Grand Forks Border Bruins Explained

Team:	Grand Forks Border Bruins
Colour:	background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#000000 5px solid; border-bottom:#FEC322 5px solid;
Colour Text:	000000
City:	Grand Forks, British Columbia
League:	Kootenay International Junior Hockey League
Conference:	Kootenay
Division:	Neil Murdoch
Founded:	–70
Arena:	Jack Goddard Memorial Arena
Colours:	Black, gold and white
Coach:	Dave Hnatiuk
Gm:	Dave Hnatiuk
Owner:	Dr. Mark Szynkaruk
Website:	www.borderbruins.ca/
Name1:	Grand Forks Border Bruins
Dates1:	1969-present
Captain:	Vacant

The Grand Forks Border Bruins are a Junior 'A' ice hockey team based in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Neil Murdoch Division of the Kootenay Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). They play their home games at the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena.

History

Of the five original teams that joined the KIJHL in 1969, the Grand Forks Border Bruins are the only team that has stayed in the KIJHL since the beginning of the league, 49 years ago. They paid their membership dues, for both LOA, therefore still had a vote and were in good standing.

The 2015-16 KIJHL season marked the first time Grand Forks made the playoffs in 18 seasons, defeating the Castlegar Rebels 4-2 in the Division Semifinals.

As of June 1st, 2021 the Grand Forks Border Bruins transferred ownership entering into private enterprise. They are currently owned and operated by Dr. Mark Szynkaruk a local physician in the community of Grand Forks B.C. ^[1]

Season-by-season record

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

Records as of February 17, 2024.^{[2] [3]}

	Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
1969–70	32	1	31	0	―	2	67	352	5th, KHL
1970–71	30	9	21	0	―	18			4th, WKHL
1971–72	32	9	23	0	―	18	143	247	5th, WKHL
1972–73	Did not participate
1973–74	30	14	16	0	―	28	163	206	1st, West	Lost in Finals (Colts)
1974–75	34	14	20	0	―	28	187	201	3rd, West
1975–76	34	11	23	0	―	22	152	190	4th, West
1976–77	44	13	31	0	―	26	178	277	5th, West
1977–78	42	12	29	1	―	25	172	243	5th, West
1978–79	40	15	25	0	―	30	203	226	3rd, West
1979–80	40	31	9	0	―	62	332	182	1st, West
1980-81	40	9	30	1	―	19	216	340	5th, West
1981–82	42	7	34	1	―	15	193	368	6th, West
1982–83	42	9	32	1	―	19	210	353	6th, West
1983-84	40	16	24	0	―	32	227	273	5th, West
1984-85	40	4	36	0	―	8	199	401	7th, West
1985-86	42	20	22	0	―	40	247	256	3rd, West
1986-87	Did not participate
1987-88	42	3	38	1	―	7	148	436	5th, West
1988-89	45	6	39	0	―	12	179	389	6th, West
1989-90	40	22	18	0	―	44	227	195	3rd, West
1990-91	30	22	7	1	―	45	198	169	4th, West
1991-92	38	20	16	2	―	42	208	188	3rd, West
1992-93	42	37	5	0	―	74	336	115	1st, West
1993-94	40	13	25	2	―	28	192	296	5th, West
1994-95	44	18	26	―	0	36	191	231	3rd, West
1995-96	42	23	19	0	―	46	206	170	3rd, West
1996–97	41	22	18	0	―	45	188	174	3rd, Neil Murdoch
1997–98	50	12	37	1	―	25	182	282	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
1998-99	50	11	36	3	―	25	166	241	6th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
1999-00	46	18	25	3	―	39	232	241	6th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2000-01	58	9	44	3	2	23	171	347	7th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2001-02	50	10	35	2	3	25	148	269	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2002–03	50	15	29	3	2	35	148	219	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2003–04	50	8	32	6	4	26	128	223	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2004–05	50	6	42	0	2	14	128	324	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2005-06	50	4	40	2	4	14	135	302	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2006-07	52	13	32	―	7	33	156	257	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2007-08	52	18	29	―	5	41	164	239	4th, Neil Murdoch: West	Did not qualify
2008-09	52	11	39	―	2	24	132	278	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2009-10	50	6	42	1	1	14	119	284	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
	50	8	41	0	1	17	145	267	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2011-12	52	1	49	0	2	4	106	455	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2012-13	52	8	40	1	3	20	130	273	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2013-14	52	16	32	2	2	36	186	250	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2014-15	52	8	40	1	3	20	129	293	5th, Neil Murdoch	Did not qualify
2015-16	52	23	24	0	5	51	145	184	3rd, Neil Murdoch	Lost in Division Finals, 1-4 (Nitehawks)
2016-17	47	20	21	3	3	46	173	194	4th of 5 Neil Murdoch 12 of 20 - KIJHL	Lost Div Semifinal, 1-4 (Nitehawks)
2017-18	47	15	27	2	2	35	131	177	4th of 5 Neil Murdoch 15 of 20 - KIJHL	Lost Div Semifinal, 1-4 (Leafs)
2018-19	49	21	25	1	2	45	184	209	3rd of 5 Neil Murdoch 11 of 20 - KIJHL	Lost Div Semifinal, 0-4 (Nitehawks)
2019–20	49	13	31	1	4	31	143	233	5th of 5, Neil Murdoch 19 of 20 KIJHL	Did not qualify
2020–21	3	0	3	0	0	0	5	19	Remaining season cancelled due to COVID-19
2021–22	42	5	34	1	2	13	79	178	5th of 5, Neil Murdoch 19 of 19 KIJHL	Did not qualify
2022-23	44	25	16	-	3	53	146	133	1st, Neil Murdoch	Lost Div Semifinal, 1-4 (Thunder Cats)
2023–24	44	28	11	3	2	61	79	178	2nd of 5, Neil Murdoch 7 of 20 KIJHL	Won Div Semifinal, 4-1 (Leafs) Lost Div Finals, 2-4(Nitehawks)

