Kamloops Blazers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kamloops Blazers
City	Kamloops, British Columbia
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	B.C.
Founded	1966
Home arena	Sandman Centre
Colours	Blue, white, orange
Owner(s)	Tom Gaglardi (majority) Shane Doan Jarome Iginla Mark Recchi Darryl Sydor
General manager	Shaun Clouston
Head coach	Shaun Clouston
Championships	Memorial Cup 3 (1992, 1994, 1995) Ed Chynoweth Cup 6 (1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995) Division Titles 9 (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999)
Franchise history
1966–1971	Estevan Bruins
1971–1981	New Westminster Bruins
1981–1984	Kamloops Junior Oilers
1984–present	Kamloops Blazers

The Kamloops Blazers are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kamloops, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C. Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference and plays its home games at the Sandman Centre. The Blazers originated as the Estevan Bruins in 1966, became the New Westminster Bruins in 1971, and relocated to Kamloops in 1981 as the Kamloops Junior Oilers. After moving to Kamloops, the Blazers became the WHL's most successful club, winning a record six President's Cups, a record seven Scotty Munro Memorial Trophies, and three Memorial Cup titles, all between 1983 and 1995.

History

The Blazers franchise originated as one of the league's founding clubs, the Estevan Bruins, when the league launched in 1966. After winning a league title in 1968, owner and manager Scotty Munro sold his stake in the club in 1969 and moved on to the Calgary Centennials; two years later, the team moved to New Westminster, British Columbia, as part of the Western Canada Hockey League's effort to span the four Western Canadian provinces. The New Westminster Bruins established a WCHL dynasty in the 1970s, winning four consecutive league titles between 1975 and 1978 and the 1977 and 1978 Memorial Cups. Despite the team's success, it was relocated again in 1981, moving to Kamloops, where the team—supported directly by the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers—was initially known as the Junior Oilers. In 1984, the team came under community ownership and was renamed the Blazers.

In Kamloops, the Blazers quickly established a dynasty of their own. The team made three straight finals appearances from 1984 to 1986, winning in their first and third appearances; after a finals loss in 1988, the team would win four more President's Cups between 1990 and 1995. Led at various times by future NHL stars Scott Niedermayer, Darryl Sydor, Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Darcy Tucker, Corey Hirsch, and others, and managed by future NHL coaches including Ken Hitchcock and Tom Renney, the Blazers went on to win three Memorial Cup titles in a four-year span, the only team to achieve such a feat. The Blazers hosted the third Memorial Cup tournament in that run in 1995.

When the team arrived in Kamloops, they played at the Kamloops Memorial Arena before moving to the new Riverside Coliseum in 1992.

After their run of success, the Blazers would go twelve seasons without winning a playoff round; the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 2006, and missed four more times between 2011 and 2018. The team hosted the Memorial Cup for a second time in 2023. At the tournament, they were eliminated in overtime of a tie-breaker game against the Peterborough Petes.

Season-by-season record

Giffen Nyren played for the Blazers between 2008 and 2010.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Logan Stankoven served as captain of the Blazers during the 2022–23 season.

Championship history

• Memorial Cup (3): 1992, 1994, 1995
• President's Cup (6): 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95
• Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (7): 1983–84, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95
• Playoff Division titles (9): 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1998–99
• Regular season Division titles (17): 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2011–12, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23

WHL Championships series

• 1983–84: Win, 4–3 vs. Regina Pats
• 1984–85: Loss, 0–4 vs. Prince Albert Raiders
• 1985–86: Win, 4–1 vs. Medicine Hat Tigers
• 1987–88: Loss, 2–4 vs. Medicine Hat
• 1989–90: Win, 4–1 vs. Lethbridge Hurricanes
• 1991–92: Win, 4–3 vs. Saskatoon Blades
• 1993–94: Win, 4–3 vs. Saskatoon Blades
• 1994–95: Win, 4–2 vs. Brandon Wheat Kings
• 1998–99: Loss, 1–4 vs. Calgary Hitmen

Memorial Cup finals

• 1992: Win, 5–4 vs. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
• 1994: Win, 5–3 vs. Laval Titan
• 1995: Win, 8–2 vs. Detroit Junior Red Wings

Coaches

Notable head coaches in the history of the Kamloops Blazers include Ken Hitchcock, Tom Renney, Don Hay, Marc Habscheid, and Dean Evason.

NHL alumni

Totals include those who played for the franchise as the Kamloops Junior Oilers

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia