Oklahoma City Blazers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Oklahoma City Blazers | |
  |
|
| Founded | Current Team: 1992 Original Team: 1965 |
| Team History | Oklahoma City Blazers (1992 - present) Oklahoma City Blazers (1965 - 1977) |
| Arena | Ford Center Cox Convention Center |
| Team Colors | Burgundy, gold, white |
| Championships | 2 |
| Division Titles | 9 |
| Head Coach | Doug Sauter |
| Mascot | Clyde S. Dale |
The Oklahoma City Blazers are an ice hockey team that plays in the Northwest Division of the Central Hockey League. The Blazers play at the Ford Center, located in downtown Oklahoma City. Its colors are burgundy, gold and white.
The Central Hockey League (CHL) came into being in 1992 as the brainchild of Bill Levins and Ray Miron, a recipient of the Lester Patrick Award for services to hockey from the NHL. When Bill passed, the championship trophy was named after him, then changed to the Ray Miron President's Cup after Miron's retirement. The current incarnation of the Blazers came into being in 1992 with the revival of the CHL, and has been one of the most successful minor league hockey franchises of all time, routinely drawing 8,000 fans or more and even matching a couple National Hockey League clubs for seasonal attendance over the years. On ice, the Blazers have excelled as well, winning an unprecedented nine regular season division championships (including seven straight, 1996-2003), five regular-season points titles and CHL championships in 1996 and 2001. The franchise's two great stars, Joe Burton and Hardy Sauter, are the CHL's first and third all-time career leading scorers, and Burton is the fourth leading goal scorer in minor league hockey history. Center George Dupont was the team MVP in 1995-96. He only played three seasons, but in that time developed a reputation for hard nosed discplined play on the ice. He was also a recongizable figure in the city of Oklahoma City.
The previous incarnation of the Blazers, which played between 1965 and 1977, was a long-time Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs farm team, and NHL stars such as Gerry Cheevers, Reggie Leach, Gregg Sheppard, Wayne Cashman, Ivan Boldirev, Ross Lonsberry, J.P. Parise and Jean Pronovost got their start there. This team was created through the relocation of the Minneapolis Bruins, who themselves began in 1963 as a relocation of the Kingston Frontenacs from the defunct Eastern Professional Hockey League.
Sheppard was the franchise's leading career scorer. Their home arenas during this time were the Fairgrounds Arena and the Myriad Convention Center Arena.
[edit] Championships
| Year | League | Trophy |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-2001 | CHL | Ray Miron President's Cup |
| 1995-1996 | CHL | William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup |
[edit] Previous Logos
 |
[edit] External link
| Central Hockey League | |
| 2006-07 teams: Amarillo Gorillas | Arizona Sundogs | Austin Ice Bats | Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs | Colorado Eagles | Corpus Christi Rayz | Laredo Bucks | Lubbock Cotton Kings | Memphis RiverKings | New Mexico Scorpions | Odessa Jackalopes | Oklahoma City Blazers | Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees | Rocky Mountain Rage | Tulsa Oilers | Wichita Thunder | Youngstown Steelhounds | |
| Suspending operations for 2006-07 season: Fort Worth Brahmas | |
| Trophies and Awards: Ray Miron President's Cup | |
| Related Articles: NHL | AHL | ECHL | UHL | SPHL | World Cup | |
