Billings Bulls

Billings Bulls
City Billings, Montana
League NA3HL
Division Frontier
Founded 1993 (In the AFHL)
Home arena Centennial Ice Arena
Colors Blue, Red, White, and Vegas Gold
                   
Owner(s) Chris Dunbar
Joe Robilard
General manager Cory Thorson
Head coach Cory Thorson[1]
Media Billings Gazette (Greg Rachac)
Website billingsbulls.com
Franchise history
1993–present Billings Bulls
Championships
Regular season titles 5 1993-94, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2002-03, 2003-04
Gold Cup appearances 5 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2002-03
Borne Cups 5 (AFHL/AWHL/NAHL) 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99
Cascade Cups 0 (NorPac)

The Billings Bulls are a Tier III Junior A ice hockey team currently playing in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Bulls are based in Billings, Montana and play home games at the 550-seat Centennial Ice Arena. Due to the arena's small size, the Bulls frequently sell out games and broadcast their games on internet radio. They previously played their home games in the Metrapark which had a max capacity of 9,000 for hockey games. However, a negotiating dispute with arena officials and local county commissioners resulted in the team losing its lease.

History

The Bulls joined the American Frontier Hockey League in 1993 which became the America West Hockey League (AWHL) in 1998.[2] The Bulls joined the Tier II Jr. A North American Hockey League in 2003 when the AWHL merged with the NAHL (keeping the NAHL name). The team played in the NAHL from 2003 to 2006 until the team and their rivals, the Bozeman Icedogs and Helena Bighorns, left to join the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac), a regional league in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. When they joined the NorPac, the league was Tier III Junior B but promoted to Tier III Junior A by USA Hockey in 2007. In 2011, the Montana teams in the NorPac left the league to form the new regional American West Hockey League, made up of teams in Montana and Wyoming, including the Bulls. In March 2014, the new AWHL joined the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) as the Frontier Division.[3]. The Bulls are the second-oldest franchise in the 48-team NA3HL, behind only the St. Louis Jr. Blues.

Previous leagues

Season-by-season records

Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA PIM Regular Season Finish Playoffs
North American 3 Hockey League
2014–15 47 25 16 6 56 161 140 610 4th of 7, Frontier Div.
16th of 31, NA3HL 		Lost Div. Semifinal, 0–2 vs. Great Falls Americans
2015–16 47 9 32 6 24 121 237 686 6th of 7, Frontier Div.
27th of 34, NA3HL 		Did not qualify
2016–17 47 5 41 1 11 104 356 1449 6th of 8, Frontier Div.
46th of 48, NA3HL 		Did not qualify

NHL alumni

The franchise has developed a number of collegiate and professional players, but only two have played in the NHL[4]

Other notable alumni with professional or major college/junior experience

References

  1. ↑ "Billings Bulls name Thorson as new head coach". NA3HL. June 7, 2017.
  2. ↑ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/display_standings.php?tmi=4866
  3. ↑ http://www.na3hl.com/news/story.cfm?id=11149
  4. ↑ http://billingsbulls.pointstreaksites.com/view/billingsbulls/home-page-133/alumni-55
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