West Kelowna Warriors

Last updated
West Kelowna Warriors
West Kelowna Warriors.jpg
City West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
League British Columbia Hockey League
ConferenceInterior
Founded1994 (1994)
Home arena Royal LePage Place
ColoursMaroon and tan
  
Owner(s)JMRH Hockey Development ULC
(John Murphy and Rod Hume)
PresidentChris Laurie
General managerJohn Murphy Governor
Rod Hume Managing Partner
Head coachSimon Ferguson
Website http://www.westkelownawarriors.ca
Franchise history
1994–1998Langley Thunder
1998–2006Langley Hornets
2006–2012Westside Warriors
2012–presentWest Kelowna Warriors

The West Kelowna Warriors are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and play in the Interior Conference.

Contents

The West Kelowna Warriors are a relocated franchise, moving to West Kelowna in 2006 from Langley, British Columbia.

History

Langley Thunder/Hornets

Langley was originally granted a British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) franchise in 1973 called the Langley Lords. The team played as the Lords through the 1975–76 season. In those three years they had very decent regular seasons, making it to the playoffs each year, including a loss in the league finals in their first season. In 1976 the Lords changed their name to the Langley Thunder. Their regular season performance diminished each year and they missed the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's history in the 1978–79 season. Shortly after the completion of the 1978–79 season, the franchise ceased operations. An unrelated BCJHL franchise, the Chilliwack Colts, relocated to become the Langley Eagles from 1981–82 through the 1986–87 seasons, before moving back to Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Langley Hornets Logo Langley Hornets.png
Langley Hornets Logo

In 1990, the BCJHL was renamed the BCHL, and in 1994 Langley returned to the BCHL with a new franchise, adopting the name Thunder from the defunct franchise of the 1970s. The new franchise competed as the Thunder for five seasons, reaching the BCHL championship finals in 1996, which they lost to the eventual Junior A national Royal Bank Cup champion Vernon Vipers, 4–1.

The Thunder changed their name to the Langley Hornets before the start of the 1998–99 season. Playing in Langley from 1998 through the 2005–06 season, the Hornets were led by several coaches. Coach Rick Lanz was notable for taking the last place 2001–02 team and guiding them to a fourth-place finish in the 2002–03 season, though the team would be eliminated in the first round of the BCHL playoffs. Lanz was not re-signed for the next season and the team returned to last place in the BCHL. [1]

Westside/West Kelowna Warriors

Westside Warriors Logo Westside Warriors logo.svg
Westside Warriors Logo

Before the start of the 2006–07 season the franchise moved from Langley to the unincorporated area on the "westside" of Kelowna, British Columbia, and renamed themselves the Westside Warriors. The Westside Warriors found immediate success, reaching the BCHL playoffs in the 2006–07 season, followed in 2007–08 with a third place BCHL finish in the regular season and making it to the BCHL semi-finals in the playoffs.

In late 2007, the unincorporated area the Westside Warriors called home became the incorporated Westside District Municipality, and in 2008 changed its name to West Kelowna. The franchise kept the place name Westside, rather than West Kelowna, through the 2011–12 season. In the summer of 2012, the Westside Warriors announced they would be changing their name to the West Kelowna Warriors, recognizing the proper name of the municipality where they play.

In 2018, the Warriors were purchased by Kim Dobranski and KD Sports Ltd. from Mark Cheyne and the Vision Sports Group LLP. [2] [3]

In October 2019, the BCHL confirmed that it was in talks to buy the West Kelowna Warriors from current sole owner Kim Dobranski's KD Sports, Ltd. with unaudited financial results that showed the team lost $60,000 for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2019. [4] In November 2019, the Warriors were purchased by John Murphy and Rod Hume under JMRH Hockey Development ULC, [5] [6] with Murphy serving as governor and Hume as managing partner, and the BCHL approving the sale and the sale effective date being November 11, 2019. [6] [7] The Warriors also announced that Chris Laurie was named team president. [8] [7]

Season-by-season records

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

BCJHL Langley Lords/Thunder

SeasonGPWLTGFGAPtsFinishPlayoffs
1973–746438242326283781st, CoastalLost in Finals
1974–756634311330351691st, CoastalLost in Quarter-finals
1975–766632313349298675th, LeagueLost in Quarter-finals
1976–776830371351362623rd, CoastalLost in Semi-finals
1977–786619470250423385th, CoastalLost in Quarter-finals
1978–796222364284348485th, CoastalDid not qualify

