VERNON BLADES
1962 - 1967
VERNON BLADES
The franchise changed its name to the Vernon Blades for the start of the 1962-63 season. They would remain the Vernon Blades through till the end of the 1966-67 season.
The name change came about as a result of the Los
Angeles Blades sponsorship of the team.
The Vernon News reported, October 1, 1962, "The
Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League
will help out the Vernon junior hockey team this
year.
In a telephone conversation Sunday night the
Blades' coach, George Agar, told Bill Brown the
juniors were assured of equipment including
uniforms, pants, gloves.
The local them will now be called the Vernon
Blades and the intermediate squad may adopt the
old "Canadians" title.
"This will be a big help to us this season", said
Brown who will probably be coaching the juniors
again.
He said the Blades were not directly backing the
local hockey team, the tie-up being similar to
that between the Kelowna juniors and the Portland
Buckaroos."
NOTE: George Agar was a local senior hockey hero of Vernon Canadians in the 1950's, hence the connection between L. A. Angeles and the Vernon Blades.
Owner - Bill Brown
Bill Brown would continue his ownership of the franchise and Vern Dye would manage the team while, various coaches would guide the club through to 1966.
Coach Bill Brown
- 1962-63; Regular Season 24GP-7W-17L-0T
Bill Brown resigns as Head Coach somewhere around January 11, 1963 but continues as General Manager, he appoints Hap Schaefer as Head Coach for the remainder of the season.
Coach Hap Schaefer
- 1963; Regular Season 7GP-2W-5L-0T & Playoffs 5GP-1W-4L
Hap Schaefer took over for Bill Brown as Head Coach with the game of January 17 being his first behind the bench.
Co-Coaches Hap Schaefer & Jim Moro
- 1963-64; Regular Season 34GP-7W-27L-0T & Playoffs 7GP-2W-5L
Coach Hap Schaefer
- 964-65; Regular Season 30GP-10W-16L-4T & Playoffs 7GP-3W-4L
Coach Odie Lowe
- 1965-66; Regular Season 30GP-4W-25L-1T & Playoffs 4GP-0W-4L
Side Note: Up untill this point, in franchise history, the club never had a winning season. As there were between three and four teams, in the league, every team made the playoffs during these years.
Owners - Vernon Minor Hockey Association
In 1966 Dave McKay, Vern Dye, Ernie Kowal and a group(Who?) of fifteen other local business men purchase the Vernon Blades from Bill Brown at a cost of $300.00 each. This group of men would hand over ownership of the club to the Vernon Minor Hockey Association but, they would still manage it.
The Executive of the club would be the same group of men that bought the team. Vern Dye would continue to manage the team, however, Hal Gordon was appointed General Manager while the coach would still be Odie Lowe.
Coach Odie Lowe
- 1966-67; Regular Season 40GP-15W-25L-0T & Playoffs 5GP-1W-4L
SEASON BY SEASON OVERVIEW
| VERNON BLADES | |||||||||||||||||
| Season | League | ||||||||||||||||
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
| Rank | GP | W | L | T | PTs | GF | GA | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Result / Series-Score / Opponent | ||||
| 1962-63 | OMJHL | 3rd | 31 | 9 | 22 | 0 | 18 | 114 | 145 | 5 | 1 | 4 | - | - | |||
| Lost Semifinals, 1-4 (Kelowna) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1963-64 | OJHL | 3rd | 34 | 7 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 124 | 219 | 7 | 2 | 5 | - | - | |||
| 3rd Round-robin | |||||||||||||||||
| 1964-65 | OJHL | 4th | 30 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 24 | 99 | 132 | 7 | 3 | 4 | - | - | |||
| Lost Semifinals, 3-4 (Kelowna) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1965-66 | OJHL | 4th | 30 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 9 | 100 | 212 | 4 | 0 | 4 | - | - | |||
| Lost Semifinals, 0-4 (Kamloops) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1966-67 | OJHL | 3rd | 40 | 15 | 25 | 0 | 30 | - | - | 5 | 1 | 4 | - | - | |||
| Lost Semifinals, 1-4 (Penticton) | |||||||||||||||||
| Team Totals | 165 | 45 | 115 | 5 | - | - | - | 28 | 7 | 21 | - | - | - | ||||