Kamloops Chiefs
Order classic Kamloops Chiefs tees and hoodies. The Chiefs name graced several Kamloops teams from 1956 to 1978, and the WHL version won 40 games in 1975 to 1976 with Ryan Walter and future coach and broadcaster Barry Melrose on the roster. Andy Moog later played for the final Chiefs. Celebrate Kamloops hockey by browsing all of our Chiefs gear, then read the team history below. As a small business, we're proud to keep the names, logos and stories of hockey's lost teams in circulation.
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Kamloops Chiefs History
The Kamloops Chiefs were a moniker for a few different teams from Kamloops, British Columbia, between 1956 and 1978. The Chiefs name was originally used by a senior league team from 1956-61 for a team that played in the Okanagan Senior Amateur Hockey League. The name was later revived in 1973 by a major junior WHL team, when the Vancouver Nats relocated to Kamloops.
These Chiefs spent 4 years in Kamloops, making the playoffs in three of those seasons. Their high water mark was 1975-76 when they won 40 games. That team included Ryan Walter, who played over 1,000 NHL games, and Barry Melrose who went on to big things as an NHL coach and ESPN commentator. The team would move across the border to Seattle in 1977 and become the Seattle Breakers.
A third Kamloops Chiefs team would spend one season as the Chiefs in 1977-78, as the junior A Kamloops Braves rebranded. They would spend one season as the Chiefs before rebranding again as the Kamloops Rockets. That one season did include an NHLer, as Andy Moog played for these Chiefs.
