Misplaced Pages

#209790

14-792: The Bighorns were members of the NorPac from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, the American West Division of the NorPac league broke away to form the American West Hockey League . In March 2014, the NA3HL accepted the AWHL as a new Frontier Division. The original Helena Bighorns were members of the former Tier II America West Hockey League from 2001 to 2003 after replacing the departed Helena Gold Rush that had operated last in

28-883: The United States Premier Hockey League . The Blazers are based in Bellingham, Washington and play home games at the Bellingham Sportsplex . The team also has the local youth hockey association named after them, going by the Jr. Blazers. From 2012 to 2016, the Blazers played in the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac/NPHL). In their first two seasons, the Blazers captured the Cascade Cup, awarded to

42-762: The 1999–2000 season (formerly known as the Helena Ice Pirates from 1994 to 1999). In 2003, the AWHL merged with the larger Tier II North American Hockey League and the Bighorns played in the NAHL until 2006. In 2004, the Tier III Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac) expanded into Helena with the Queen City Cutthroats and were immediately successful, winning the Cascade Cup in their first year. In 2006,

56-532: The 2011–12, 2012–13, and 2013–14 AWHL seasons prior to the league merging with the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) in 2014. For many years, the team and the arena were owned by Oren Koules , president of Evolution Entertainment and former part-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning ( NHL ). However, in 2017, he was looking to sell off the team or cease operations. In May 2017, he sold

70-510: The Bighorns competed in the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Junior A National Tournaments. In 2011, USA Hockey dropped the A and B designations but sometimes had the leagues split into different divisions during the tournament (American/National for 2012 or Div 1/Div 2 for 2015 with 2013 and 2014 having all leagues compete in one tournament). The Bighorns represented the American West Hockey League in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2011,

84-831: The Helena Bighorns won the Tier III Junior A Hockey National Championships by defeating the El Paso Rhinos 5-1 in Rochester, Minnesota. The Helena Bighorns won the bronze medal at the 2014 USA Hockey Tier III National championships. Round robin play in pool with top 4 teams advancing to semi-final. The Bighorns have had a number of alumni move on to NCAA Division I , Division III , ACHA collegiate programs , higher levels of junior ice hockey , and professional ice hockey. Northern Pacific Hockey League The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL)

98-607: The NAHL Bighorns withdrew from the NAHL and the NorPac franchise would take the name of the formerly higher level team beginning with the 2006–07 season. The Helena Bighorns/Queen City Cutthroats won six straight NorPac America West Division Championships between 2005 and 2010. They also won the NorPac Cascade Cup six times, 2005, 2006 and four straight from 2008 to 2011. The Helena Bighorns have won three straight American West Hockey League Championships in

112-693: The NPHL from their website and appeared to focus their efforts on their youth programs instead. On May 20, 2016, it was announced that the four remaining teams would join the United States Premier Hockey League 's USP3 platform as a new Pacific Division. Three of the four teams folded after one season in the USPHL and the Eugene Generals went independent after two seasons. Bellingham Blazers (NORPAC) The Bellingham Blazers are an Amateur Athletic Union -sanctioned Tier II junior ice hockey team in

126-603: The Seattle Ravens would be a 2015–16 expansion franchise. On April 25, 2016, the NPHL announced that at the annual governor's meeting the league had decided to look into merging with a larger junior league for more stability. Also in the press release, it was announced that the Bellingham Blazers had left the league. While it was not clarified in the official NPHL press release, the most recent league champions, Wenatchee Wolves, had also removed references to

140-594: The Tier III Junior Hockey National Championships in 2013 and 2014 by winning their league playoff championship. The Blazers have never past the round-robin stage of the tournament. Round-robin play in pool with top four overall teams advancing to the semifinal. This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports team in Washington state

154-678: The league playoff champions, and earned a spot in the USA National Tier III Championships. In 2013, coach Mark Collins was also awarded Coach of the Year when the Blazers won their first Cascade Cup. Collins was fired from team before the 2019 playoffs. In 2016, the team left the NPHL and USA Hockey -sanctioning with the intentions of joining the Amateur Athletic Union -sanctioned Western States Hockey League . The Bellingham Blazers qualified for

SECTION 10

#1732794411210

168-542: The letter designation in Tier III and had all Tier III compete in the same national tournament. In 2013, NorPac changed its abbreviated moniker to NPHL. The league announced three new members to start the 2014–15 season: Cheney Ice Hawks, Tacoma Knights and Wenatchee Wolves. Organizational problems resulted in the Tacoma Knights being unable to field a team for 2014–15. May 25, 2015, the league announced that

182-568: The team to local businessman Randy Rose. Koules remained the owner of Helena Ice Arena. In 2021, the team was sold to a local ownership group Treasure State Sports Group LTD, composed of Jedidiah Snyder and Michael Greene. In 2005 and 2006, the Queen City Cutthroats participated in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior B National Tournament. In 2007, NorPac and its teams were promoted to Tier III Junior A status and

196-593: Was an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey . Its championship trophy was the Cascade Cup. Established in 2000 as the NorPac Junior Hockey League, the league was sanctioned as Junior B by USA Hockey. Six teams from Alaska, Oregon, Washington and the Yukon Territory competed in the inaugural season of 2000–01. In 2007, the NorPac was promoted to Tier III Junior A by USA Hockey. In 2011, USA Hockey dropped

#209790