The National Hockey League’s 32nd franchise shall be in Seattle, bringing top tier hockey back to that region for the first time in almost a hundred years.

The last professional team in the area were the Tacoma Sabercats, approximately 35 minutes south of Seattle.

The Sabercats were an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Tacoma, Washington, that competed in the West Coast Hockey League as of the 1997–98 season.

They weren’t around for a long time but they sure had a good time.

Under Head Coach John Olver, Tacoma immediately made a huge impact in the WCHL

In their inaugural season, the Sabercats won the regular-season Northern Division title and enjoyed a playoff run that took them to the finals.
They would only come unstuck against the defending champions, San Diego Gulls, who lifted the Taylor Cup after winning the finals series 4-1.

Retribution followed in 1998-99 as Tacoma once more tasted North Division success before defeating San Diego in the final.

The 1999-2000 Sabercats tore apart the league during the regular season, winning 51 of their 72 regular-season games. They would be unable to defend their championship despite making it to the finals for the third straight year.

The Phoenix Mustangs, also playing their third year in the league, swept Tacoma 4-0. This must have been one of the biggest shocks in the league’s history with the Mustangs having posted a losing record during the regular season compared to the dominance of the Sabercats.

After three straight division championships, a regular-season title, three finals appearances and a Taylor Cup, the last two seasons would prove slightly disappointing in contrast.

Robert Dirk took over behind the bench from John Olver and it wasn’t much fun for the new guy. Tacoma would record two losing campaigns and not make it past the second round of the playoffs during his tenure.

Attendances had been fairly decent but not exceptional, averaging approximately 4,600 during the first three years.
However, numbers dwindled to 3533 and then 2854 during what would be the last season in 2002-02 when the team was folded due to financial losses.

The Tacoma Dome was the Sabercats home and despite it being a wonderful piece of architecture it was far from suitable for a lower-tier hockey team. With fans too far away from the action, poor slight lines, inadequate lighting and a huge capacity, reportedly up to 18,000, the Dome wasn’t fit for purpose.

It was all in stark contrast to the 7,000 fans who turned up for the home opener and raucously cheered the first-ever goal at the Dome in franchise history by BC native, Jamie Butt.

Butt’s goal helped lead Tacoma to a 5-3 win over the Idaho Steelheads and set in motion an eleven game win streak during the inaugural season.

Tacoma’s most iconic player was Dampy Brar, who played all five seasons with the Sabercats and is their all-time leading scorer with 330 points in 297 games.
A centreman, Brar topped the 20-goal mark in every season with Tacoma, twice eclipsing 30 goals.

Defenseman Scott Drevitch was another to play all five-seasons and he was also a prolific points producer with 313 (58-255) in 321 games.

Another impressive blue-liner was Scott Boston who had previously spent a little time in the AHL with the Rochester Americans and St. John’s Maple Leafs.
He flourished during his four years with Tacoma, helping himself to 230 points (48-182-230) in 263 games.

The Sabercats were also blessed to have players on their roster with NHL experience including Kevin Smyth, Steve Nemeth and goaltenders Danny Lorenz and David Goverde.

In their first three seasons the Sabercats went 137-49-20 and during the first campaign averaged over four-and-a-half per game.

The Tacoma Sabercats finished life with an overall record of 198-120-32, good for a .611 points percentage.