Current BCHL franchise

SeasonGPWLTOTLGFGAPtsFinishPlayoffs
Langley Thunder
1994–956038211—321252772nd, MainlandLost in Quarter-finals
1995–966038193—317273792nd, MainlandLost in Finals
1996–976021354—228289467th, CoastalDid not qualify
1997–986026313—219239556th, CoastalDid not qualify
Langley Hornets
1998–996044124—330219921st, MainlandLost in Semi-finals
1998–99602038—2242294423rd, MainlandLost in 1st round
1999–00604117—2305247841st, MainlandLost in Semi-finals
2000–01602925—6222239644th, MainlandLost in 1st round
2001–02601934—7226274455th, MainlandDid not qualify
2002–03603422—1225231722nd, MainlandLost in 1st round
2003–0460193614205286434th, MainlandDid not qualify
2004–0560124215169277304th, MainlandDid not qualify
2005–0660322314179181693rd, MainlandLost in Quarter-finals
Westside Warriors
2006–0760232539192221587th, MainlandLost in Preliminary
2007–0860401703237161833rd, BCHLLost in Semi-finals
2008–0960371814220162795th, BCHLDid not qualify
2009–1060381813244173804th, BCHLLost quarter-final
2010–1160332025246183734th, InteriorLost Division Semi-final
2011–12602229271902085311th, BCHLDid not qualify
West Kelowna Warriors
2012–1356301349205151732nd, Interior
4th, BCHL		Won Div. Finals, 4–1 (Centennials)
Lost Conf. Finals, 4–1 (Vees)
2013–1458351535225173782nd, Interior
5th, BCHL		Lost div. semi-finals, 4–2 (Vipers)
2014–1558292108205210444th of 6, Interior
7th of 16, BCHL		Lost div. semi-finals, 4–1 (Vees)
2015–1658381721242180792nd of 6, Interior
3rd of 17, BCHL		Won Div. Semi-finals, 4–2 (Silverbacks)
Won Div. Finals, 4–2 (Vees)
2nd of 3, round-robin
Won League Finals, 4–2 (Chiefs)
Advance to Western Canada Cup
2016–1758272920175204564th of 6, Interior
9th of 17, BCHL		Lost div. semi-finals 4–0 (Centennials)
2017–1858282721198221595th of 7, Interior
11th of 17, BCHL		Lost div. semi-finals 4–0 (Smoke Eaters)
2018–19 582828—2210220586th of 7, Interior
12th of 17, BCHL		Lost First Round, 3–4 (Wild)
2019–20 58163309160223416th of 7, Interior
16th of 17, BCHL		Lost First Round, 1–4 (Vees)

Western Canada Cup

Western Canada championship from 2013 to 2017
Participants: British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) – Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) – Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) – Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) – host team
Round-robin play with 1st vs. 2nd winner advancing to RBC Cup junior A national championship and loser to a runner-up game.
3rd vs. 4th in semifinal with winner to the runner-up game and loser eliminated.
Runner-up game determined second representative to national championship.

YearRound-robinRecordStandingSemifinalRunner-up gameChampionship game
2016 W, Estevan Bruins (host) 3–0
L, Brooks Bandits (AJHL) 2–4
OTW, Portage Terriers (MJHL) 3–2
W, Melfort Mustangs (SJHL) 4–1		3–1–02nd of 5——W, Brooks Bandits 6–0
Cup Champions

Royal Bank Cup

Hockey Canada junior A national championship
Participants in 2016: Dudley Hewitt Cup champions (Central), Fred Page Cup champions (Eastern, Western Canada Cup champions (Western #1), Western Canada Cup runners-up (Western #2) and a host team
Round-robin play with top four in semifinal and winners to finals.

YearRound-robinRecord
W–OTW–OTL–L		StandingSemifinalChampionship game
2016 W, Lloydminster Bobcats (host) 5–2
L, Brooks Bandits (Western #2) 1–5
OTW, Trenton Golden Hawks (Central) 4–3
W, Carleton Place Canadians (Eastern) 4–1		2–1–0–13rd of 5W, Brooks Bandits 4–1W, Lloydminster Bobcats 4–0
Canadian Junior A Champions

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Greenizan, Nick (5 October 2016). "Lanz returns to Surrey Eagles as assistant coach". Peace Arch News. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "West Kelowna Warriors under new ownership". JuniorHockey.com. 15 August 2018.
  3. ↑ McIntyre, Pete (10 August 2018). "New Owner For BCHL Team". 103.1 Beach Radio/Jim Pattison Broadcast Group . Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Munro, Rob (16 October 2019). "League take-over of West Kelowna Warriors just might be good news for the city". infoNEWS.ca. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Warriors Announce New Ownership". West Kelowna Warriors. 12 November 2019.
  6. 1 2 Britton, Mackenzie (12 November 2019). "West Kelowna Warriors find new owner". Kelowna Capital News. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. 1 2 Lowe, Travis (13 November 2019). West Kelowna Warriors get new owners (television). Kelowna, British Columbia: Global Okanagan News.
  8. ↑ "Chris Laurie Named Team President". West Kelowna Warriors. 12 November 2019.


Preceded by Royal Bank Cup Champions
2016 		Succeeded by


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