 win at Golden. The Kamloops Storm became the third team to clinch the 2026 Playoffs by defeating 100 Mile House 6-3 The Revelstoke Grizzlies became the fourth team to clinch the 2026 Playoffs by virtue of their 5-0 win against Osoyoos The Princeton Posse became the fifth team to clinch the 2026 Playoffs by winning 4-2 against Kelowna January 20th, 2026 By virtue of Spokane's loss the Grand Forks Border Bruins became the sixth team to clinch a playoff berth January 23rd, 2026 The Kelowna Chiefs became the seventh team, and the third from the Bill Ohlhausen division to clinch the playoffs by defeating Castlegar January 24th, 2026 The Quesnel River Rush, clinched the playoffs by virtue of their win over Chase, the eighth team to secure their playoff spot January 25th, 2026 The Williams Lake Mustangs joined their Cariboo rivals in the playoffs by defeating Kelowna, the 9th team to make the playoffs. January 30th, 2026 The Beaver Valley Nitehawks became the first team to clinch home-ice-advantage in the first round of the playoffs by virtue of their win over Osoyoos and Castlegar's loss to Fernie The Merritt Centennials became the 7th team from the Okanagan/Shuswap conference to make the playoffs by defeating Sicamous and getting help from Beaver Valley The Kamloops Storm became the second team to be guaranteed home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs by virtue of their home win against Revelstoke February 6th, 2026 The Kimberley Dynamiters became the third team to be guaranteed home-ice-advantage, and the first to win their division by defeating Creston The Castlegar Rebels became the third team from the Neil Murdoch Division, and the 11th overall to clinch a playoff berth The Grand Forks Border Bruins, secured home-ice-advantage, making the Neil Murdoch Division, the first division with both home-ice-advantages decided February 7th, 2026 The Fernie Ghostriders joined their division rival in the playoffs by defeating Columbia Valley The Kamloops Storm became the second team to clinch a divisional title, by defeating Merritt on home ice, in front of their largest crowd to date. The Williams Lake Mustangs and Quesnel River Rush became the first division semi-finals matchup to be confirmed, with home ice advantage to be decided in the coming weeks February 10th, 2026 The Golden Rockets became the third team to clinch the playoffs February 13th, 2026 The Fernie Ghostriders and Golden Rockets became the second division semi-finals matchup to be confirmed, home ice advantage will be determined in the following weeks February 14th, 2026 The Spokane Braves clinched the playoffs for the first time since 2019/20 and are the fourth team from the Neil Murdoch to do so The Nelson Leafs were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in nearly forty years, in a season the saw Head Coach Barry Wolf fired, and General Manager Dale Hladun let go The Revelstoke Grizzlies clinched home ice advantage, becoming the first team in the Bill Ohlhausen to do so. February 17th, 2026 The Revelstoke Grizzlies defeated Sicamous to clinch the Bill Ohlhausen Division for the first time in franchise history February 20th, 2026 The Merritt Centennials and the Revelstoke Grizzlies first round matchup was confirmed with Revelstoke owning home-ice advantage as the Division Champs The Princeton Posse and Kelowna Chiefs secured their first round matchup with home ice advantage to be determined in the following week February 21st, 2026 The Columbia Valley Rockies became the fourth team to clinch the Eddie Mountain playoffs, eliminating the Creston Valley Thundercats and confirming a first round matchup against Kimberley The Beaver Valley Nitehawks clinched the Neil Murdoch Division, and a first round matchup against the Spokane Braves. This result also guaranteed a Grand Forks-Castlegar first round series, with Grand Forks having home-ice advantage The Williams Lake Mustangs clinched home-ice advantage in their first round series against Quesnel February 27th, 2026 The Fernie Ghostriders clinched home-ice advantage in their first round series against Golden. The Princeton Posse became the 8th team to secure home-ice advantage in the first round. The Revelstoke Grizzlies clinched both the Okanagan Conference and the Prestige trophy for the league's best record February 28th, 2026 The Chase Heat rounded out the playoff field becoming the 16th and final team to clinch a playoff berth securing a first round matchup against Kamloops, while simultaneously eliminating 100 Mile House, Osoyoos and Sicamous The Beaver Valley Nitehawks clinched the Kootenay Conference title == Playoffs ==