Jacksonville Lizard Kings

East Coast Hockey League (1995-2000)

Tombstone

Born: 1995 – The Louisville IceHawks relocate to Jacksonville, FL
Folded: April 2000

First Game: October 13, 1995 (W 6-4 @ Mobile Mysticks)
Last Game: April 2, 2000 (W 5-4 vs. Greenville Grrrowl)

Riley Cup / Kelly Cup Championships: None

Arena

Jacksonville Coliseum (8,000)
Opened:1960
Demolished: 2003

Marketing

Team Colors: Green & Black

Ownership

Owners:

1995-1998: Horn Chen
1998-2000: David Berkman, Charles Felix & Bruce Burge

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Background

There are thousands of teams on Fun While It Lasted, but only one – that we know of – named in tribute to former Doors lead singer Jim Morrison. That would be the now-defunct Jacksonville Lizards Kings of the East Coast Hockey League.

The Lizard Kings were owned initially by Horn Chen. The media-shy Chicago-based investor had a hand in countless minor league franchises ranging from the late 1980’s into the 21st century, with a particular focus on ice hockey. The franchise started out in 1990 as a Chen-owned ECHL expansion franchise called the Louisville IceHawks. After four seasons in Kentucky, the IceHawks went dark in 1994. After a year off, the club resurfaced at the Jacksonville Coliseum in the autumn of 1995. The Lizard Kings name was actually considered for another of Chen’s ECHL clubs – the Columbus Chill (1991-1999) – before it was recycled for his Jacksonville team.

When the Lizard Kings arrived in Jacksonville in 1995, there was already a pro hockey team in town – the Jacksonville Bullets of the low-budget Sunshine Hockey League. The two teams competed for one season in the winter of 1995-96. The Lizard Kings and the ECHL brand of hockey were a significant uptick from what the Bullets offered. Chen quickly drove the Bullets out of business.

Chen soon sold out to another prolific hockey investor group of the 1990’s. Atlanta-based real estate developer David Berkman and his partners Charles Felix and Bruce Burge purchased the Lizard Kings in 1998. Like Chen, Berkman originally dreamed of acquiring an NHL club, but turned his attention to the minor leagues when the NHL proved out of reach. Berkman and Felix owned numerous hockey and Arena Football teams in the Southeastern United States during the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The Berkman Group also owned the Jacksonville Tomcats of Arena Football 2 during this era who, like the Lizard Kings, made their home at the Jacksonville Coliseum.

Financial Troubles & Demise

The Lizard Kings were unsuccessful in Jacksonville, losing a reported $2.2 million during the team’s first four years of existence.¹ The Berkman Group attributed much of their difficulty to the antiquated 40-year old Coliseum, with partner Bruce Burge calling it simply “that dungeon” when the team ceased operations in April 2000.² Berkman and his partners pledged to work with the city of Jacksonville to build a modern arena to replace the Coliseum, with the idea of reviving the Lizard Kings if and when a new building opened.

The city of Jacksonville followed through and built Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena at a cost of $130 million. The new building opened in November 2003, but by then the Lizard Kings and the Berkman Group were gone. Jacksonville did land a hockey tenant for the new building in 2003, but it was the Jacksonville Barracudas (2002-2008) of the obscure World Hockey Association 2 who took on the lease.

Four Lizard Kings players later made the leap to the NHL after skating in Jacksonville: Garrett Burnett, Nathan Perrott, Todd Reirden and Gaetan Royer.