Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers

The Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers are a Tier III junior ice hockey team, based in Edmond, Oklahoma, in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The Blazers compete 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 are played at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena.

Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers
City	Edmond, Oklahoma
League	North American 3 Hockey League
Division	South
Founded	2014 (organization) 1998 (current franchise)
Home arena	Arctic Edge Ice Arena
Colors	Black, red, yellow, white
Owner(s)	Jake Runey[1]
General manager	Rick Gowin[2]
Head coach	Josh Berge
Website	www.okcityhockey.com
Franchise history
WSHL franchise
2014–2020	Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers
NA3HL franchise
1998–2014	Flint Jr. Generals
2014–2018	La Crosse Freeze
2018–2020	Coulee Region Chill
2020–present	Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers
Championships
Division Championships	1 (2015–16)

History

Oklahoma City Blazers logo from 2014 to 2017.

The Jr. Blazers were announced in February 2014,[3] founded by former CHL Oklahoma City Blazers captain Tyler Fleck. The team began play in the 2014–15 season, playing in the United Hockey Union (UHU) junior Western States Hockey League with most of its home games at the Blazers Ice Centre.

On October 25, 2014, the Blazers set the WSHL's attendance record while playing at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. The team defeated the Dallas Snipers in front of a crowd of 7,109[4] by a score of 8–3.

For the 2015–16 season, the WSHL announced that they would be playing under an UHU Tier II status. The Blazers hosted the 2016 WSHL All-Star Game, the first time that the league had held the event. The format for the 2016 All-Star Game featured the Blazers taking on a team of WSHL All-Stars.

On September 5, 2016, the United Hockey Union announced the formation of a new Tier I junior hockey league called the Central One Hockey League (C1HL).[5][6] The league was announced to begin with the 2017–18 season. However, some of the announced C1HL teams backed out and the launch of the new league was initially postponed to the 2018–19 season.[7]

After the 2016–17 season, Fleck sold the WSHL team to Gary Gill and Cole Hudek, with Gill set to be the head coach for the 2017–18 season. Fleck remained with the team as a consultant, but would focus on the promotion of the Blazers to the new C1HL in 2018,[7] although there was never any mention of the C1HL afterwards.

After four seasons in the Blazers Ice Centre, the Jr. Blazers moved their home games to the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in nearby Edmond, Oklahoma, for the 2018–19 season with a few games at the Blazers Ice Centre.[8]

In 2019, Gary Gill left the coaching position to become the associate head coach with the Columbus River Dragons in the Federal Hockey League and he named Ty Smith as the head coach for the 2019–20 season.[9] On January 1, 2020, Gill relinquished his ownership stake in the franchise altogether and the WSHL took over operations of the team.[2] Subsequently, the league named Rick Gowin as general manager and released head coach Ty Smith to replace him with assistant Daniel Armstrong.[2] On January 27, the league announced Jake Runey as the new owner[1] who released coach Armstrong after the season was cancelled.[10]

Following the 2019–20 WSHL season, the team announced Josh Berge as the new head coach and general manager and that the team was joining North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) for the 2020–21 season.[11] The WSHL then announced it would go dormant for the season one week later.[12]

Season-by-season results

Season	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Standing	Playoffs
2014–15	46	34	12	—	0	68	224	158	2nd of 6, Midwest Div.	Div. Quarterfinals bye Won Div. Semifinals, 2–1 vs. Springfield Express Lost Div. Finals, 1–2 vs. El Paso Rhinos
2015–16	52	42	8	—	2	86	274	147	1st of 6, Midwest Div.	Div. Quarterfinals bye Won Div. Semifinals, 2–1 vs. Springfield Express Won Div. Finals, 2–0 vs. El Paso Rhinos Lost Conf. Finals, 1–2 vs. Colorado Jr. Eagles
2016–17	52	37	14	—	1	75	276	145	2nd of 6, Midwest Div. 7th of 27, WSHL	Div. Quarterfinals bye Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–2 vs. Wichita Jr. Thunder
2017–18	51	42	7	—	2	86	379	106	2nd of 6, Midwest Div. 3rd of 23, WSHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 2–1 vs. Springfield Express Lost Div. Finals, 0–2 vs. El Paso Rhinos Advanced to Thorne Cup as El Paso is host 1–2–0, 5th of 6, Thorne Cup round-robin (L, 2–4 vs. IceCats; W, 4–3 vs. Rhinos; L, 3–5 vs. Mustangs)
2018–19	50	39	10	2	1	116[lower-alpha 1]	256	112	2nd of 5, Midwest Div. 5th of 23, WSHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 2–1 vs. Northern Colorado Eagles Lost Div. Finals, 0–2 vs. El Paso Rhinos 2–1–0–0, 4th of 6, Thorne Cup round-robin (as wildcard) (L, 2–4 vs. Mustangs; W, 6–4 vs. B. Blazers; W, 6–1 vs. Bombers) Lost Thorne Cup semifinal game, 2–7 vs. El Paso Rhinos
2019–20	51	20	26	1	4	66	192	179	5th of 6, Midwest Div. 14th of 20, WSHL	Did not qualify

1. Beginning with the 2018–19 season, the WSHL began awarding 3pts for a win, 2pts for an overtime win, and 1pt for an overtime loss.

Team records

Single season

Goals: Ivan Bondarenko, 61 (2017–18)

Assists: Joshua Chamberlain, 73 (2017–18)

Points: Ivan Bondarenko, 126 (2017–18)

Penalty minutes: Michal Beranek, 205 (2015–16)

Wins: Bobby Cloutier, 31 (2017–18)

Shutouts: Bobby Cloutier, 7 (2017–18)

GAA: Xavier Garneau, 1.86 (2018–19)

Career

Career games: Drake Johnson, 190 (2014–18)

Career goals: Vitali Mikhailov, 114 (2016–19)

Career assists: Ivan Bondarenko, 126 (2016–18)

Career points: Ivan Bondarenko, 235 (2016–18)

Career penalty minutes: Kirill Romanov, 395 (2014–17)

Career wins: Bobby Cloutier, 49 (2017–19)

Career shutouts: Bobby Cloutier, 8 (2017–19)

References

1. "NEW OWNERSHIP ANNOUNCED FOR BLAZERS". Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers. January 27, 2020.
2. "BLAZERS ANNOUNCE COACHING, OWNERSHIP CHANGES FOR 2020". WSHL. January 10, 2020.
3. "The Blazers are back.. - Oklahoma City Blazers Hockey". okcblazershockey.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
4. "OKC Blazers Take WSHL by Storm In 2014 - Junior Hockey News". juniorhockey.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
5. "New Tier 1 Hockey League Coming in 2017 | United Hockey Union". unitedhockeyunion.pointstreaksites.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
6. "The CHL Has Arrived As The AAU – UHU Free To Play Entry | The Junior Hockey News". thejuniorhockeynews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
7. "Blazers Announce Operational Change". Oklahoma City Blazers. May 15, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018.
8. "BLAZERS TO CALL ARCTIC EDGE NEW HOME". OKCityHockey.com. August 8, 2018.
9. "BLAZERS ANNOUNCE OPERATIONAL CHANGES". Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers. August 2, 2019.
10. "BLAZERS RELEASE ARMSTRONG, MAGERS FROM COACHING STAFF". Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers. March 13, 2020.
11. "NA3HL announces new team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma". NA3HL. May 19, 2020.
12. "2020-2021 WSHL SEASON". WSHL. May 26, 2020.