Western Hockey League team in Kamloops, British Columbia
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)[1] Shane Doan Jarome Iginla Mark Recchi Darryl Sydor General manager Shaun Clouston[2] Head coach Shaun Clouston[3] Website chl.ca/whl-blazers/ 1966–1971 Estevan Bruins 1971–1981 New Westminster Bruins 1981–1984 Kamloops Junior Oilers 1984–present Kamloops Blazers Regular season titles 7 (1983–84 , 1986–87 , 1989–90 , 1990–91 , 1991–92 , 1993–94 , 1994–95 )Playoff championships Ed Chynoweth Cup 1984 , 1986 , 1990 , 1992 , 1994 , 1995 )Memorial Cup 1992 , 1994 , 1995 )
The Kamloops Blazers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team plays in the B.C. Division of the Western Conference, is based in Kamloops, British Columbia , and play home games at 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. The Blazers have won the Memorial Cup three times; in 1992, 1994, and 1995, and the Ed Chynoweth Cup six times.
History
The franchise was granted in 1966 as the Estevan Bruins Estevan, Saskatchewan . In 1971, it moved to New Westminster , British Columbia, and was known as the New Westminster Bruins Junior Oilers until 1984, when it was given its present name, the Kamloops Blazers . The team moved from the Kamloops Memorial Arena to the Riverside Coliseum, then renamed the "Interior Savings Centre", in 1992, and finally changed to the Sandman Centre in 2015, due to co-owner Tom Gaglardi also owning the Sandman hotels brand.
The team has won the most Memorial Cups of any team in the WHL with five, two as New Westminster (1977 and 1978) and three as Kamloops (1992, 1994 and 1995). The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) record is seven, held by the Ontario Hockey League 's Toronto Marlboros , now known as the Guelph Storm .
The franchise began in 1946 as the Humboldt Indians of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and moved to Estevan to become the Bruins in 1957. The franchise has won the President's Cup a record 11 times, once in Estevan, four times in a row in New Westminster and six times since relocating to Kamloops. The Blazers hosted the 1995 Memorial Cup , also winning the WHL championship that year.
The team was featured as a plot element in a book called Blazer Drive by Sigmund Brouwer .
WHL finals appearances
Memorial Cup appearances
Coaches
Notable head coaches in the history of the Kamloops Blazers include Ken Hitchcock , Tom Renney , Don Hay , Marc Habscheid and Dean Evason .
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season
GP
W
L
T
OTL
GF
GA
Points
Finish
Playoffs
1981–82 72
18
53
1
–
320
464
37
4th West
Lost West Division semi-final
1982–83 72
46
26
0
–
461
356
92
3rd West
Lost West Division semi-final
1983–84 72
50
22
0
–
467
332
100
1st West Won championship
1984–85 72
52
17
2
–
423
293
106
1st West Lost final
1985–86 72
49
19
4
–
449
299
102
1st West Won championship
1986–87 72
55
14
3
–
496
292
113
1st West Lost West Division final
1987–88 72
45
26
1
–
399
307
91
1st West Lost final
1988–89 72
34
33
5
–
326
309
73
3rd West
Lost West Division final
1989–90 72
56
16
0
–
484
278
112
1st West Won championship
1990–91 72
50
20
2
–
385
247
102
1st West Lost West Division final
1991–92 72
51
17
4
–
351
226
106
1st West Won championship and Memorial Cup
1992–93 72
42
28
2
–
302
253
86
3rd West
Lost West Division final
1993–94 72
50
16
6
–
381
225
106
1st West Won championship and Memorial Cup
1994–95 72
52
14
6
–
375
202
110
1st West Won championship and Memorial Cup
1995–96 72
48
22
2
–
343
257
98
2nd West
Lost West Division final
1996–97 72
28
37
7
–
256
285
63
5th West
Lost West Division quarter-final
1997–98 72
37
32
3
–
234
253
77
4th West
Lost West Division quarter-final
1998–99 72
48
11
13
–
298
195
109
1st West Lost final
1999–00 72
36
30
5
1
244
228
78
4th West
Lost West Division quarter-final
2000–01 72
35
28
7
2
289
274
79
3rd West
Lost West Division quarter-final
2001–02 72
38
25
5
4
263
230
85
1st B.C. Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2002–03 72
39
27
5
1
261
222
84
2nd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2003–04 72
34
28
8
2
192
182
78
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2004–05 72
26
37
7
2
161
211
61
4th B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
Season
GP
W
L
OTL
SOL
GF
GA
Points
Finish
Playoffs
2005–06 72
34
33
2
3
179
196
73
5th B.C.
Out of playoffs
2006–07 72
40
26
4
2
245
222
86
2nd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2007–08 72
27
41
2
2
197
253
58
4th B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2008–09 72
33
33
2
4
242
277
72
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2009–10 72
32
33
2
5
237
284
71
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2010–11 72
29
37
3
3
219
285
64
5th B.C.
Out of playoffs
2011–12 72
47
20
2
3
290
211
99
1st B.C. Lost Western Conference semi-final
2012–13 72
47
20
2
3
261
180
99
2nd B.C.
Lost Western Conference final
2013–14 72
14
53
2
3
175
305
33
5th B.C.
Out of playoffs
2014–15 72
28
37
4
3
214
258
63
4th B.C.
Out of playoffs
2015–16 72
38
25
5
4
237
218
85
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2016–17 72
42
24
2
4
243
198
90
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2017–18 72
30
37
1
4
212
237
65
4th B.C.
Out of playoffs
2018–19 68
28
32
6
2
196
212
64
3rd B.C.
Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2019–20 63
41
18
3
1
271
166
86
1st B.C. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 22
18
4
0
0
87
51
36
1st B.C. No playoffs were held
2021–22 68
48
17
3
0
287
176
99
1st B.C. Lost Western Conference final
2022–23 68
48
13
4
3
313
198
103
1st B.C. Lost Western Conference final, 4th place at Memorial Cup