Playoffs

7^{[4] [5] [6]}

Season	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Finals
1997–98	Did not qualify
1998–99	Did not qualify
1999–00	Did not qualify
2000–01	Did not qualify
2001–02	Did not qualify
2002–03	Did not qualify
2003–04	Did not qualify
2004–05	Did not qualify
2005–06	Did not qualify
2006–07	Did not qualify
2007–08	Did not qualify
2008–09	Did not qualify
2009–10	Did not qualify
2010-11	Did not qualify
2011-12	Did not qualify
2012-13	Did not qualify
2013-14	Did not qualify
2014-15	Did not qualify
2015-16	W, 4-2, Castlegar	L, 1-4, Beaver Valley	—	—
2016-17	L, 0-4, Beaver Valley	—	—	—
2017-18	L, 3-4 Nelson	—	—	—
2018-19	L, 0-4 Beaver Valley	—	—	—
2019-20	Did not qualify
2020-21	Playoffs cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic
2021-22	Did not qualify
2022-23	L, 1-4, Creston Valley	—	—	—
2023-24	W, 4-1, Nelson	L, 2-4, Beaver Valley	—	—

NHL alumni

• Ron Areshenkoff
• Rudy Poeschek
• Alan Kerr
• Craig Redmond
• Glenn Merkosky
• Kevin Sawyer
• Steve Passmore
• Mitch Fritz
• Neil Eisenhut

Awards and trophies

Most Sportsmanlike

• Craig Materi: 2004-2005
• Neil Eisenhut - 1984-85

Most Popular

• Kelly English - 1994-95

Most Valuable Player

• Peter Smith - 2008-Present

External links

• Official website of the Grand Forks Border Bruins

Notes and References

1. Web site: Junior hockey: Family doctor takes over ownership of Grand Forks Border Bruins - Okanagan | Globalnews.ca.
2. KIJHL.ca, Final 2013-14 regular season standings.
3. Web site: KIJHL.ca – Year end standings. . 2012-04-02 . 2012-09-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120918131222/http://www.kijhl.ca/leagues/custom_page.cfm?clientID=2223&leagueID=5221&pageid=6982 . dead .
4. KIJHL.ca, Current playoff bracket.
5. Web site: KIJHL.ca – 2013-14 playoff standings. . 2014-03-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140226112202/http://www.kijhl.ca/leagues/standingsTotals.cfm?leagueID=5221&clientID=2223&showGameType=3&selecteddivid=0 . 2014-02-26 . dead .
6. KIJHL.ca, League champions.