The Kelowna Packers were a

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

team from

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

, British Columbia. The team existed from 1949 to 1960, and played as members of the Okanagan Senior Hockey League from 1951 onward. They were runners-up in the 1958 Allan Cup finals, and were the first ice hockey team from Canada to play an exhibition tour in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

History

The Kelowna Packers were established in 1949 in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Packers finished first place in the Okanagan Senior Hockey League (OSHL) during the 1957–58 season. In that year's playoffs, the Packers defeated the Kamloops Chiefs in a best-of-seven series to win the OSHL championship. In the

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

playoffs, the Packers defeated the Winnipeg Maroons to win the T. B. Patton Cup. The Packers qualified for the 1958 Allan Cup finals against the

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

champion

Belleville McFarlands The Belleville McFarlands were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1956 to 1961. The McFarlands were based out of Belleville, Ontario, playing home games at the Belleville Memorial Arena. History The ...

, but lost in seven games. In May 1958, the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

approved sending its first Canadian team on an exhibition tour of the

. The Kelowna Packers were chosen as the Allan Cup finalists. CAHA secretary-manager

George Dudley George Samuel Dudley (April 19, 1894 – May 8, 1960) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He joined the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) executive in 1928, served as its president from 1934 to 1936, and as its treasurer from 1936 to 1960 ...

arranged a five-game tour in the Soviet Union, and for three subsequent games in Sweden. Dudley hoped that the Kelowna tour would promote future cultural exchanges with

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. Outside Kelowna, there were critics of this decision and some predicted that the Packers would return without so much as a single win. The Packers lost their first game against the Russian Army team 4–3. They tied the next two games 1–1 against

Krylya Sovetov Moscow HC Krylya Sovetov (; ''Soviet Wings'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. The team played in the top divisions of Soviet and Russian hockey. In 2008, the team was expelled from the Soviet Wings Sport Palace and a new t ...

and 2–2 against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

. In the fourth game, against the Soviet Juniors, the Packers won 4–3. In the final match, they faced the Moscow Selects, and won 5–1. During the Packers' exhibition tour of Sweden, they won two of three games played versus the

Sweden men's national ice hockey team The Sweden men's national ice hockey team () is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called " Big Six", the unofficial group of the six ...

. Each game finished in a 5–2 score. In the 1959–60 season, the Packers again captured the OSHL title. The team folded after the season.

Legacy

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 of the same name that played in the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is an independent Canadian Junior ice hockey league with 21 teams in British Columbia and Alberta. It was classified as a Junior "A" league within the Hockey Canada framework, until it became independe ...

from 1986 to 1989. This junior team was renamed the Kelowna Spartans in 1989.

References

{{CCBYSASource, source=Wikia Sports, sourcepath= http://icehockey.wikia.com/wiki/Kelowna_Packers= Kelowna Packers, revision= 355646932 Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in British Columbia Senior ice hockey teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1949 Sport in Kelowna 1949 establishments in British Columbia 1989 disestablishments in British Columbia Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1989