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 |
| Championships | 1977 & 1978 Memorial Cup Champions |
| 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 |
The New Westminster Bruins were a junior ice hockey team from the Western Hockey League. There were two franchises that carried this name:
Both incarnations of the franchise played at Queen's Park Arena in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster, British Columbia.
The franchise began in 1946 as the Humboldt Indians of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and moved to Estevan to become the Bruins in 1957. They were a founding member of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1966. The Estevan Bruins moved on again to New Westminster in 1971. They had been a successful franchise in Estevan, winning the President's Cup in 1968.
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 to the Toronto Marlboros and Hamilton Fincups, respectively, and winning it in 1977 and 1978. 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. In 1981 the Bruins moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, where they would become first the Kamloops Junior Oilers and, in 1984, the Kamloops Blazers. The franchise's success has continued on the ice in Kamloops, and as of 2006 the team had won a total of eleven WHL titles and five Memorial Cups between its years in Estevan, New Westminster and Kamloops.
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.
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