Billings Blazers | |
---|---|
City | Billings, Montana |
League | Southwest Hockey League |
Operated | 1975–1977 |
Home arena | METRA |
The Billings Blazers were a senior amateur ice hockey team playing in Billings, Montana. The Blazers were members of the Southwest Hockey League for its entire existence.
The Southwest Hockey League was formed in 1975 as a vehicle to further professional ice hockey in the western United States. That same year, the METRA was completed and had not yet secured a permanent tenant. Ralph Engelstad took advantage of this new development and placed two of the inaugural franchises in Montana. [1] The Billings Blazers played their first game that fall and were coached by former NHLer Jack Bownass. The team finished the year one game under .500 and were successful enough to remain in place for the following season. The second year began with the loss of their in-state rival but the travel situation was resolved by two teams being located in neighboring North Dakota. Now playing under Bob Campbell, the team wasn't nearly as good on the ice for their sophomore season, however, the team's record was far from their biggest problem. The newest team in North Dakota folded just 20 games into the season and the rest of the league was in dire financial trouble. The SWHL managed to continue on for a few more months but by late January the well had dried up. Billings played their final game on January 24, after which the league folded along with all five remaining teams.
Despite the failure of the league, ice hockey proved to be popular in Billings. The very next season the Western Hockey League arrived with the relocation of a brand new team, the Billings Bighorns. [2]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975–1976 | 70 | 33 | 34 | 3 | 69 | 306 | 313 | 4th | — |
1976–1977 | 53 | 20 | 33 | 0 | 40 | 238 | 282 | 4th | N/A |
The Vancouver Blazers were a professional ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1975. The Blazers played at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, sharing the facility with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. The Blazers were owned by local businessman Jim Pattison. The franchise moved to Vancouver after a single season in Philadelphia. Unable to establish a strong fan base in Vancouver, the team was moved again in 1975 to become the Calgary Cowboys.
The Calgary Cowboys were an ice hockey team that played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1975 to 1977. The Cowboys played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles, though it never played a game in Miami. The team was based in Philadelphia and Vancouver, known in both markets as the Blazers, before relocating to Calgary. The franchise folded in 1977.
The Chicago Cougars were a franchise in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the International Amphitheatre. During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros, the team's two home games were played at the Randhurst Twin Ice Arena in suburban Mount Prospect. This was because a presentation of Peter Pan starring gymnast Cathy Rigby was booked into the Amphitheatre when the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls had both entered their own playoffs, making the Chicago Stadium unavailable for either the Cougars or Peter Pan.
The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72. After the WHL folded in 1974, the team transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season.
The 1972–73 WHA season was the first season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Twelve teams played 78 games each. The league was officially incorporated in June of 1971 by Gary Davidson and Dennis A. Murphy and promised to ice twelve teams in various markets around Canada and the United States. The league championship trophy, the Avco World Trophy, was donated by AVCO Financial Services Corporation along with $500,000. The New England Whalers won the first Avco World Trophy.
The Philadelphia Blazers were an ice hockey franchise in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the 1972–73 WHA season based in Philadelphia. The team's home ice was the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center.
The Billings Outlaws were a professional league indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. Their games were broadcast live locally on News Talk 910 KBLG AM and online through Teamline.
The Calgary Centennials were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) from 1966–1977. They played in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Stampede Corral.
This is a timeline of events throughout the history of the Western Hockey League (WHL), which dates back to its founding in 1966. The league was founded by a group of team owners and managers in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including Bill Hunter, Scotty Munro, Del Wilson, and Jim Piggott, who thought a larger western league would help western teams compete for the Memorial Cup against teams from the larger associations in Ontario and Quebec. Since the league's founding, it has expanded to include 22 teams across the four Western Canadian provinces along with the Northwest United States, and it has produced 19 Memorial Cup championship teams.
The Bozeman Icedogs are a Tier III Junior ice hockey team located in Bozeman, Montana. The team is a member of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Icedogs play home games at the Haynes Pavilion located at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds.
The history of ice hockey in Calgary extends back well over a century to the first recorded ice hockey game in Alberta in 1893. Imported from eastern Canada, the game's popularity rapidly grew in the city, with teams at every level playing for and capturing Canada's national championships. Calgary is known today as one of Canada's best ice hockey cities with the Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen receiving immense support from the city. The Calgary Oval X-Treme is one of the most dominant women's ice hockey teams in the country, while Junior A ice hockey is also well supported with two teams in the city. Calgary is home to the Mac's AAA midget hockey tournament, one of the most prestigious midget hockey tournaments in the world which has seen dozens of future National Hockey League players play in this city before their professional careers began.
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Sanctioned by USA Hockey, for most of the league's existence, the winner of the NA3HL playoffs would advance to play for the Tier III National Championship, however, this has not been held since 2015.
The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL) was an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. Its championship trophy was the Cascade Cup.
The Montana Magic were a minor professional ice hockey team that played in Billings, Montana, as a member of the defunct Central Hockey League (CHL) in the 1983–84 season. They filled the void left by the departure of the major junior Billings Bighorns in 1982. After their first and only season in the CHL, posting a 20–52–4 record and missing the playoffs, the league folded and the team consequently disbanded. They would be replaced in 1985 by the semi-professional Billings Marlboros of the Continental Hockey League, a league that also folded after the Billings team played in only one season in 1986.
The Southwest Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that operated in the Southwestern United States from 1975 to 1977. The Southwest Hockey League (SWHL) was established in 1975 to train players for professional leagues.
The 1987 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 28th conference playoff in league history and 35th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 27 and March 14, 1987. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held, for the final time, at the Winter Sports Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. By winning the tournament, North Dakota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1987 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The Oklahoma City Ice Hawks, formerly the Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers, were a Tier III junior ice hockey team, based in Edmond, Oklahoma, in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The Ice Hawks competed in the USA Hockey-sanctioned North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) after playing as a member of the United Hockey Union-sanctioned Western States Hockey League (WSHL) from 2014 to 2020. Their home games were played at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena.
The 1986–87 North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey team represented the University of North Dakota in college ice hockey. In its 9th year under head coach John Gasparini the team compiled a 40–8–0 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the eleventh time. The Fighting Sioux defeated defending champion Michigan State 5–3 to win the championship game at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Jake Sanderson is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted fifth overall by the Senators in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
The Bismarck Capitols were a semi-professional ice hockey team playing in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Capitols were members of the Southwest Hockey League but played just 20 games before suspending operations due to financial difficulty.