Spruce Grove Saints

Spruce Grove Saints
City	Spruce Grove, Alberta
League	British Columbia Hockey League
Conference	Interior
Division	East
Founded	1963 (1963)
Home arena	Grant Fuhr Arena
Colours	Navy blue, white and gold
Owner(s)	Silent Ice (Dan Leckelt, Lindsay Leckelt, Ryan Smyth)
General manager	Rob Sklaruk
Head coach	Ryan Marsh
Website	sgsaints.ca
Franchise history
1963–1965	Edmonton Canadians
1965–1972	Edmonton Movers
1972–1974	Edmonton Mets
1974–1977	Spruce Grove Mets
1977–2004	St. Albert Saints
2004–present	Spruce Grove Saints
Previous franchise history
1963–1972	Edmonton Maple Leafs

The Spruce Grove Saints are a Junior ice hockey team in the BCHL. They play in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the Grant Fuhr Arena. The team was originally a member of the AJHL and joined the BCHL in 2024.

History

Prior to their 2024 departure, the Saints' franchise was the only franchise remaining from the inception of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). The franchise began as the Edmonton Movers in 1963 before it merged with the Edmonton Maple Leafs organization to become the Edmonton Mets for the 1972–73 season. It then relocated to Spruce Grove as the Spruce Grove Mets for the 1974–75 season. During its first stint in Spruce Grove, the Mets won the 1975 Centennial Cup as Canadian Jr. A national champions and two league championships. After three years in Spruce Grove, the franchise relocated again to nearby St. Albert to become the St. Albert Saints in 1977. The franchise captured four AJHL championships during its time in St. Albert.

After 27 years in St. Albert, arena issues caused the franchise to return to Spruce Grove as the Spruce Grove Saints in 2004. Since returning to Spruce Grove, the team has won five AJHL playoff championships and five regular season titles, but have not advanced to the National Junior A Championship after failing to advance past the Doyle Cup or Western Canada Cup qualifiers.

On January 20, 2024, it was announced that the team, along with four other AJHL teams, would join the BCHL in the 2024-2025 season. The AJHL responded to the announcement by cancelling most of the five teams' remaining scheduled matches except those between each other. It was then decided that the five Alberta-based teams would play out the rest of the 2023-24 season as a separate division under the aegis of the BCHL.

