New Westminster Bruins
Ice hockey team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ice hockey team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New Westminster Bruins were a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. There were two franchises that carried this name:
| New Westminster Bruins | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | New Westminster, British Columbia |
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Operated | 1971–81 and 1983–88 |
| Home arena | Queen's Park Arena |
| Colours | Black, white & gold |
| Franchise history | |
| 1966–67 | Calgary Buffaloes |
| 1967–77 | Calgary Centennials |
| 1977–82 | Billings Bighorns |
| 1982–83 | Nanaimo Islanders |
| 1983–88 | New Westminster Bruins |
| 1988-Present | Tri-City Americans |
| Previous franchise history | |
| 1966–71 | Estevan Bruins |
| 1971–81 | New Westminster Bruins |
| 1981–84 | Kamloops Junior Oilers |
| 1984-Present | Kamloops Blazers |
| Championships | |
| Playoff championships | 1977 & 1978 Memorial Cup Champions |
Both incarnations of the franchise played at Queen's Park Arena in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster, British Columbia.
The franchise began in 1946 as the Humboldt Indians of the original version of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (1948–1966), moving to Estevan to become the Bruins in 1957. They were a founding member of the Western Canada-based Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (later renamed the Western Canada Hockey League) in 1966. The Estevan Bruins had been a successful franchise, including a loss in the 1968 Memorial Cup national championship, when team owner and coach Punch McLean moved the team to New Westminster for the 1971–72 WCHL season.
Once the team arrived in New Westminster, the success continued throughout much of the decade. The Bruins won the President's Cup four times in a row between 1975 and 1978. They made it to the Memorial Cup finals four years in a row as well, losing in 1975 and 1976 before winning it in 1977 and 1978. The WCHL was renamed the Western Hockey League for the 1978–79 WHL season. That season, after a brawl at the end of a game against Portland in March 1979 at Queens Park Arena, some local hockey fans started to look with disfavour upon the Bruins' rough tactics, and the team's popularity began to wane. The Bruins moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, for the 1981–82 WHL season, where they would become first the Kamloops Junior Oilers and, from the 1984–85 WHL season, the Kamloops Blazers.
The second incarnation of the Bruins arrived in New Westminster in 1983 from Nanaimo, British Columbia, where they had previously been known as the Nanaimo Islanders. The team originated in Calgary in 1966–67 with a stop as the Billings Bighorns. The team only played one season in Nanaimo before moving. The new Bruins did not enjoy the same level of success, and lasted only five seasons in New Westminster before moving to Kennewick, Washington, to become the Tri-City Americans. This franchise has never won the WHL championship in any of its incarnations.
Note: GP = games played, W = wins, L = losses, T = ties Pts = points, GF = goals for, GA = goals against
| Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Points | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1971–72 | 68 | 40 | 27 | 1 | 285 | 240 | 81 | 3rd West | Lost quarter-final |
| 1972–73 | 68 | 31 | 22 | 15 | 283 | 264 | 77 | 4th West | Lost quarter-final |
| 1973–74 | 68 | 36 | 21 | 11 | 284 | 250 | 83 | 2nd West | Lost semi-final |
| 1974–75 | 70 | 37 | 22 | 11 | 319 | 260 | 85 | 3rd West | Won championship, 2nd in Memorial Cup |
| 1975–76 | 72 | 54 | 14 | 4 | 463 | 247 | 112 | 1st West | Won championship, 2nd in Memorial Cup |
| 1976–77 | 72 | 47 | 14 | 11 | 363 | 216 | 105 | 1st West | Won championship and Memorial Cup |
| 1977–78 | 72 | 33 | 28 | 11 | 345 | 310 | 77 | 3rd West | Won championship and Memorial Cup |
| 1978–79 | 72 | 34 | 32 | 6 | 310 | 301 | 74 | 3rd West | Eliminated in round robin |
| 1979–80 | 72 | 10 | 61 | 1 | 244 | 443 | 21 | 4th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1980–81 | 72 | 17 | 54 | 1 | 306 | 512 | 35 | 5th West | Out of playoffs |
| Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Points | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1983–84 | 72 | 34 | 36 | 2 | 304 | 348 | 70 | 2nd West | Lost West Division semi-final |
| 1984–85 | 72 | 41 | 29 | 2 | 379 | 302 | 84 | 2nd West | Lost West Division final |
| 1985–86 | 72 | 25 | 45 | 2 | 276 | 373 | 52 | 5th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1986–87 | 72 | 18 | 50 | 4 | 300 | 432 | 40 | 6th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1987–88 | 72 | 33 | 34 | 5 | 339 | 358 | 71 | 4th West | Lost West Division semi-final |
Totals include both incarnations of the Bruins
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
