Major Indoor Lacrosse League (1989-1994)
Tombstone
Born: 1989 – MILL expansion franchise
Folded: Postseason 1994
First Game: January 7, 1989 (W 11-9 vs. Washington Wave)
Last Game: April 9, 1994 (L 16-10 @ Buffalo Bandits)
MILL Champions: 1991
Arena
Joe Louis Arena
Opened: 1979
Demolished: 2019-2020
Marketing
Team Colors: Purple, Silver & Black
Ownership
Owners: Major Indoor Lacrosse League (Russ Cline & Chris Fritz)
Background
The Detroit Turbos brought their brand of brawling, high scoring box lacrosse to the Joe Louis Arena for six winters in the early 1990’s. The team sold a decent number of tickets during its first two seasons, peaking with average attendance of 11,910 during the 1990 season. The Turbos’ initial appeal may have been helped by limited supply. During the Turbos era, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League schedule featured just 8-10 regular season games per season.
The Gait Brothers
The Turbos’ glory years came in 1991 and 1992 after the team drafted and signed superstar twins Gary Gait and Paul Gait out of Syracuse University. The Gait brothers led the Turbos to the championship of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League during their rookie season of 1991. Paul led the MILL in goals (47) while Gary led in assists (36) and total points (68). Both Gaits were named First Team All-Pros, as was goaltender Ted Sawicki. The Turbos defeated the Baltimore Thunder 14-12 in a single-game championship.
The Turbos had the best record in the league once again in 1992, but lost to the expansion Buffalo Bandits in the playoff semi-finals.
The Gait brothers departed for the rival Philadelphia Wings in 1993. Two mediocre seasons followed. On March 11, 1994, the Turbos played the Wings at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. With the Turbos down 15-6 in the third quarter, a bench clearing brawl broke out. Fighting was a big part of the appeal of the MILL. But the fight and the fan reaction got so out of hand that the game officials cancelled the rest of the match.
Demise
By 1994 Turbos’ attendance crashed 60% from the team’s 1990 peak to fewer than 5,000 fans per game. The club folded quietly after the 1994 campaign.
Detroit Turbos Video
1991 Detroit Turbos TV Commercial
The Turbos take on the Philadelphia Wings at the Spectrum in Philly on February 11, 1990. Note that the teams are playing with hockey goals instead of lacrosse goals!
Links
Major Indoor Lacrosse League Media Guides
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3 Responses
I was at that game in Philly. Most insane thing I’ve ever seen at a sporting event, and I didn’t miss a Wings home game (preseason, regular season or playoffs) for about 5 seasons!
Cool. What do you remember about the brawl?
It seemed to start innocently enough (for an all out brawl, that it) and just kept building and building. I do remember at one point turning to my younger brother and saying, there’s no way they’re letting them finish this game. We had been raised on Flyers hockey and never thought fighting was a bad thing in hockey and we were pleasantly surprised when the Wings came to town and the game was just as tough. BUT, something about that brawl and the fan reaction and the fact that no one could seem to stop it was a little bit scary.
I don’t remember a lot of the details of the fight, but I do vaguely remember that the Turbos had been playing very, very greasy up to that point. I also remember feeling that justice was served when the game got called and the Turbos were clearly the villains! I have a box somewhere with old stuff. I’ll have to see what Wings stuff I have…