The Oklahoma City Ice Hawks, formerly the Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers, were a Tier III junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team, based in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest ci ...

, in the

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

metropolitan area. The Ice Hawks competed in the

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

-sanctioned

North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Yo ...

(NA3HL) after playing as a member of the

United Hockey Union The United Hockey Union (UHU), founded in 2012, is a group of ice hockey leagues in North America. The UHU is overseen and insured by the Amateur Athletic Union. Neither body is recognized by USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, or the International Ice Hoc ...

-sanctioned

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 19 ...

(WSHL) from 2014 to 2020. Their home games were played at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena.

History

The Jr. Blazers were announced in February 2014, founded by former

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL) Oklahoma City Blazers captain Tyler Fleck. The team began play in the 2014–15 season, playing in the United Hockey Union (UHU) junior

with most of its home games at the Blazers Ice Centre. On October 25, 2014, the Blazers set the WSHL's attendance record while playing at the

Cox Convention Center Prairie Surf Studios (originally Myriad Convention Center and later Cox Convention Center) is a film production complex located in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was formerly a convention center and the home of several minor league teams. ...

in downtown Oklahoma City. The team defeated the Dallas Snipers in front of a crowd of 7,109 by a score of 8–3. For the 2015–16 season, the WSHL announced that they would be playing under an UHU Tier II status. The Blazers hosted the 2016 WSHL All-Star Game, the first time that the league had held the event. The format for the 2016 All-Star Game featured the Blazers taking on a team of WSHL All-Stars. On September 5, 2016, the

announced the formation of a new Tier I junior hockey league called the Central One Hockey League (C1HL). The league was announced to begin with the 2017–18 season. However, some of the announced C1HL teams backed out and the launch of the new league was initially postponed to the 2018–19 season. After the 2016–17 season, Fleck sold the WSHL team to Gary Gill and Cole Hudek, with Gill set to be the head coach for the 2017–18 season. Fleck remained with the team as a consultant, but would focus on the promotion of the Blazers to the new C1HL in 2018, although there was never any mention of the C1HL afterwards. After four seasons in the Blazers Ice Centre, the Jr. Blazers moved their home games to the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in nearby

, for the 2018–19 season with a few games at the Blazers Ice Centre. In 2019, Gary Gill left the coaching position to become the associate head coach with the

Columbus River Dragons The Columbus River Dragons are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is a member of the Federal Prospects Hockey League and plays at the Columbus Civic Center. History In 2017, the Columbus Cottonmouths, a longtime ...

in the

Federal Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Do ...

and he named Ty Smith as the head coach for the 2019–20 season. On January 1, 2020, Gill relinquished his ownership stake in the franchise altogether and the WSHL took over operations of the team. Subsequently, the league named Rick Gowin as general manager and released head coach Ty Smith to replace him with assistant Daniel Armstrong. On January 27, the league announced Jake Runey as the new owner who released coach Armstrong after the season was cancelled. Following the 2019–20 WSHL season, the team announced Josh Berge as the new head coach and general manager and that the team was joining

(NA3HL) for the 2020–21 season. The WSHL then announced it would go dormant for the season one week later. During their first season in the NA3HL, the team removed most of the Jr. Blazers branding from the logos and uniforms, often simply using "Oklahoma City Hockey Club" in its communications. Before the 2021–22 season, the team was rebranded the Oklahoma City Ice Hawks as the new ownership were unable to acquire the "Blazers" name and other related trademarks from the owners of the former Oklahoma City Blazers that still owned the trademarks and hope to sell them a future professional team. After the completion of the 2021-22 season, it was announced that the North American Hockey League's Wichita Falls Warriors would be relocating to Oklahoma City and the Blazers Ice Centre, beginning play as the Oklahoma Warriors in the 2022-23 season. Following the announcement of the

New Mexico Ice Wolves The New Mexico Ice Wolves are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The Wolves play their home games in the Outpost Ice Arenas in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History On February 28, 2019, the NAHL ...

NAHL team securing an NA3HL franchise, the Ice Wolves later confirmed the purchase of the franchise from the Ice Hawks.

Season-by-season results

Team records

Single season

:Goals: Ivan Bondarenko, 61 (2017–18) :Assists: Joshua Chamberlain, 73 (2017–18) :Points: Ivan Bondarenko, 126 (2017–18) :Penalty minutes: Michal Beranek, 205 (2015–16) :Wins: Bobby Cloutier, 31 (2017–18) :Shutouts: Bobby Cloutier, 7 (2017–18) :GAA: Xavier Garneau, 1.86 (2018–19)

Career

:Career games: Drake Johnson, 190 (2014–18) :Career goals: Vitali Mikhailov, 114 (2016–19) :Career assists: Ivan Bondarenko, 126 (2016–18) :Career points: Ivan Bondarenko, 235 (2016–18) :Career penalty minutes: Kirill Romanov, 395 (2014–17) :Career wins: Bobby Cloutier, 49 (2017–19) :Career shutouts: Bobby Cloutier, 8 (2017–19)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oklahoma City Blazers (2014-) Ice hockey teams in Oklahoma 2014 establishments in Oklahoma Ice hockey clubs established in 2014 Edmond, Oklahoma Sports in Oklahoma City