International Hockey League (1996-1998)
Tombstone
Born: 1996 – The Peoria Rivermen relocate to San Antonio, TX
Re-Branded: August 1998 (San Antonio Iguanas)
First Game: October 4, 1996 (W 5-4 vs. Houston Aeros)
Last Game: April 11, 1998 (W 8-3 @ Las Vegas Thunder)
Turner Cup Championships: None
Arena
Freeman Coliseum (9,965)
Opened: 1949
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners: Bruce Saurs & Donald Levin
Our Favorite Stuff
San Antonio Dragons
1996-1998 Logo T-Shirt
The Dragons were the ultimate losers in a mid-1990’s reptilian cold war for the hearts and minds of San Antonio hockey fans. The carpet-bagging Dragons drove the established Iguanas out of Freeman Coliseum and out of business, but quickly spent themselves into oblivion after only two seasons.
This Dragons design is available in white or sport grey and can also be ordered as a Hooded or Crewneck Sweatshirt from our friends at Cincinnati’s Old School Shirts!
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Background
The San Antonio Dragons were part of a short, strange minor league hockey cold war in South Texas during the mid-1990’s.
The Dragons’ ancestry stretched back to 1982 when the franchise was formed as a Peoria, Illinois expansion entry in the International Hockey League (IHL). At the time, the IHL was an upper Midwestern bus league. But in the early 1990’s the IHL got ambitious, expanding into major league cities across the continent and recruiting major investors such as NBA owners Larry Miller and Bill Davidson. The moves put financial pressure on the IHL’s remaining small-market teams like Peoria. In 1996, long-time Peoria owner Bruce Saurs announced that he would move his club to San Antonio.
Dragons vs. Iguanas
It was an odd choice. Hardly an ice hockey hotbed, San Antonio already had an established minor league team – the Iguanas of the Central Hockey League – at Freeman Coliseum, where Saurs and his business partner Donald Levin wanted to play. In the winter of 1996-97 both teams split dates in the building and fought over the arena lease. The big budget Dragons drove the Iguanas out of business after one season of competition, but it wasn’t a triumph. The San Antonio Dragons lost millions of dollars their first winter and ranked only 16th among 18 IHL clubs in attendance, with announced gate of 4,931 per game.
On the positive side, the 1996-97 Dragons won the IHL’s Midwest Division with a 45-30-7 record under Head Coach Jeff Brubaker. The Dragons advanced to the 2nd round of the Turner Cup playoffs before losing to the Houston Aeros. 29-year old Daniel Shank led the club in scoring with 33 goals and 58 assists, both team highs.
In 1997-98, the Dragons had Freeman Coliseum and the city of San Antonio to themselves with the Iguanas out of business. But the season was a disaster. The team went from first to worst, finishing in the league cellar at 25-49-8. Attendance crashed further to 3,668 per game. By the end of the season, the club’s two-year losses in San Antonio ran to a reported $7 million.
Return to CHL & Iguanas Name
Bruce Saurs & Donald Levin dropped out of the IHL at the end of the 1997-98 season and unloaded the remains of the franchise to Horn Chen, lead investor of the vanquished Iguanas. Chen ditched the Dragons brand name, reclaimed the old Iguanas identity and entered the former Dragons franchise in the lower-budget Central Hockey League, which he largely controlled. The Peoria Rivermen/Dragons/Iguanas franchise eventually went out of business in 2002.
San Antonio Dragons Shop
Links
###
