The West Sound Warriors were a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

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 hock ...

that played at the Bremerton Ice Center in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. Formerly, the team was a

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 Sport governing body, governing body for organized ice ...

-sanctioned Tier III

team that played in the

Northern Pacific Hockey League The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL) was an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. Its championship trophy was the Cascade Cup. History Established in 2000 as the NorPac Junior Hockey League, the league was ...

(NorPac/NPHL) and the United States Premier Hockey League-USP3 (USPHL-USP3). In the 2017–18 season, the team was an AAU-sanctioned junior team in the

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 199 ...

. The WSHL franchise was sold to a new ownership group in Bremerton after the one season and became the West Sound Admirals. For most of its history this team was called the Puget Sound Tomahawks. Playing in the NPHL. In 2009 they lost in the first round of the playoffs in the fourth game, in overtime on the road, of a 5 game series.

History

2000–2017

The original franchise joined the NorPac in 2000 as the Puget Sound Kings, playing home games at the Puget Sound Hockey Center in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. In 2003, the owners of the Bremerton Ice Center acquired the franchise and moved it to the new arena and renamed to the Tomahawks. The NorPac was classified as Junior B until 2007, when the league and member teams were granted Jr. A status by

, the governing body for ice hockey in the United States. In 2013, the NorPac changed its moniker to NPHL.

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

In 2009 the Tomahwaks defeated the River City Jaguars on the road, in their last series of the season, to earn their way into a playoff spot. It would be their first playoff appearance in years and the last for the franchise. In the first round best of 5 they faced their hometown rival, the Seattle Totems. The first 2 games were in Bremerton; the Tomahawks home barn. Game one was a heart breaking loss that slipped away from the T-Hawks. Game 2 was a decisive win for the home team. Games 3 & 4 saw a tremendous effort from the Tomahawks, only to come up short in a heart breaking overtime loss on the road to end the series. The franchise never recovered. The team changed its name to the West Sound Warriors prior to the 2011–12 season. The NorPac was classified as Junior B until 2007, when the league and member teams were granted Tier III Jr. A status by

, the governing body for ice hockey in the United States. In 2013, the NorPac changed its moniker to NPHL. In 2016, the NPHL was dissolved after two of the six members withdrew from the league. The four remaining teams, including the Warriors, were then added to the USP3 Pacific Division of the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), ...

. After one season in the USPHL, the franchise announced it was suspending operations for the 2017–18 season.

2017–2018

After the Warriors announced their suspension from the USPHL, the Vancouver Rangers of the

came to an agreement with the Bremerton Ice Center to relocate to Bremerton from

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. The Rangers' ownership would continue to own and operate the team but they would take on the identity of the Warriors. After one season, the Warriors announced they would not host a junior team for the 2018–19 season. The WSHL then placed a new team in Bremerton called the West Sound Admirals, managed and owned by the former Vancouver Rangers' head coach and general manager, David Daniello, as a continuation of the former Rangers/Warriors franchise. The Admirals ceased operations two months into their second season and a 0–19 record in November 2019.

Season-by-season records

USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championships

2015 Tier III Division 2 National Championships included the champion teams from the

(NPHL),

Metropolitan Junior Hockey League The Metropolitan Junior Hockey League was an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league with teams throughout the eastern United States. The MJHL was part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League organization. Founded in 1966 by New York Rang ...

(MetJHL), USPHL-Elite Division, and USPHL-Empire Division.
Round robin play in pool with top two teams advancing to final.

Alumni

The Warriors have had a number of alumni move on to collegiate programs and higher levels of

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

in the United States and Canada. Bubba Kaufman (Captain ‘08,’09) Jake Brewer (Assistant Captain ‘08) Rafal Plonski (Assistant Captain ‘08) Ben Surgalski (Assistant Captain ‘08,’09)

References

External links

Warriors Website

Northern Pacific Hockey League website
{{Seattle Sports Ice hockey teams in Washington (state) Ice hockey in Seattle Bremerton, Washington