1991-92 Turner Cup Champions

1992 Western Division Champions, 1992 Western Conference Playoff Champions, 1992 Fred A. Huber Trophy (Regular Season Champions), 1992 Ken Ullyot Trophy (Western Conference Champions) James Norris Memorial Trophy (Outstanding Goaltenders): Arturs Irbe, Wade Flaherty Commissioners Trophy (Coach of the Year): Kevin Constantine Andy Mulligan Trophy (Executive of the Year): Doug Soetaert N.R. “Bud” Poile Trophy (Playoff MVP): Ron Handy Record: 56-22-4, 116 points Home: 31-8-2, 64 points Road: 25-14-2, 52 points Round 1 April 10 Salt Lake Golden Eagles 3-5 at Kansas City Blades April 11 Salt Lake Golden Eagles 2-7 at Kansas City Blades April 14 Kansas City Blades 2-3 at Salt Lake Golden Eagles OT April 16 Kansas City Blades 5-1 at Salt Lake Golden Eagles April 18 Kansas City Blades 6-3 at Salt Lake Golden Eagles Kansas City Blades win series 4 games to 1 Round 2 April 22 Peoria Rivermen 1-5 at Kansas City Blades April 24 Peoria Rivermen 5-6 at Kansas City Blades OT April 25 Kansas City Blades 5-3 at Peoria Rivermen April 28 Kansas City Blades 4-5 at Peoria Rivermen May 1 Peoria Rivermen 5-4 at Kansas City Blades May 3 Kansas City Blades 4-1 at Peoria Rivermen Kansas City Blades win series 4 games to 2 Finals May 6 Muskegon Lumberjacks 3 5 at Kansas City Blades May 8 Muskegon Lumberjacks 4 9 at Kansas City Blades May 9 Kansas City Blades 3 2 at Muskegon Lumberjacks May 12 Kansas City Blades 5 3 at Muskegon Lumberjacks Kansas City Blades win Turner Cup against Muskegon Lumberjacks 4 games to 0

Team members
John Carter, Mike Colman, Ed Courtenay, Dale Craigwell, Larry DePalma, Gary Emmons, Kevin Evans, Wade Flaherty, Gord Frantti, Troy Fredrick, Ron Handy, Arturs Irbe, Duane Joyce, Dean Kolstad, Mikhail Kravets, Peter Lappin, Rick Lessard, Pat MacLeod, Jeff Madill, Jeff Odgers, Sandis Ozolinsh, Tom Pederson, Jean-Francois Quintin, Claudio Scremin, Russ and Diane Parker (owners), Doug Soetaert (GM and vice president), Kevin Constantine (head coach), Jim Wiley (assistant coach), Kody Moffatt (trainer), Tim LeRoy (equipment manager)

The run for the Turner Cup in 1992 began on March 3, 1991. On that date, General Manager and Vice President Doug Soetaert completed an affiliation agreement with the San Jose Sharks of the NHL. This affiliation would provide the Blades with the team’s top prospects.

The 1991-1992 season began with a 10-0 record. During the annual American Royal road trip, the Blades went 9-4. To add to the league leading power, the Blades re-signed first season star Ron Handy. Handy led in scoring during the 1990-1991 season. On December 13, the Blades got their first shutout victory against the San Diego Gulls. With the great, several members of the team became mid-season All-Stars. Head Coach Kevin Constantine, goalies Arturs Irbe and Wade Flaherty, forwards Gary Emmons and Jeff Madill, and defenseman Pat MacLeod all made the trip to the mid-season classic in Atlanta, Georgia.

On March 26, the Blades won against the Phoenix Roadrunners to clinch the Western Division title. On April 3, they beat the San Diego Gulls to win the IHL Huber Trophy for having the most points in the league. The team finished the regular season with a 56-22-4 record.

