Estevan Bruins

The Estevan Bruins are a junior ice hockey team playing in the Junior "A" Saskatchewan [Junior Hockey League]. The team is based in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, and plays at Affinity Place. They were founded in 1971, when a previous franchise called the Estevan Bruins, which played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 1957 to 1966 and then the Major Junior Western Hockey League from 1966 to 1971, relocated to New Westminster, British Columbia; that franchise is today known as the Kamloops Blazers.

The original Estevan Bruins (1957–1971)

In 1956, Scotty Munro made a presentation to the leaders of the booming oil town of Estevan. His plan was to move his Humboldt/Melfort Indians, which was a franchise in the original version of the Saskatchewan [Junior Hockey League (1948–1966)], to Estevan. The concept of Major Junior hockey had not yet been created, so this original SJHL was playing at the top level of junior hockey in Saskatchewan; should the citizens of Estevan finance the building of a new arena, Munro would bring top-notch hockey entertainment and much-needed help for minor hockey in the town.
His pitch was successful and one year later his newly renamed "Bruins" arrived in Estevan to begin the 1957–58 season in the newly built Agricultural Auditorium. At the time, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League had six teams. The Estevan Bruins, based near the border with the United States, were the southernmost team, located away from the northernmost team, the Flin Flon Bombers, and would make shorter trips to play the Prince Albert Minto's, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Quakers and Melville Millionaires. The league had grown to eight teams by its final season, 1965–66, then disbanded when five of its eight teams – including the Estevan Bruins – joined the newly formed Canadian Major Junior Hockey League for the inaugural 1966–67 CMJHL season.
The CMJHL was renamed the Western Canada Junior Hockey League, expanding into Manitoba, for the 1967–68 WCHL season. The Bruins scored their greatest success in that 1967–68 season, finishing second in the regular season before winning the President's Cup as WCHL playoff champions. They advanced to face British Columbia's Mowat Cup champion, the Penticton Broncos, whom they defeated to take the Abbott Cup as champion of Western Canada. The Bruins then faced Ontario's Niagara Falls Flyers, winner of Eastern Canada's George Richardson Memorial Trophy, in a best-of-7 series for the 1968 Memorial Cup national championship. The Bruins were defeated, in five games, as the Flyers won their second Memorial Cup.
Starting in 1969, the team played a portion of its schedule in the Bismarck North Dakota Civic Center. The new SJHL franchise continued this in 1971 until the end of the 1972-73 season.
The Bruins played in Estevan through to the completion of the 1970-71 WCHL season, then relocated to New Westminster, British Columbia, where they became the New Westminster Bruins. This continued until the end of the 1972-73 season.

Season-by-season results

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1966–67	56	33	18	5	—	273	197	71	2nd WCHL	Lost semi-final
1967–68	60	45	13	2	—	262	169	90	2nd WCHL	Won Championship
1968–69	60	40	28	0	—	294	195	80	2nd WCHL East	Lost semi-final
1969–70	60	28	31	1	—	237	255	57	2nd WCHL East	Lost quarter-final
1970–71	66	41	20	5	—	283	201	87	1st WCHL East	Lost quarter-final

The modern Estevan Bruins

With the departure of the major junior Bruins, a new Bruins team was founded in Estevan that same year, which has played in the SJHL ever since. The Estevan Bruins won the SJHL championship in 1985, 1999 and 2022.
Radio station CKSE-FM broadcasts Bruins games. DiscoverEstevan.com covers the team on a daily basis. The team is also covered in print on a weekly basis by the Estevan Mercury and Estevan Lifestyles.

Season-by-season results

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

Playoffs

1972 Lost quarter-final
1973 Lost final
1974 Lost final
1975 Lost quarter-final
1976 Lost quarter-final
1977 DNQ
1978 Lost quarter-final
1979 DNQ
1980 Lost semi-final
1981 Lost semi-final
1982 DNQ
1983 Lost quarter-final
1984 Lost quarter-final
1985 Won League, won Anavet Cup, lost Abbott Cup
1986 Lost final
1987 Lost quarter-final
1988 Lost quarter-final
1989 Lost quarter-final
1990 Lost quarter-final
1991 DNQ
1992 Lost final
1993 Lost semi-final
1994 Lost preliminary
1995 Lost quarter-final
1996 Lost semi-final
1997 Lost quarter-final
1998 Lost quarter-final
1999 Won League, won Anavet Cup, Eliminated from 1999 Royal Bank Cup round robin
2000 Lost quarter-final
2001 DNQ
2002 Lost quarter-final
2003 DNQ
2004 DNQ
2005 Lost semi-final
2006 DNQ
2007 Lost quarter-final
2008 Lost preliminary
2009 Lost preliminary
2010 DNQ
2011 Lost quarter-final
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022
2023
2024
2025 ''DNQ''

Western Canada Cup

Western Canada Championships ** BCHL — AJHL — SJHL — MJHL — Host **
Round-robin play with 1st vs 2nd – winner advance to National Championship and loser to runner-up game
3rd vs 4th in a second semifinal with winner to runner-up game.
Runner-up game determines second representative to National Championship.
Competition began 2013 season.

Centennial Cup - ''Revised format 2022''

Canadian Jr. A National Championships
Maritime Junior Hockey League, Quebec Junior Hockey League, Central Canada Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League, and Host. The BCHL declared itself an independent league and there is no BC representative.
Round-robin play in two 5-team pools with top three in pool advancing to determine a Champion.

Year	Round-robin	Record	Standing	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Championship
2022	L, Longueuil Collège Français, 3-5 L, Pickering Panthers, 5–10 W, Red Lake Miners, 6-2 L, Brooks Bandits, 0-4	1-3-0	4th of 5 Pool A	did not qualified	did not qualified	did not qualified