The Bellingham Blazers, a junior ice hockey team, are looking to provide a more affordable option for high-quality hockey in Washington state.
“You don’t have to spend $200 to watch a Kraken game,” Bellingham Blazers head coach and general manager Erick Ruud said. “You can bring a family of four for $30 and watch high-level hockey kids that will play in college.”
The Blazers, whose players are between the ages of 16–20, draw anywhere from 100–500 to the Bellingham Sportsplex for their home games.
The USPHL, the nation’s largest amateur ice hockey league, has 73 teams in Canada and the U.S. The Blazers are a sanctioned Tier II junior ice hockey team in the league, and players pay a fee of $5,000–10,000 to play.
Most Blazers players are using it as a jumping board to advance to the junior hockey level, like the Everett Silvertips, or to play in the NCAA or professionally.
The Blazers play their regular season from September to February. Even though Bellingham has a small fanbase, the Blazers have a rich history in the Northwest.
Blazers history
In 1972, John Utendale helped develop the Bellingham Area Minor Hockey Association and the Blazers, who began competing in the British Columbia Hockey League.
In its first two seasons, the club drew some NHL players, including former New York Rangers left winger Winston Juckes and Vancouver Canucks right winger Stan Smyl, but struggled to capture wins.
The Blazers earned their first winning record (33-32) and conference title in the 1974–75 season. However, the Blazers left Bellingham in 1975 and moved to Maple Falls, British Columbia, to join the rest of the Canadian teams.
After one season in British Columbia, the Blazers returned to Bellingham and lasted from 1976–80 before moving to Vancouver. In 1978, Bellingham rebranded to the Ice Hawks for their final few seasons.
“When they closed the old arena, the Blazers went away,” Ruud said. “There was a gap. The Sportsplex came around 2000, we got more bleachers and got a coach who wanted the team back.”
From 1972–80, the Blazers had a 245- 199-8 record, won two titles and several players advanced to the NHL, including 2008 Hall of Fame inductee Glenn Anderson.
Blazers return in 2012
The original head coach Mark Collins revamped the Blazers organization before the 2012–13 season began. The Blazers’ success picked up where they left off decades ago, competing in the Northern Pacific Hockey League from 2013–16.
Bellingham finished its inaugural season with a 22-16-1 record, won the Cascade Cup and attended the national championships tournament but finished seventh out of eight teams. In the following season, Collins won the coach of the year after leading his squad to a 35-5 record, another Cascade Cup and national title game appearance.
The Blazers jumped into the Western States Hockey League from 2016–22 then joined the USPHL. Since climbing the ranks, the Blazers have struggled to compete and recruit alongside larger organizations.
“I used to watch Blazers games as a little kid and when I was in camp,” Blazers forward Owen Cross said. “We would always be looking for a goalie.”
The Blazers also struggled to find their footprint in the city, battling with the Bellingham Bells, Bellingham United F.C., Western Washington University athletics and other teams nearby.
“Whatcom County is at the tip of the spear for soccer,” announcer Troy Bell said. “The United has all hands on deck and a packed house. We are trying to translate that audience to the Blazers matches.”
New tradition
Ruud, who was an assistant coach beforehand, took over as head coach during the 2023–24 season. He is looking to give the Blazers its first winning record since the 2018–19 season.
The first way Ruud hopes to revamp the Blazers is by building a junior feeder program.
“We now have a connection with the Jr. Blazers,” Ruud said. “I have kids from our team helping out and all the players get into the game for free when they wear their jerseys.”
The Jr. Blazers have U9, U11, U13, U15, U16 and U18 teams so they can rebuild minor hockey in the county and provide players the opportunity to represent their city.
Second, Ruud is trying to recruit players from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., to the roster. The Blazers currently have 10 players from British Columbia and nine players from Washington.
“We are continuing to grow and get better,” Cross said. “We have so many kids running around in Blazers jerseys and so many kids playing hockey.”
Bellingham also has players from Massachusetts, Czechia and Argentina. Ian Germanier is an Argentinian defenseman currently living with a host family in Bellingham.
“I never thought I’d be here,” Germanier said. “Being born in Argentina, it’s kind of strange playing hockey because there is not much energy around the sport. When I am out here, the thing that brings us together is this little black rubber puck around a big fridge.”
Germanier and Cross enjoy playing for the Blazers because of the opportunities they have to develop. The Blazers practice 1:30–2:45 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Sportsplex. They can also practice individually every day from 11:30 a.m. until the start of practice.
The future of the Blazers
The Blazers’ first of two goals include branding themselves within the community. They are trying to promote themselves through social media, creating an online presence and promotions.
They also hope to reach the national tournament again so more scouts can watch the players compete.
“We are all just here for the kids,” Bell said. “I would love to see an NHL player come from the Blazers and have that (Bellingham) ‘B’ on them.”
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
