History
In 2005, the city of Chilliwack was granted a WHL expansion team after an attempt by the owners of the Tri-City Americans (Brian Burke, Glen Sather and Darryl Porter) to move the Americans to Chilliwack was voted down by the WHL directors. As a result, Burke, Sather, and Porter sold their stake in the Americans and purchased the 21st franchise in the WHL. The arrival of the Bruins displaced the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL)'s Chilliwack Chiefs, who relocated to Langley to become the Langley Chiefs. In early 2011, it became apparent to fans that they had been sold to RG Properties to allow them to move the team to Victoria. The previous ownership group of the original Chilliwack Chiefs franchise before 2006 had an offer of 7.75 Million from the Chiefs development group including Justin Morneau and Willie Mitchell. This offer was rejected by both the majority ownership of the Bruins as well as the league.
The Bruins opened their inaugural season in 2006–07 at Prospera Centre on September 21, 2006, defeating the Kelowna Rockets by a score of 3–1. Keith Voytechek scored the first goal in franchise history, while Alex Archibald earned the first win by a Bruins goaltender. A month later, on October 28, Archibald became the first Bruins goaltender to record a shutout with a 3–0 win over the Tri-City Americans, which also established the first Bruins road win. Forward Josh Aspenlind established another Bruins first later in the season with the franchise's first hat-trick on February 23, 2007, against the Kamloops Blazers. General Manager Darrell May and the team's first head coach, Jim Hiller, the Bruins posted an overall record of 25–40–5–2, the third best overall record for a WHL expansion team, and made it to the post-season. In the 2007 playoffs, the Bruins played the eventual Memorial Cup champion Vancouver Giants in the first round and lost the series 4–1.
Bruins forwards Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller emerged in the team's second season in 2007–08, establishing team marks in all statistical categories. Santorelli set team marks with 74 assists and 101 points, earning the team's first major WHL trophy by leading the league in scoring, while Moller scored a franchise-high 39 goals. The Bruins finished in 7th place in the Western Conference and lost to the Giants in the first round. All games were decided by one goal.
After missing the playoffs in 2008–09, the Bruins fired head coach Jim Hiller. On June 3, 2009, the team named Marc Habscheid as head coach and general manager.
Initial interest in the team was excellent, prior to the arrival of the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. Following the Heat's arrival, interest in the Bruins waned somewhat and the team was sold to an ownership group from Victoria, British Columbia. However, even within the fifth and final season in 2010-2011, the Chilliwack Bruins seen a small increase in attendance of approximately 3,400 fans per game, which was respectively 16th in a 22 team Western Hockey League
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