Brown goes into B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Ken Holland is the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, arguably the NHL’s model franchise these days.
Twenty-odd years ago, when Holland was an NHL scout based in western Canada, he says he paid particular attention to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
“They were the model,” Holland, who is from Vernon, told George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. “They were the model franchise in junior hockey. They scouted, they drafted, they moved in veteran players, they had people waiting in the wings. They had a machine.
“The rink sold out every night. Jarome Iginla came through there . . . Darryl Sydor, Scott Niedermayer and other NHL players. There was this wave of people.”
Bob Brown was the architect of the Blazers’ franchise in those days, the man behind perhaps the most dominant run — and the last true dynasty — in major junior hockey history.
The work he did on behalf of the Blazers was recognized Friday when Brown, the Blazers’ general manager for nine seasons (1986-95), was inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in Penticton.
“It was very humbling,” Brown said Sunday, moments after returning to his Surrey home from where he has scouted for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers since 2002. “I was very humbled.”
Former Blazers head coach Tom Renney, now an assistant coach with the Oilers, introduced Brown.
“He had some nice things to say,” Brown said.
Renney also is a member of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame, as is Don Hay, another former Blazers coach who worked here with Brown.
Also in attendance were Brown’s wife, Janet, and their son, Sam, who will be four in October, along with Brown’s sons Rob and Scott. Ken Hitchcock, another former Blazers coach, was there, as were Bruce Hamilton, the president and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets, and Blazers general manager Craig Bonner.
Brown, who was born in Scarborough, Ont., played senior hockey in Kingston, Ont., and had a brief professional career, before settling in Edmonton from where he first scouted for the Blazers. By the summer of 1986, Brown was the team’s general manager and began putting together the organization that won three Memorial Cup titles in the span of four years (1992, 1994, 1995). The 1992 Blazers also are in the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
During his stint as the Blazers’ GM, they posted a 435-184-29 regular-season record, which is an amazing .694 winning percentage. Over that time, the Blazers won seven divisional pennants and five WHL championships.
In nine playoff appearances, they put up a 94-52 (.644) record.
On June 5, 1995, just 22 days after the Blazers had won their third Memorial Cup in four years, Brown was fired. He had one year left on his contract when then-president Colin Day and lawyer Barry Carter entered his office that morning and told him he was done.
Since then, the Blazers are 27-57 in the playoffs.
After being dismissed here, Brown went on to work for the Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants before joining the Oilers’ scouting staff.
Also inducted into the hall of fame Friday were former WHL and NHL defencemen Dave Babych and Bob Rouse, journalist/minor hockey coach Grant Kerr and the late Father David Bauer.
“It is humbling,” Brown said. “When you’re a kid you want to be in the NHL playing hockey . . . of course, I never made it. But to even think to be in some kind of hall of fame . . . you don’t even think about stuff like that.
“It was unbelievable. . . . It’s unbelievable the job they do. It was a remarkable two days. They do a tremendous job.”
This was the second time in four months that Brown has been in the spotlight. On March 24, the WHL presented Brown with its Governors Award, which goes to individuals who, through their outstanding service as builders of the league and achievements in the game, have contributed to the growth and development of the WHL.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com