Over 50 former Saints' players have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including Mark Messier, Stu Barnes, Mike Comrie, and Steven Reinprecht.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T/OTL = Ties/Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T/OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
2004–05	64	42	16	6	90	208	147	2nd North	Won Preliminary series, 3–0 vs. Lloydminster Blazers Lost Quarterfinals, 2–4 vs. Drayton Valley Thunder
2005–06	60	39	18	3	81	197	160	3rd North	Won Preliminary series, 3–0 vs. Fort Saskatchewan Traders Won Quarterfinals, 4–3 vs. Drayton Valley Thunder Lost Semifinals, 2–4 vs. Camrose Kodiaks
2006–07	60	32	20	8	72	213	186	3rd North	Won Preliminary series, 3–2 vs. Bonnyville Pontiacs Lost Quarterfinals, 1–4 vs. Grande Prairie Storm
2007–08	62	34	16	12	80	248	203	3rd North	Won Preliminary series, 3–0 vs. Lloydminster Bobcats Won Quarterfinals, 4–3 vs. Grande Prairie Storm Lost Semifinals, 1–4 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons
2008–09	62	46	7	9	101	274	139	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–1 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons Won Div. Finals, 4–0 vs. Olds Grizzlys Lost AJHL Finals, 0–4 vs. Grande Prairie Storm
2009–10	60	52	4	4	108	252	99	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Bonnyville Pontiacs Won Div. Finals, 4–1 vs. Camrose Kodiaks Won AJHL Championship, 4–3 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons Lost Doyle Cup, 3–4 vs. Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
2010–11	60	48	8	4	100	233	106	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Lloydminster Bobcats Won Div. Finals, 4–0 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons Won AJHL Championship, 4–1 vs. Camrose Kodiaks Lost Doyle Cup, 3–4 vs. Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
2011–12	60	46	6	8	100	214	129	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Drayton Valley Thunder Lost Div. Finals, 3–4 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons
2012–13	60	35	16	9	79	181	157	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–2 vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders Won Div. Finals, 4–1 vs. Whitecourt Wolverines Lost AJHL Finals, 1–4 vs. Brooks Bandits
2013–14	60	47	10	3	97	235	135	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–3 vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders Won Div. Finals, 4–3 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons Won AJHL Championship, 4–0 vs. Drumheller Dragons Did not advance in 2014 Western Canada Cup
2014–15	60	48	7	5	101	254	121	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–2 vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders Won Div. Finals, 4–2 vs. Bonnyville Pontiacs Won AJHL Championship, 4–2 vs. Brooks Bandits Did not advance in 2015 Western Canada Cup
2015–16	60	49	7	4	101	263	123	1st North	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders Won Div. Finals, 4–1 vs. Lloydminster Bobcats Lost AJHL Finals, 1–4 vs. Brooks Bandits
2016–17	60	40	18	2	82	198	145	3rd North	Won Div. Quarterfinals, 3–0 vs. Drayton Valley Thunder Lost Div. Semifinals, 3–4 vs. Whitecourt Wolverines
2017–18	60	47	10	3	97	262	138	1st of 8, North 2nd of 16, AJHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Grande Prairie Storm Won Div. Finals, 4–0 vs. Whitecourt Wolverines Won AJHL Championship, 4–1 vs. Okotoks Oilers Lost Doyle Cup, 4–1 vs. Wenatchee Wild (BCHL)
2018–19	60	40	17	3	83	204	141	3rd of 8, North 4th of 16, AJHL	Won Div. Quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Drayton Valley Thunder Won Div. Semifinals, 4–0 vs. Bonnyville Pontiacs Won Div. Finals, 4–2 vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders Lost AJHL Finals, 4–0 vs. Brooks Bandits
2019–20	58	43	13	2	88	246	155	2nd of 8, North 4th of 15, AJHL	Won Div. Quarterfinals, 4–2 vs. Grande Prairie Storm Postseason cancelled

Western Canada Cup

The Western Canada Cup was a postseason tournament between the playoff champions of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), and a previously selected host team from one of the leagues. It ran from 2013 to 2017 with the top two teams qualifying for the Royal Bank Cup Junior A national championship tournament. It replaced the Doyle Cup, which had been the qualifier for the AJHL and BCHL champions, and the ANAVET Cup, which had been the qualifier for the MJHL and SJHL champions. The qualifying system reverted the Doyle and ANAVET Cups in 2018.

The tournament began with round-robin play between the five team followed by the top two teams playing in championship game and the third and fourth place teams playing in a semifinal game. The loser of the championship game then faced the winner of the semifinal game for the runner-up qualifier. The winner of the championship and the runner-up game advanced to the Royal Bank Cup.

Year	Round-robin	Record	Standing	Semifinal	Championship game	Runner-up game
2014	L, 2–4 vs. Dauphin Kings (Host) L, 1–3 vs. Coquitlam Express (BCHL) OTW, 3–2 vs. Yorkton Terriers (SJHL) W, 5–3 vs. Winnipeg Blues (MJHL)	2–2–0 (W–L–OTL)	3rd of 5	W, 5–3 vs. Coquitlam Express	—	L, 2–4 vs. Dauphin Kings
2015	L, 3–11 vs. Penticton Vees (BCHL) OTL, 3–4 vs. Melfort Mustangs (SJHL) L, 4–5 vs. Fort McMurray Oil Barons (Host) L, 2–4 vs. Portage Terriers (MJHL)	0–4 (W–L)	5th of 5	Did not advance

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Alberta

External links

• Spruce Grove Saints website
• British Columbia Hockey League website
• Alberta Junior Hockey League website