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
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 semifinal 1982–83 72 46 26 0 – 461 356 92 3rd West Lost West Division semifinal 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 quarterfinal 1997–98 72 37 32 3 – 234 253 77 4th West Lost West Division quarterfinal 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 quarterfinal 2000–01 72 35 28 7 2 289 274 79 3rd West Lost West Division quarterfinal 2001–02 72 38 25 5 4 263 230 85 1st B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2002–03 72 39 27 5 1 261 222 84 2nd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2003–04 72 34 28 8 2 192 182 78 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2004–05 72 26 37 7 2 161 211 61 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs 2005–06 72 34 33 2 3 179 196 73 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2006–07 72 40 26 4 2 245 222 86 2nd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2007–08 72 27 41 2 2 197 253 58 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2008–09 72 33 33 2 4 242 277 72 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2009–10 72 32 33 2 5 237 284 71 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2010–11 72 293733219285 64 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2011–12 72 47 20 2 3 290 211 99 1st B.C. Lost Western Conference semifinal 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. Did not qualify 2014–15 72 28 37 4 3 214 258 63 4th B.C. Did not qualify 2015–16 72 38 25 5 4 237 218 85 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2016–17 72 42 24 2 4 243 198 90 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 2017–18 72 30 37 1 4 212 237 65 4th B.C. Did not qualify 2018–19 68 28 32 6 2 196 212 64 3rd B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal 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 held due to COVID-19 pandemic 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 2023–24 68 20 42 3 3 180 295 46 5th B.C. Did not qualify 2024–25 68 24 39 4 1 206 271 53 4th B.C. Did not qualify 2025–26 68 31 24 7 6 264 250 75 4th B.C. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
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
Jared Aulin Warren Babe Rudolfs Balcers Len Barrie Victor Bartley Nolan Baumgartner Robin Bawa Brian Benning Craig Berube Doug Bodger Zac Boyer Mike Brown Rob Brown Garth Butcher Kyle Calder Jim Camazzola Erik Christensen Dave Chyzowski Dean Clark Ken Daneyko Scott Daniels Jarrett Deuling Rob DiMaio Shane Doan Hnat Domenichelli Devan Dubnyk Micki DuPont Joel Edmundson Keaton Ellerby Todd Ewen Dean Evason Dylan Ferguson Scott Ferguson Mark Ferner Emmitt Finnie Steve Gainey Marc Habscheid Richard Hajdu Bruce Holloway Greg Hawgood Corey Hirsch Jason Holland Tony Horacek Ryan Huska Jarome Iginla Connor Ingram Jonas Johansson Ty Jones Mark Kachowski Matt Kassian Doug Kostynski Paul Kruse Bryce Lampman JC Lipon Jan Ludvig Brad Lukowich Ray Macias David Mackey Pat MacLeod Mike MacWilliam Dean Malkoc Dave Marcinyshyn Gord Mark Fraser Minten Shaone Morrisonn Glenn Mulvenna Chris Murray Tyson Nash Mike Needham Scott Niedermayer Colton Orr Steve Passmore Ed Patterson Garrett Pilon Rudy Poeschek Gage Quinney Brendan Ranford Daryl Reaugh Mark Recchi Robyn Regehr Cam Severson Ron Shudra Trevor Sim Rob Skrlac Tyler Sloan Jiri Smejkal Colin Smith Geoff Smith Logan Stankoven Ryan Stewart Jason Strudwick Darryl Sydor Darcy Tucker Scottie Upshall Kris Versteeg Gordie Walker David Wilkie Connor Zary Olen Zellweger
See also List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia
References
External links