The Blind River Beavers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Blind River, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
History The Blind River Beavers had a long history in the International Junior B Hockey League. In 2000, Junior A hockey was brought to Blind River as the Blind River Barons when the franchise moved from Nickel Centre. The team re-branded to the Blind River Beavers in fall 2001. The team has finished as high as fourth on a few occasions and made the playoffs but have failed to advance to the second round as of 2016.
The Beavers introduced a new logo at the start of the 2014–15 season. During that season, the Blind River Beavers set Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League records for fewest wins and points in a season as they went 0–51–1 during the regular season. The previous records were held by the 1991–92 Elliot Lake Vikings, who went 1–47–0 for 2 points. They also failed to win a game during their first round playoff series with the Soo Thunderbirds, losing that series 4-games-to-0.
The team showed improvement during the 2015–16, improving their record to 10–40–0–4, but not enough to make the playoffs as the Beavers finished three points behind Espanola for the final playoff spot in the West Division. The Beavers were led offensively by Max Khull, who had a team high 38 points.
At the end of the season, the Beavers hired Soo Thunderbirds assistant Kyle Brick to be their new head coach and named Dennis Lawrence as their general manager. They also hired several new scouts from the Thunderbirds as they had recently changed ownership. The 2016–17 season saw the Beavers earn their first winning record since 2010–11. Blind River improved to 32–20–4–0 finishing 20 points behind the Thunderbirds and were second in the division. After the regular season, the Beavers beat the Rayside-Balfour Canadians in the quarterfinals in seven games followed by beating the Soo Eagles in five games leading to their first finals appearance, which they were swept by the Powassan Voodoos in four games.
The 2023-24 season Saw the Blind River Beavers capture their first regular season divisional win and the first overall league champion.
Season-by-season results Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts Results PlayoffsNickel Centre Barons1999–00 40 4 35 1 — 110 279 9 6th NOJHLBlind River Barons2000–01 40 6 33 1 0 121 317 13 7th NOJHLBlind River Beavers2001–02 42 3 39 0 0 106 414 6 7th NOJHL2002–03 48 8 38 2 — 163 357 18 6th NOJHL2003–04 48 14 31 1 2 172 266 31 7th NOJHL2004–05 48 27 18 2 1 208 172 57 4th NOJHL Lost quarter-final2005–06 48 13 33 0 2 140 209 28 6th NOJHL Lost quarter-final2006–07 48 26 18 0 4 201 180 56 4th NOJHL Lost quarter-finals, 3–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2007–08 50 25 20 — 5 189 194 74 5th NOJHL Lost quarter-finals, 2–4 vs. Sudbury Jr. Wolves2008–09 50 25 21 — 4 188 182 54 5th NOJHL Won quarter-finals, 4–0 vs. Soo EaglesLost semi-finals, 0–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2009–10 50 29 14 — 7 239 205 65 4th NOJHL Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Eagles2010–11 50 25 21 — 4 223 199 54 4th NOJHL Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Eagles2011–12 50 8 40 — 2 117 276 18 7th NOJHL Did not qualify2012–13 48 13 27 2 6 178 226 34 5th NOJHL Lost quarter finals, 0–4 vs. Kirkland Lake Gold Miners2013–14 56 10 42 0 4 127 281 24 8th NOJHL Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2014–15 52 0 51 0 1 98 366 1 4th of 4, West9th of 9, NOJHL Lost div. semi-finals, 0–4 vs. Thunderbirds2015–16 54104004139326246th of 6, West11th of 12, NOJHL Did not qualify2016–17 56322004214162682nd of 6, West5th of 12, NOJHL Won Div. Semifinals, 4–3 vs. Rayside-Balfour CanadiansWon Div. Finals, 4–1 vs. Soo EaglesLost League Finals, 0–4 vs. Powassan Voodoos2017–18 56331904195155704th of 6, West6th of 12, NOJHLWon Div. Play-in series, 2–0 vs. Elliot Lake WildcatsLost div. semi-finals, 2–4 vs. Rayside-Balfour Canadians2018–19 562524—7201185574th of 6, West9th of 12, NOJHLWon Div. Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Elliot Lake WildcatsLost div. semi-finals, 2–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2019–20 563715—4223158782nd of 6, West4th of 12, NOJHLPostseason cancelled2020–21 21911—18299192nd of 5, West3rd of 9, NOJHLNo playoffs were held2021–22 48251760151159565th of 6, West8th of 12, NOJHLLost Div. Semifinals, 0-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2022–23 56421142244125892nd of 6, West3rd of 12, NOJHLLost Div. Semifinals, 1-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds2023–24 56451201284148921st of 6, West1st of 12, NOJHLWon Div. Semifinals, 4-3 vs. Espanola Paper KingsLost Div Semifinal 1-4 Greater Sudbury Cubs2024–25 52341422205150723rd of 12, NOJHLLost Quarterfinals, 3-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
Head coaches Kyle Brick (2016–present) Brad Barton (2015–16) Bart Jarrett Don Gagnon Angelo Gallo Todd Stencill Doug McEwen Jim Capy Al Monforth
References
External links Blind River Beavers