Blizzard Team History

IN THE BEGINNING...

The New York Blizzard was formed in 2001 as an expansion team in the Chelsea Piers adult recreational ice hockey league at Sky Rink in New York City.

That January the rink had a large number of modestly experienced players looking for a team, so league officials brought them together to form a new squad called the Blizzard in Division 5, the fifth-highest of Sky Rink's six divisions.

These players, most of whom did not know one another, officially took the ice together for the first time on March 4th, 2001, for the team's inaugural game. Forty-five minutes later, the Blizzard had been thoroughly plowed over by the Leafs, 9-1. The high point was the first goal in team history, recorded by original team captain Tom Carmony, who scored on a breakaway midway through the game. Despite the tough loss, most players considered the game a building block for the future.

Unfortunately, that first game turned out to be a harbinger of the remainder of the season. The Blizzard proceeded to stink up D5 that spring, going 0-17-0 and getting outscored 178 to 12. When was the last time you saw a team ring up 15 goals in a hockey game? It happened twice that spring against the Blizzard.

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

Wisely, the Blizzard realized they were being outgunned, so the team decided to move down a division to D6. They made their D6 debut during the 2001 Summer 4-on-4 Tournament and enjoyed a breakthrough campaign highlighted by a three-game winning streak to open the tournament, a 4-4-0 record in round-robin play, and a spot in the tournament's playoff round.

Coming out of the summer tournament, hopes were high that the team would continue to improve during the regular Fall 2001 D6 campaign. That, however, was not the case, as the struggling Blizzard managed only two victories over the next two seasons.

TURNING A CORNER?

The Fall 2002 season was an historic one for the Blizzard. Despite the team's lack of on-ice success, interest in the Blizzard had grown so much that part of the team split off to form the nucleus of a second team, and for the first time in the organization's brief history, two Blizzard squads took the ice. The original Blizzard continued to compete in D6, while the new Blizzard team joined the league's newly-added Division 7, which Sky Rink had formed from its Developmental Division.

The split paid immediate dividends that fall as the beefed-up D6 squad posted a 17-point improvement over the spring season, finishing 7-7-3, good for seventh in the division and earning the team its first-ever playoff berth. Their success continued into the following spring as the team reached the Division Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The D7 Blizzard started strong, finishing their inaugural campaign 6-5-1 for the organization's first winning season. But the team languished soon after, posting a 3-12-2 record that spring and finishing in the bottom half of the standings the following three seasons.

WINNERS AT LAST

As the Sky Rink adult league continued to expand, so did the Blizzard. In the spring of 2005, a second Blizzard split took place as a portion of the D7 Blizzard team broke off to begin play in Sky Rink's new Division 8. Once again the split benefited both squads, as the D7 team posted a 13-win season that was matched by the new D8 team, and both squads reached the finals.

One season later, in the fall of 2005, the Blizzard claimed their first-ever Sky Rink title as the D7 squad defeated BNP Paribas in the best-of-three finals to claim the D7 championship, while the D8 team defeated the Hornets in the Division 8 Finals to capture the D8 trophy. Fifteen players on the two squads had been with the Blizzard since at least 2003, and several of them had been with the team since its inception.

A NEW ERA

In the fall of 2006, half of the Blizzard's championship-winning D8 team was promoted to the Blizzard D7 squad as the Blizzard joined forces with members of the Imperials, whose team was dissolving after six successful years in D7. Several former Imperials and several long-time members of the D7 Blizzard spun off to form a new D7 team called the Canucks (originally the Flyers), who would go on to win five straight D7 championships. The remaining Imperials joined the D8 Blizzard, replacing the players who had moved up to the Blizzard's D7 team. Several members of the D6 Blizzard would subsequently join the Blizzard D7 team to complete the shift, which represented a new beginning for all three Blizzard squads.

In the fall of 2007, a league realignment moved the D8 Blizzard up to Sky Rink's newly-formed D7B division, with the D7 Blizzard staying in the re-named Division 7A.

All three Blizzard teams struggled following the realignment, but slowly they began to improve. The D7B Blizzard advanced to the finals in the fall of 2009. And after reaching the championship round against the Canucks in both the spring and fall seasons in 2008, the 7A Blizzard defeated the Canucks in the finals to capture the D7A title in both the Spring 2009 and Fall 2009 seasons.

Today, with teams in D6A, D7A and D7B, the Blizzard Hockey Club boasts more than 130 alumni and 60 active members.

See a collection of Blizzard photographs and videos in the Photos/Video section.