Doug Sauter, Oklahoma City Blazers

Head Coach

Doug Sauter begins his 13th season behind the bench for the Blazers in October 2007. In 10 of his 12 seasons as the coach of the Blazers, Sauter has guided the team to a playoff birth. Last season, the Blazers got off to one of their best starts in several seasons. The team clinched a playoff birth earlier than they had since the 2001-02 campaign. A first-round playoff date with Memphis resulted in a dramatic Game 7 victory. It was the franchise's first playoff series win since the 2001 CHL championship series. For the second straight season, the Blazers season ended in a hard-fought seven-game series with the Colorado Eagles. He begins this season as the most tenured head coach in all of North American professional hockey, including the NHL, and among the most tenured in all of North American professional sports.



The winningest coach in Central Hockey League history has been successful since his first season in Oklahoma City. His 12-year tenure is unmatched in the annals of the CHL. In his first season behind the bench during the 1995-96 season, Sauter led the team to the Adams Cup (best regular season record) and then the Levins Trophy playoff championship, earning him Coach of the Year honors. The Blazers have continued their winning ways ever since. During Sauter’s 12-season run as head coach of the Blazers teams have qualified for the playoffs 10 times, won seven CHL division regular season titles, four regular season championships, made three CHL Finals appearances and have won two CHL Championships.



The 1995-96 CHL Coach of the Year became the CHL’s all-time leader in coaching victories on December 19, 1998 with the Blazers 5-2 win over the Fayetteville Force. Sauter added to his list of accomplishments with career coaching win number 900 on October 31, 1999 in the Blazers 4-0 win over Topeka. The 2004-05 season was monumental for Coach Sauter. He surpassed the 600-win mark as a head coach in the professional ranks on February 23 on the road against the Wichita Thunder. He passed the 400-win mark as head coach of the Blazers on February 19 against the Topeka Tarantulas. His biggest accomplishment occurred on January 29 in front of a sellout crowd in Tulsa, Okla. The Blazers 3-2 win over the Tulsa Oilers was Doug’s 1,100th victory as a head coach. On the horizon this season for Sauter are career coaching win 1,200, 700 wins as a coach in the professional ranks and 500 wins in the CHL.