The Kamloops Blazers are a Canadian major
junior ice hockey
Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...
team based in
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. The team plays in the B.C. Division of the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...
'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
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...
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
Roderick Neil "Scotty" Munro (1917 – September 20, 1975) was a Canadian ice hockey coach. Munro was a key part of the group that formed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1972, which includes Bill Hunter, Ben Hatskin, and Ed Chynoweth.
Ea ...
sold his stake in the club in 1969 and moved on to the
Calgary Centennials; two years later, the team moved to
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, 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
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
—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''
Championship history
*
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...
(3):
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
,
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
,
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
*
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
The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Lethbridge, Alberta. The Hurricanes play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference, and play their home games at the VisitLethbridge.com Are ...
*
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
The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadians, Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. Founded in 1936, the team was for three decades a successful junior team playing principally in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Whe ...
*
1998–99: Loss, 1–4 vs.
Calgary Hitmen
Memorial Cup finals
*
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
: Win, 5–4 vs.
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
*
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
: Win, 5–3 vs.
Laval Titan
The Laval Titan was one of the names used by a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchise that played in Laval, Quebec, Canada, between 1971 and 1998.
History
The Rosemont National began in the 1969–70 QM ...
*
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
'':'' 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
Kyle Charles Calder (born January 5, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Anahei ...
*
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
*
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
The following is a list of ice hockey teams in British Columbia, past and present. It includes the league(s) they play for, and championships won.
Major Professional
National Hockey League
Professional Women's Hockey League
Pacific Coast Ho ...
References
External links
*
{{British Columbia Sports
Ice hockey teams in British Columbia
Ice hockey clubs established in 1981
Western Hockey League teams
Sports clubs and teams in Kamloops
1981 establishments in British Columbia
Northland Properties