Talk:Kansas City Blades

Blades tribute site

There's lots of information here, though I'm sure it doesn't count as a "source" by wikipedia standards. ENDelt260 23:57, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Kc blades logo.gif

Fair use rationale completed. Flibirigit (talk) 15:07, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

From the Blades yearbook of 1996

I've moved the following contents from the mainspace article to the talk page. It appears to be copied directly from "the Blades yearbook of 1996." This section needs to be codensed and wikified, then readded. Flibirigit (talk) 19:36, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Road to the Finals in '95 (From the Blades yearbook of 1996)

1995 Eastern Conference Playoff Champions Public Relations Director of the Year: Bob Kaser Record: 35-40-6, 76 points Home: 19-19-3, 41 points Road: 16-21-3, 35 points Lost in Finals against Denver Grizzlies

Team members Andrei Buschan, Viacheslav Butsayev, Ilya Byakin, Jan Caloun, Alexander Cherbayev, Shean Donovan, Larry Dyck, Gary Emmons, Kevin Evans, Pat Ferschweiler, Dean Grillo, Ken Hammond, Ken Hodge, Jim Hrivnak, Duane Joyce, Viktor Kozlov, Vlastimil Kroupa, Fredrick Nilsson, Ron Pascucci, Jean-Francois Quintin, Claudio Scremin, Dody Wood, Kevin Wortman, Russ and Diane Parker (owners), Doug Soetaert (GM and vice president), Jim Wiley (head coach), Mark Kaufman (assistant coach), Les Lundberg (trainer), Mike Aldrich (equipment manager)

The Blades limped into the playoffs, barely qualifying. They had finished the season five games below .500. This season the league allowed 16 teams into the playoffs. By virtue of having more points the the Indianapolis Ice, the Blades slipped into the Eastern Conference for their playoff run.

During the playoffs, the Blades would do the unthinkable, racking up three of the top ten playoff upsets in the league's fifty year history. The first test was the Detroit Vipers.

The Blades and the Vipers were separated by 26 points in the regular season standings. Game 1 was a 3-1 loss at the Palace of Auburn Hills. But, soon things would take a turn for the better. The Blades got back two of their big defensive guns back, goaltender Larry Dyck and defenseman Claudio Scremin. The Blades won game 2 with an overtime goal by Gary Emmons. Back in KC, the team lost a close one 2-1. They came back big time in game 4, outshooting the Vipers 41-19, and winning 5-1. Then, game 5 was the Dody Wood show. Wood had a hat trick in the game, scoring the game winner with 6:33 left in the game. This series tied for the 6th biggest playoff upset. The team moved on to face their next test.

The next test was the Peoria Rivermen. The Blades and Rivermen were separated by 37 points in the regular season. The Blades won the series in five games, with three overtime games, and an incredible come back from a 5-0 deficit. This became the biggest upset in the fifty year history of the International Hockey League.

Next up was the Kalamazoo Wings. The Blades and Wings were separated by 24 points in the regular season standings. The Blades won the first three games on their way to sweeping the Wings, but the Wings would not go away so easily, winning the next three. This set up the dramatic game 7 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Blades proved to be too much for the Wings, winning 7-3, tying for the 9th biggest playoff upset in league history.

The Kansas City Blades were moving on to the Turner Cup Finals, giving the team their second shot in 5 years at the title. The Blades were to face their Western Conference rivals, the Denver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies had dominated the Blades during the season series, and would do so in the Turner Cup Finals. The Grizzlies, with former Blades Jeff Madill and Kip Miller, swept KC in four games.

But Blades fans still had much to cheer about, their team had made history, provided excitement, and gave them 51 extra days of hockey.

HISTORY

I've moved the following contents from the mainspace article to the talk page. This section needs seriously copyediting and wikifying. It reads like a fansite. Flibirigit (talk) 19:36, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Prior to the Blades arrival in Kansas City they were the former franchise of Toledo, Ohio (Toledo Goaldiggers, 1974-1986). In a city poll Jazz was the most popular entry for a new team nickname, but the owners (Russell and Diane Parker) chose another entry, the Blades. "First of all, we wanted a name with strong hockey connotations. This clearly identifies us as a hockey club." Olathe resident Kyle Horn was the winner of the "Name the Team" contest, with his entry of Kansas City Blades. The same year the Blades began play in the International Hockey League, two other franchises started play in the league. Those were the San Diego Gulls and the Albany Choppers. The Choppers didn't finish their first season. The Gulls now play in the West Coast Hockey League.

One main-stay in the eleven-year existence of the Kansas City Blades franchise was Vice-President and General Manager Doug Soetaert. Soetaert served as head coach and director of hockey operations in the team's first season in Kansas City. The next season he was named General Manager. He was GM for ten years and held the position of Vice-President for five years. In 1991-92, the league chose Soetaert as Executive of the Year. In 1999, he was runner-up for the General Manager of the Year. In his eleven years at the Blades helm, the team qualified for the playoffs in seven seasons, with a 38-32 record in the post season, winning 8 of 14 playoff series. The Blades all-time regular season record is 437-378-85. In 1991, the Blades started a five-year affiliation relationship with the NHL's San Jose Sharks. In this relationship the Blades served as the farm club of the Sharks. Many top prospects of the Sharks played for the Blades. Names such as Arturs Irbe, Wade Flaherty, Sandis Ozolinsh, Viktor Kozlov, Jeff Odgers, Michal Sykora, Shean Donovan, and Andrei Nazarov were just a few of the future NHLers that the Sharks sent the Blades way. The affiliation with San Jose proved to be fruitful, as it allowed the Blades to be a power-house in the IHL. Under the leadership of new Head Coach Kevin Constantine the Blades blew through the regular season with a franchise best 56-22-4 record, garnering 116 points. This was the best record in professional hockey and an incredible turn around from year one. The Blades went through the playoffs with a 12-3 record and won the league's Turner Cup by sweeping the Muskegon Lumberjacks. That season also marked the largest regular season turn around. The Blades showed a 62 point improvement over the 1990-91 season.

