The Bellingham Blazers were an American junior ice hockey team from Bellingham, Washington, during the regular season and Langley, British Columbia, during their 1970s playoff runs. The team played their home games at the now defunct Whatcom County Sports Arena. They were members of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.
History In 1975, the Blazers, playing out of Langley, British Columbia, won their first of two BCJHL championships. After defeating the Kelowna Buckaroos 4-games-to-2 to win the Nat Bailey Cup, the Blazers moved on to the British Columbia Jr. A Championship, the Mowat Cup, against the Coquitlam Comets of the Pacific Junior A Hockey League. The Blazers swept the PJHL champion 2-games-to-none. In the Alberta/British Columbia Championship, the Blazers fell to the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Spruce Grove Mets 4-games-to-2. After winning their two home games in Langley to start the series, the Blazers were beaten in Spruce Grove in four consecutive games to end their season.
For 1975–76, the Blazers relocated to Maple Ridge, British Columbia. They returned to Bellingham in the summer of 1976, but the league placed an expansion team known as the Maple Ridge Bruins for 1976–77 to replace the Blazers.
In 1979, the Blazers won the league title four-games-to-none over the Kamloops Rockets, but the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association banned them from proceeding into the national playdowns as they were playing their home games in the United States.
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Season GP W L T GF GA Pts Finish Playoffs1972–73 60 15 43 2 232 358 32 4th BCJHL-C Lost quarter-final1973–74 64 29 35 0 246 251 58 2nd BCJHL-C Lost semi-final1974–75 66 33 32 1 313 251 67 3rd BCJHL-C Won League, won Mowat Cup1975–76 66 23 41 2 245 349 48 7th BCJHL Lost quarter-final1976–77 68 27 38 3 311 381 57 5th BCJHL-C Did not qualify1977–78 66 41 25 0 372 294 82 2nd BCJHL-C Lost semi-final1978–79 62 51 10 1 497 249 103 1st BCJHL-C Won League1979–80 66 49 16 1 415 241 99 1st BCJHL-C Lost quarter-final1980–81 43 19 24 0 204 230 38 5th BCJHL-C Lost quarter-final1981–82 48 20 28 0 280 297 40 5th BCJHL-C Did not qualify1982–83 56 29 25 2 319 321 60 4th BCJHL-C Did not qualify1983–84 50 19 30 1 242 310 39 5th BCJHL-C Did not qualify1984–85 52 41 10 1 408 273 83 1st BCJHL-C Lost final
NHL alumni
External links BCHL Website