West Kelowna Warriors

West Kelowna Warriors
City West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
League British Columbia Hockey League
Conference Interior
Founded 1994 (1994)
Home arena Royal Lepage Place
Colours Maroon and tan
         
Owner(s) Canada Mark Cheyne
General manager Canada Rylan Ferster
Head coach Canada Rylan Ferster

Website
http://www.westkelownawarriors.ca

Franchise history
1994–98 Langley Thunder
1998–2006 Langley Hornets
2006–12 Westside Warriors (logo above)
2012-present West Kelowna Warriors

The West Kelowna Warriors are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and play in the Interior Conference.

History

The West Kelowna Warriors are a relocated franchise, moving to West Kelowna in 2006 from Langley, British Columbia.

Langley was originally granted a British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) franchise in 1973 called the Langley Lords. The team played as the Lords through the 1975-76 season. In those three years they had very decent regular seasons, making it to the playoffs each year, including a loss in the league finals in their first season. In 1976 the Lords changed their name to the Langley Thunder. Their regular season performance diminished each year, and they missed the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's history in the 1978-79 season. Shortly after the completion of the 1978-79 season, the franchise ceased operations. An unrelated BCJHL franchise, the Chilliwack Colts, relocated to become the Langley Eagles from 1981-82 through the 1986-87 seasons, before moving back to Chilliwack, British Columbia.

In 1990 the BCJHL was renamed the BCHL, and in 1994 Langley returned to the BCHL with a new franchise, adopting the name Thunder from the defunct franchise of the 1970s. The new franchise competed as the Thunder for five seasons, reaching the BCHL championship finals in 1996, which they lost to the eventual Junior A national Royal Bank Cup champion Vernon Vipers, 4–1.

Langley Hornets Logo

The Thunder changed their name to the Langley Hornets before the start of the 1998-99 season. Playing in Langley from 1998 through the 2005-06 season, the Hornets were led by several coaches. Coach Rick Lanz is notable for taking the last place 2001-02 team and guiding them to a fourth-place finish in the 2002-03 season, though the team would be eliminated in the first round of the BCHL playoffs. Lanz was not re-signed for the next season, and the team returned to last place in the BCHL.

Before the start of the 2006-07 season the franchise moved from Langley to the unincorporated area on the "westside" of Kelowna, British Columbia, and renamed themselves the Westside Warriors.

The Westside Warriors found immediate success, reaching the BCHL playoffs in the 2006-07 season, followed in 2007-08 with a third place BCHL finish in the regular season and making it to the BCHL semi-finals in the playoffs.

In late 2007 the unincorporated area the Westside Warriors called home became the incorporated Westside District Municipality, and in 2008 changed its name to West Kelowna. The franchise kept the place name Westside, rather than West Kelowna, through the 2011-12 season.

In the summer of 2012, the Westside Warriors announced they would be changing their name to the West Kelowna Warriors, recognizing the proper name of the municipality they play in.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

BCJHL Langley Lords/Thunder

Season GP W L T GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1973-74 64 38 24 2 326 283 78 1st in Coastal Lost in Finals
1974-75 66 34 31 1 330 351 69 1st in Coastal Lost in Quarter-Finals
1975-76 66 32 31 3 349 298 67 5th in League Lost in Quarter-Finals
1976-77 68 30 37 1 351 362 62 3rd in Coastal Lost in Semi-Finals
1977-78 66 19 47 0 250 423 38 5th in Coastal Lost in Quarter-Finals
1978-79 62 22 36 4 284 348 48 5th in Coastal DNQ

1979 - BCJHL Langley Thunder ceases operations. (unrelated franchise moves to Langley from Chilliwack in 1981, returns to Chilliwack in 1987)

1994 - New BCHL franchise created in Langley, adopts name from 1979 Langley Thunder.

2006 - Langley franchise moves west of Kelowna, becomes Westside Warriors.

BCHL Langley Thunder/Hornets, Westside/West Kelowna Warriors

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1994-95 60 38 21 1 - 321 252 77 2nd in Mainland Lost in Quarter-Finals
1995-96 60 38 19 3 - 317 273 79 2nd in Mainland Lost in Finals
1996-97 60 21 35 4 - 228 289 46 7th in Coastal DNQ
1997-98 60 26 31 3 - 219 239 55 6th in Coastal DNQ
1998-99 60 44 12 4 - 330 219 92 1st in Mainland Lost in Semi-Finals
1998-99 60 20 38 - 2 242 294 42 3rd in Mainlad Lost in 1st Round
1999-00 60 41 17 - 2 305 247 84 1st in Mainland Lost in Semi-Finals
2000-01 60 29 25 - 6 222 239 64 4th in Mainland Lost in 1st Round
2001-02 60 19 34 - 7 226 274 45 5th in Mainland DNQ
2002-03 60 34 22 - 1 225 231 72 2nd in Mainland Lost in 1st Round
2003-04 60 19 36 1 4 205 286 43 4th in Mainland DNQ
2004-05 60 12 42 1 5 169 277 30 4th in Mainland DNQ
2005-06 60 32 23 1 4 179 181 69 3rd in Mainland Lost in Quarter-Finals
2006-07 60 23 25 3 9 192 221 58 7th in Mainland Lost in Preliminary
2007-08 60 40 17 0 3 237 161 83 3rd BCHL Lost in Semi-Finals
2008-09 60 37 18 1 4 220 162 79 5th BCHL
2009-10 60 38 18 1 3 244 173 80 4th BCHL Lost Quarter-final
2010-11 60 33 20 2 5 246 183 73 4th, Interior Lost Division Semi-final
2011-12 60 22 29 2 7 190 208 53 11th BCHL DNQ

2012 - Westside area now the municipality of West Kelowna, franchise renamed West Kelowna Warriors.

BCHL West Kelowna Warriors

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
2012-13 56 30 13 4 9 205 151 73 2nd in Interior - 4th BCHL Lost in Division Finals
2013-14 58 35 15 3 5 225 173 78 2nd in Interior - 5th BCHL Lost in Division Semi-Finals
2014-15 58 29 21 0 8 205 210 44 4th of 6 Interior
7th of 16 BCHL 		Lost Div. Semi-Finals, 1-4 (Vees)

See also

External links

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