Blind River Beavers

Blind River Beavers
City	Blind River, Ontario, Canada
League	Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
Division	Western
Founded	1965
Home arena	Blind River Community Centre
Colours	Black, red, and white
General manager	Kyle Brick [1]
Head coach	Kyle Brick
Franchise history
1965–1997	Elliot Lake Vikings
1997–1999	Elliot Lake Ice
1999–2000	Nickel Centre Baron
2000–2001	Blind River Barons
2001–present	Blind River Beavers

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.^{[ citation needed ]} 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	Playoffs
Nickel Centre Barons
1999–00	40	4	35	1	—	110	279	9	6th NOJHL
Blind River Barons
2000–01	40	6	33	1	0	121	317	13	7th NOJHL
Blind River Beavers
2001–02	42	3	39	0	0	106	414	6	7th NOJHL
2002–03	48	8	38	2	—	163	357	18	6th NOJHL
2003–04	48	14	31	1	2	172	266	31	7th NOJHL
2004–05	48	27	18	2	1	208	172	57	4th NOJHL	Lost quarter-final
2005–06	48	13	33	0	2	140	209	28	6th NOJHL	Lost quarter-final
2006–07	48	26	18	0	4	201	180	56	4th NOJHL	Lost quarter-finals, 3–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2007–08	50	25	20	—	5	189	194	74	5th NOJHL	Lost quarter-finals, 2–4 vs. Sudbury Jr. Wolves
2008–09	50	25	21	—	4	188	182	54	5th NOJHL	Won quarter-finals, 4–0 vs. Soo Eagles Lost semi-finals, 0–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2009–10	50	29	14	—	7	239	205	65	4th NOJHL	Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Eagles
2010–11	50	25	21	—	4	223	199	54	4th NOJHL	Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Eagles
2011–12	50	8	40	—	2	117	276	18	7th NOJHL	Did not qualify
2012–13	48	13	27	2	6	178	226	34	5th NOJHL	Lost quarter finals, 0–4 vs. Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
2013–14	56	10	42	0	4	127	281	24	8th NOJHL	Lost quarter-finals, 1–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2014–15	52	0	51	0	1	98	366	1	4th of 4, West 9th of 9, NOJHL	Lost div. semi-finals, 0–4 vs. Thunderbirds
2015–16	54	10	40	0	4	139	326	24	6th of 6, West 11th of 12, NOJHL	Did not qualify
2016–17	56	32	20	0	4	214	162	68	2nd of 6, West 5th of 12, NOJHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–3 vs. Rayside-Balfour Canadians Won Div. Finals, 4–1 vs. Soo Eagles Lost League Finals, 0–4 vs. Powassan Voodoos
2017–18	56	33	19	0	4	195	155	70	4th of 6, West 6th of 12, NOJHL	Won Div. Play-in series, 2–0 vs. Elliot Lake Wildcats Lost div. semi-finals, 2–4 vs. Rayside-Balfour Canadians
2018–19	56	25	24	—	7	201	185	57	4th of 6, West 9th of 12, NOJHL	Won Div. Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Elliot Lake Wildcats Lost div. semi-finals, 2–4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2019–20	56	37	15	—	4	223	158	78	2nd of 6, West 4th of 12, NOJHL	Postseason cancelled
2020–21	21	9	11	—	1	82	99	19	2nd of 5, West 3rd of 9, NOJHL	No playoffs were held
2021–22	48	25	17	6	0	151	159	56	5th of 6, West 8th of 12, NOJHL	Lost Div. Semifinals, 0-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2022–23	56	42	11	4	2	244	125	89	2nd of 6, West 3rd of 12, NOJHL	Lost Div. Semifinals, 1-4 vs. Soo Thunderbirds
2023–24	56	45	12	0	1	284	148	92	1st of 6, West 1st of 12, NOJHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 4-3 vs. Espanola Paper Kings tbd Div Semifinal 0-1 Greater Sudbury Cubs

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

1. "Hockey Operations". Blind River Beavers. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

External links

• Blind River Beavers