New Westminster Bruins

New Westminster Bruins
New Westminster Bruins
City	New Westminster, British Columbia
League	Western Hockey League
Operated	1971–81 and 1983–88
Home arena	Queen's Park Arena
Colours	Black, white & gold
Franchise history
1966–67	Calgary Buffaloes
1967–77	Calgary Centennials
1977–82	Billings Bighorns
1982–83	Nanaimo Islanders
1983–88	New Westminster Bruins
1988-Present	Tri-City Americans
Previous franchise history
1966–71	Estevan Bruins
1971–81	New Westminster Bruins
1981–84	Kamloops Junior Oilers
1984-Present	Kamloops Blazers
Championships
Playoff championships	1977 & 1978 Memorial Cup Champions

The New Westminster Bruins were a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. There were two franchises that carried this name:

1971–1981 (formerly the Estevan Bruins, now the Kamloops Blazers)
1983–1988 (formerly the Nanaimo Islanders, now the Tri-City Americans)

Both incarnations of the franchise played at Queen's Park Arena in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster, British Columbia.

History[edit]

First Bruins[edit]

The franchise began in 1946 as the Humboldt Indians of the original version of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (1948–1966), moving to Estevan to become the Bruins in 1957. They were a founding member of the Western Canada-based Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (later renamed the Western Canada Hockey League) in 1966. The Estevan Bruins had been a successful franchise, including a loss in the 1968 Memorial Cup national championship, when team owner and coach Punch McLean moved the team to New Westminster for the 1971–72 WCHL season.

New Westminster Bruins logo used by the second incarnation of the franchise.

Once the team arrived in New Westminster, the success continued throughout much of the decade. The Bruins won the President's Cup four times in a row between 1975 and 1978. They made it to the Memorial Cup finals four years in a row as well, losing in 1975 and 1976 before winning it in 1977 and 1978. The WCHL was renamed the Western Hockey League for the 1978–79 WHL season. That season, after a brawl at the end of a game against Portland in March 1979 at Queens Park Arena, some local hockey fans started to look with disfavour upon the Bruins' rough tactics, and the team's popularity began to wane. The Bruins moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, for the 1980–81 WHL season, where they would become first the Kamloops Junior Oilers and, from the 1984–85 WHL season, the Kamloops Blazers.

Second Bruins[edit]

The second incarnation of the Bruins arrived in New Westminster in 1983 from Nanaimo, British Columbia, where they had previously been known as the Nanaimo Islanders. The team originated in Calgary in 1966–67 with a stop as the Billings Bighorns. The team only played one season in Nanaimo before moving. The new Bruins did not enjoy the same level of success, and lasted only five seasons in New Westminster before moving to Kennewick, Washington, to become the Tri-City Americans. This franchise has never won the WHL championship in any of its incarnations.

Season-by-season records[edit]

First Bruins (1971–81)[edit]

Note: GP = games played, W = wins, L = losses, T = ties Pts = points, GF = goals for, GA = goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1971–72	68	40	27	1	285	240	81	3rd West	Lost quarter-final
1972–73	68	31	22	15	283	264	77	4th West	Lost quarter-final
1973–74	68	36	21	11	284	250	83	2nd West	Lost semi-final
1974–75	70	37	22	11	319	260	85	3rd West	Won championship, 2nd in Memorial Cup
1975–76	72	54	14	4	463	247	112	1st West	Won championship, 2nd in Memorial Cup
1976–77	72	47	14	11	363	216	105	1st West	Won championship and Memorial Cup
1977–78	72	33	28	11	345	310	77	3rd West	Won championship and Memorial Cup
1978–79	72	34	32	6	310	301	74	3rd West	Eliminated in round robin
1979–80	72	10	61	1	244	443	21	4th West	Out of playoffs
1980–81	72	17	54	1	306	512	35	5th West	Out of playoffs

Second Bruins (1983–88)[edit]

Season	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1983–84	72	34	36	2	304	348	70	2nd West	Lost West Division semi-final
1984–85	72	41	29	2	379	302	84	2nd West	Lost West Division final
1985–86	72	25	45	2	276	373	52	5th West	Out of playoffs
1986–87	72	18	50	4	300	432	40	6th West	Out of playoffs
1987–88	72	33	34	5	339	358	71	4th West	Lost West Division semi-final

NHL alumni[edit]

Totals include both incarnations of the Bruins

References[edit]

2005–06 WHL Guide
hockeydb.com