1994-95 Turner Cup
1995 Eastern Conference Playoff Champions
Public Relations Director of the Year: Bob Kaser
Record: 35-40-6, 76 points
Home: 19-19-3, 41 points
Road: 16-21-3, 35 points
Lost in Finals against Denver Grizzlies

Team members
Andrei Buschan, Viacheslav Butsayev, Ilya Byakin, Jan Caloun, Alexander Cherbayev, Shean Donovan, Larry Dyck, Gary Emmons, Kevin Evans, Pat Ferschweiler, Dean Grillo, Ken Hammond, Duane Joyce, Viktor Kozlov, Vlastimil Kroupa, Fredrick Nilsson, Ron Pascucci, Jean-Francois Quintin, Claudio Scremin, Dody Wood, Kevin Wortman, Russ and Diane Parker (owners), Doug Soetaert (GM and Vice President), Jim Wiley (head coach), Mark Kaufman (assistant coach), Les Lundberg (trainer), Mike Aldrich (equipment manager)

The Blades had a less than stellar season. They finished five games below .500. For the 1994-1995 playoffs, the league allowed 16 teams to participate. By virtue of having more points than the Indianapolis Ice, the Blades slipped into the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. During the run, the Blades would do the unthinkable, they racked up three of the top ten playoff upsets in the league’s history.

First:
The Blades and Vipers were separated by 26 points in the standings. Game 1 was a 3-1 loss at the Palace of Auburn Hills. KC won game 2 with an OT goal by Gary Emmons. Back in KC, the team lost a close one 2-1. They came back big in game 4, outshooting the Vipers 41-19, and winning 5-1. Game 5 was the Dody Wood show. Wood had a hat trick, scoring the game winner with 6:33 left. This series tied for the 6th biggest playoff upset.
April 13 Kansas City Blades 1-3 at Detroit Vipers
April 17 Kansas City Blades 3-2 at Detroit Vipers, OT
April 21 Detroit Vipers 2-1 at Kansas City Blades, OT
April 22 Detroit Vipers 1-5 at Kansas City Blades
April 25 Kansas City Blades 4-3 at Detroit Vipers
Kansas City Blades win series 3 games to 2

Next:
The Blades and Rivermen were separated by 37 points. KC won the series in five games. Three of those five were OT games, 2 of them were won by the Blades. The other OT game played in the series featured a big comeback by the Blades, who were down 5-0, and came back to send it to OT with less than a minute left. While they did lose the game, they came back the two nights later to win the series. This became the biggest upset in the fifty year history of the IHL.
April 28 Kansas City Blades 4-3 at Peoria Rivermen
April 30 Kansas City Blades 1-0 at Peoria Rivermen, OT
May 2 Peoria Rivermen 1-6 at Kansas City Blades
May 4 Peoria Rivermen 6-5 at Kansas City Blades, OT
May 6 Peoria Rivermen 3-4 at Kansas City Blades, OT
Kansas City Blades win series 4 games to 1

Next:
The Blades and Wings were separated by 24 points. KC won the first three games. This left most fans to believe that a sweep was imminent, but the Wings wouldn’t go away so easily, winning the next three. This set up the dramatic game 7 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Blades proved to be too much for the Wings, winning 7-3. This series tied for the 9th biggest playoff upset.
May 12 Kansas City Blades 4-3 at Kalamazoo Wings, OT
May 14 Kansas City Blades 5-3 at Kalamazoo Wings
May 17 Kalamazoo Wings 2-4 at Kansas City Blades
May 19 Kalamazoo Wings 6-5 at Kansas City Blades, OT
May 20 Kalamazoo Wings 4-3 at Kansas City Blades
May 23 Kansas City Blades 1-2 at Kalamazoo Wings, OT
May 24 Kansas City Blades 7-3 at Kalamazoo Wings
Kansas City Blades win series 4 games to 3

Finally:
The Grizzlies dominated the Blades during the season series, and did so in the Turner Cup Finals. Denver, with former Blades Jeff Madill and Kip Miller, swept KC in four games.
But Blades fans still had much to cheer about: the team made history, provided excitement, and gave the fans 51 extra days of hockey.
May 26 Kansas City Blades 2-3 at Denver Grizzlies
May 27 Kansas City Blades 3-6 at Denver Grizzlies
May 31 Denver Grizzlies 3-2 at Kansas City Blades
June 1 Denver Grizzlies 4-3 at Kansas City Blades
Denver Grizzlies win championship 4 games to 0