In the 1992-93 season, the Blades had the league's winningest goaltender for the season. Wade Flaherty won 34 games. The Blades weren't able to repeat as Turner Cup Champions, but they did go far through the playoffs.

The Blades were given another shot at the coveted cup, although no one thought the 1994-95 edition of the Kansas City Blades could do it. Under the leadership of Head Coach Jim Wiley (formerly Constantine's assistant coach) the Blades limped to a 35-40-6 record, garnering 76 points. The team managed to make the playoffs despite having missed them the year before with a 40-31-10, 90 point effort. The league had expanded the number of teams in the playoffs. The Blades were fortunate enough to benefit from a rule that would allow them to play in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs, because they finished with a higher point total than the last place Eastern team. Fans weren't expecting a championship, but they knew these guys could pull off something as they finished the regular season on a good note.

In the 1995 Turner Cup playoffs the Blades pulled off 3 of the top ten upsets in International Hockey League history to become Eastern Conference Champions. The biggest upset in league history belonged to the Blades after beating the Peoria Riverman in 5 games in the 1995 Turner Cup playoffs. The Blades went on to the finals to lose to the Denver Grizzlies (now in Utah) 4 games to none at Kemper Arena.

In March of 1996, the Blades were purchased by Dan and Pam DeVos of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. DeVos is co-owner of the Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL) with David Van Andel.

In 1996, the Sharks cut ties with the Blades. They moved their affiliation to a new American Hockey League team in Lexington, Kentucky; The Kentucky Thoroughblades. The Blades set up shop as an independent team from 1996-2000. In that time the team received many prospects from other NHL teams on-loan. Some of those include former Ottawa Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime and former Washington Capitals forward Michal Pivonka. In July 1997, Kansas City saw long-time Blades captain Gary Emmons retire. Soon after Emmons announced his retirement, the Blades named him Director of Player Personnel. On August 21, 1998, Emmons was named Assistant Coach, a position he held for two seasons. He is the only Blades player to have his number retired. On February 21, 1998, the Kansas City Blades raised his number 15 to the rafters of Kemper Arena in a touching ceremony that featured video footage of his career and special messages from old pals, including former Blades and Sharks head coach Kevin Constantine (then Pittsburgh Penguins head coach).

The 1998 season would be heralded as the season that would "change the face of Kansas City hockey". It did, on July 9th, the Kansas City Blades introduced a new logo that reminded many of the NHL's New York Rangers logo. That season also saw the return of Kansas City favorite Dody Wood. A return that many said would "change the face of opponents," as Wood was known as tough-guy enforcer for the Blades.

During the 1999-2000 season, the Tenth Anniversary of the team was celebrated by naming a Tenth-Anniversary Team. Forwards Pat Ferschweiler, Dody Wood, and Gary Emmons, Defensemen Mike Colman and Claudio Scremin, Goaltender Wade Flaherty, and Coach Kevin Constantine were named to this team, as voted on by the fans.

The celebrating was marred, though. Mr. DeVos threatened to move the team to Oklahoma City. After a show of solidarity by Kansas City fans at a city council meeting and Oklahoma City's distaste for the IHL and the Blades (OKC wanted to keep their Central Hockey League franchise), DeVos signed a two-year lease agreement for Kemper Arena and the team stayed.

For the 2000-2001 season, the Blades signed a two-year affiliation agreement deal with the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. Many of the Blades players saw some time with the NHL parent club. Players such as Steve Kariya, Bryan Allen, Brent Sopel, Josh Holden, Jarkko Ruutu, Artem Chubarov and Harold Druken played for both the Blades and the Canucks in the 2000-2001 season.

On June 4, 2001, after several weeks of speculation, the International Hockey League folded. The last chance for the Kansas City Blades was the San Jose Sharks of the NHL relocating their newly purchased AHL franchise in Kansas City. This time, the Blades couldn't be saved. The team official folded on June 4th after 11 years in Kansas City. The Blades hold the record as the longest running franchise in Kansas City's hockey history.

@Yosemiter: would you have time to work on the above, and this link here? I haven't gotten around to it in the last 9.5 years. Flibirigit (talk) 01:43, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

@Flibirigit: I might be able to trim out the fancruft, editorial style in the next week or so. The AT&T link you provided doesn't appear to be working though. Yosemiter (talk) 20:15, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

Yeah.. I'm not surprised, since it's ten years old. I didn't bother looking lately. I figured you might enjoy reading the blurb above as a minor league fan. Flibirigit (talk) 21:45, 12 January 2018 (UTC)