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Beaner
04-26-2005, 10:41 AM
From the Vancouver Sun.



Bruins rise from the ashes in Chilliwack
Nickname of Tier II team that once skated in the Fraser Valley is the right fit for new franchise, mayor says

Stephen Snelgrove
Vancouver Sun


Tuesday, April 26, 2005




CHILLIWACK -- Darryl Porter didn't have to look very far to find the first season-ticket holder for the expansion Chilliwack Bruins.

Mayor Clint Hames had his chequebook out about five minutes after the Western Hockey League awarded an expansion team to the Fraser Valley for the 2006-07 season. When the WHL opens play at the Prospera Centre next year he'll have the same seats -- right at centre ice -- as he's had for the British Columbia Hockey League's Chiefs.

And considering the role that Hames played in the construction of the 3,700-seat, state-of-the-art facility, it seems only right that the mayor would also play a small part in the naming of the franchise.

It was Hames who suggested that the team -- which is owned by Porter, Brian Burke, Glen Sather, Moray Keith and Jim Bond -- turn back the clock to the early 1970s for its nickname.

"I'll take credit for the idea, but it wasn't really me, it was people coming up to me and saying, 'If we are going to have a WHL team they should be the Bruins,'" Hames said on Monday at a press conference to introduce the Bruins to the community.

"I had all these old-time hockey guys nagging me at the Chiefs' games telling me we had to go back to the Bruins, that they loved those black uniforms. They just loved everything about it."

Hames himself has great memories of the old Chilliwack Bruins, who played in the BCHL from 1970 through 1976.

"It was our first taste of junior hockey at that level and the city just really embraced it. There was something magical about those teams. I went to all of the games, I was the guy hanging on the rails screaming and yelling," said Hames. "We went to every game. We would travel to watch the team play in other cities as well. My wife [Laura] and I got married in 1975 and we followed the team as much as we could."

When the Bruins folded in the spring of 1976 it left a void in the community, a gap that wasn't filled until the Chiefs arrived in town two years later.

"It was a real sad time, people really missed them. So to be able to bring that name back is really amazing," said Hames.

The first home of the Chilliwack Bruins is far removed from their new home, the eight-month-old Prospera Centre.

"They played in the old Coliseum, which is just across the way from here," said Hames. "It had a very, very small ice surface, and the team was named the Bruins because of the ice surface. It matched the size of the old Boston Gardens, which was also really tiny, and they thought they should call the team the Bruins."

The Prospera Centre, site of Monday's press conference, will be expanded to about 5,000 seats in time for the Bruins' WHL debut. All of the team's owners, with the exception of Sather, attended Monday's announcement. To a man, they credited Hames for his contribution to the building and what it has meant to the city of Chilliwack.

"None of this happens without him," said Burke. "We are standing in a world-class facility, which is due to welcome a Western Hockey League team in about 15 months. In my opinion, 95 per cent of the credit goes to Clint Hames. He's an excellent mayor for Chilliwack and he had a vision for where he wanted the city to be."

When Hames suggested the name for the new team it didn't take Burke long to agree.

"He's the guy that had the vision to get the building up and was willing to do the renovations to get the Western Hockey League into Chilliwack. He suggested a name that carries a lot of weight in the community and that was good enough for me," said Burke. "It has great tradition and ties to hockey in Chilliwack, and it's just a great hockey name."

Hames has little doubt the WHL and the Bruins will succeed in this city of 73,000.

"I think this is as good as it gets in hockey for a community of our size," said Hames.

"The WHL is really the pinnacle, and I'm just delighted that we've been able to provide a building that is pretty impressive and that people like. This is a hockey city, our minor hockey program is booming and just gets bigger every year. I think the community is going to respond in a big way. I see this as being a huge deal."

CHILLIWACK BRUINS SEASON TICKETS:

Adults $419

Seniors (60 and over) $325

Students (13 and over) $325

Children (12 and under) $225

- Chilliwack Chiefs season-ticket holders get first right-of-refusal on season tickets for the WHL Bruins.

- Season tickets available through the Chilliwack Chiefs ticket office at 604-795-7300.



I belive that is a very good choice for a team name in the WHL. Prices look pretty good too.

Stay-Puft
04-27-2005, 03:33 PM
Talk about full circle with the name "Bruins". Their prices are about the same here last year in TC ($429/adult, $199/child-student-senior) if I remember correctly. Just out of curiosity, anyone know what the Chilliwak Chiefs season ticket prices were?

The_Vulk
04-27-2005, 04:50 PM
CHILLIWACK ANNOUNCES NAME (http://www.whl.ca/headlines/?id=2990)
Created: Apr 27, 2005

The WHL’s newest expansion franchise will be known as the Chilliwack Bruins.

The announcement was made during a press conference at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack. The name Bruins is synonymous with Junior Hockey in the Fraser Valley as the Chilliwack Bruins were part of the BC Junior Hockey League from 1970-1976 and during that same time period the Junior A Bruins were the farm club of the New Westminster Bruins of the WHL. Chilliwack Mayor Clint Hames relishes the history of the name, “To bring back this name I believe recognizes an incredible hockey tradition in our community.”

The Official Logo of the Bruins is still being designed and will be unveiled in a special ceremony in the future. The Chilliwack Bruins begin operations as part of the 06-07 Western Hockey League season and are already accepting deposits on season tickets.

Personally, I would have liked an original name.

A new team. A new era of WHL hockey.