Thirty years ago, a 28 year old defenseman became the first (and only) recipient of multiple CCAA All Canadian awards to raise the CCAA Championship Bowl more than once.

After being ranked 21st of  the Western Hockey League skaters eligible for the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by The Hockey News, Blaine Peerless spent the next six seasons in the minors including 246 regular season games and 16 playoff games with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League over four seasons. In addition to the Admirals, the Edmonton native donned jerseys of the Montana Magic and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League as well as the Toledo Golddigers of the International Hockey League.

The 6'1 blueliner returned to his hometown to enroll at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in the fall of 1987.  The Ooks fell short in their quest of a fifth consecutive Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championship in the 1987-88 season as they were swept in a best of three semi final series. 

As captain of the Ooks during the 1988-89 and 1989-90 campaigns, Peerless anchored the NAIT defense garnering a pair of CCAA All Canadian Awards while leading the Ooks to back-to-back national titles. (The 1989-90 NAIT Ooks were the second team to go unbeaten in the ACAC regular season and ACAC playoffs.)

With NAIT, Peerless averaged a point per game in the post season and 1.45 points per game in the regular season. His rookie regular season was his best from an offensive standpoint as he led all players in the conference with 26 assists and all defensemen in the conference with 14 goals and 40 points. In his sophomore regular season, he led all NAIT defensemen with 27 points, six goals and 21 assists. In his final regular season, his four goals was the highest among NAIT defensemen.

In three seasons with the Ooks, Peerless became the first defenseman in the history of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference to be honored as a first team all conference selection on three occasions.

Peerless concluded his hockey career the next season with the Whitley Warriors of the British Hockey League. He currently resides in Calgary.

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