The BC senior men's hockey championship has been cancelled due to the withdrawal of the Rossland Warriors.

BC Hockey executives made the decision to cancel the Coy Cup championship, set for Terrace, late today after failing to line up a fourth team for the planned March 4-8 tournament.

The Kitimat Ice Demons and the Houston Luckies, still battling for the Central Interior Hockey League (CIHL) playoff championship, were to play, as were the Terrace River Kings, another CIHL team, as tournament hosts.

The trouble began last week when the Rossland Warriors informed Bob James, BC Hockey’s director of Senior hockey, they wouldn’t be able to make the trip from the Kootenays on the strength of being last year’s champions.

That set in motion a train of events which saw a number of teams from the CIHL invited to fill in the fourth tournament berth.

A proposal to have the Smithers Steelheads and Omineca Ice play a one-game playoff to earn the spot was denied by Smithers. Last week, Omineca, the Vanderhoof-based team, had agreed to come to Terrace but early this week, the team reneged, citing a lack of eligible players.

Out of desperation, invites were then extended to two other CIHL teams, the Williams Lake Stampeders and the Hazelton Wolverines, both of whom turned down invitations.

“I’m disappointed,” said CIHL president Rose Ruffell. “But I feel comfortable knowing we did everything we could to make it work.”

Ruffell echoed earlier sentiments, saying her greatest disappointment was for the Coy Cup organizing committee, which had hoped to generate profits for the under-construction Terrace Sportsplex.

But the Coy Cup belongs to BC Hockey and, ultimately, the decision to cancel came from James.

James said yesterday he was holding out hope a CIHL team would step up to save the event.

“We thought we had the problem solved with Omineca,” James said. “If we can find a fourth team that’s not going to embarrass anyone, we can go ahead with (the Coy Cup).”

James added if the championship were cancelled, he’d “certainly give Terrace the first right of refusal” to host it in 2009.

The Coy Cup dates back to 1912 when it was presented to the provincial amateur hockey association by W.H. Coy, who became the Honorary Colonel of the 50th Gordon Highlanders, a military regiment based on Vancouver Island.

It is now presented to the senior men’s AA champions. There is another level of senior men’s hockey, AAA, and its prize is the Savage Cup.