International Hockey League (1995-1996)
Tombstone
Born: November 22, 1994 – IHL expansion franchise
Folded: June 24, 1996
First Game: September 29, 1995 (L 5-1 vs. Los Angeles Ice Dogs)
Last Game: April 28, 1996 (L 2-1 @ Chicago Wolves)
Turner Cup Championships: None
Arena
Cow Palace (11,415)11995-96 San Francisco Spiders Media Guide
Marketing
Team Colors: Red, Black, Silver & Gold21995-96 San Francisco Spiders Media Guide
Ownership
Owner: David Pasant
NHL Affiliation: Independent
Attendance
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Sources:
- HockeyDB.com (Spiders figures)
- 2000-01 International Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book (IHL figures)
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Background
The San Francisco Spiders were a One-Year Wonder in the International Hockey League playing out of the Cow Palace in Daly City. The Spiders followed the Shamrocks (1978-1979) and preceded the Bulls (2012-2014) in that building’s brutal history of doomed ice hockey ventures. The Spiders were done after one season. The Shamrocks and Bulls both folded midway through their second seasons.
We’ve chronicled thousands of defunct teams on Fun While It Lasted, but the Spiders just may represent the most spectacular single-season financial bloodletting in the history of minor league sports. Owner David Pasant paid a $6 million expansion fee to join the IHL in November 1994 and estimates he spent another $8 million on the Spiders during their lone season (Victoria Times-Colonist 2/7/1997). Years later, he estimated his overall one-year loss on the Spiders to $16M (Los Angeles Daily News 4/8/2010). Yeesh.
Pasant, fortunately, could afford it. He sold his family insurance business for $600 million in 1986 and retired at age 38 to pursue his passions, including auto racing and maintaining a world class collection of ukuleles. Pasant placed some of the blame for the Spiders failure on the Cow Palace itself, a 55-year old rodeo barn in a run down neighborhood:
“The operative word is Cow, not Palace,” Pasant told The Victoria Times-Colonist (2/7/1997), assessing his experience a year later.
On The Ice
On ice, the Spiders put together a winning product. Former Montreal Canadiens head coach Jean Perron signed on the coach the Spiders. Perron won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Habs in his rookie season as a NHL bench boss.
The Spiders lured 38-year old Rod Langway, a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman, out of retirement to serve as a player/assistant coach. Former Winnipeg Jets goaltender Stephane Beauregard handled the bulk of the netminding duties and would go on to win the IHL’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 1995-96 season.
Minor league journeyman John Purves was the Spiders’ leading scorer with 56 goals and 49 assists.
The Spiders finished their expansion season 40-32-0-10 and qualified for a playoff spot. The Chicago Wolves eliminated the Spiders in the first round of the Turner Cup playoffs in April 1996.
Squashed
The Spiders declared chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 1996.
The IHL subsequently granted Pasant a one-year leave of absence to try to find a new home for the Spiders. Pasant explored moving the team to various other cities, including Saskatoon, Alberta and Victoria, British Columbia through the fall and winter of 1996-97 but ultimately the franchise never returned to the ice.
The IHL itself went out of business in June 2001 after 56 seasons.
San Francisco Spiders Shop
San Francisco Spiders Video
Short SportsChannel regional cable clip from a February 4, 1996 clash between the Spiders and the Los Angeles Ice Dogs in L.A.
Links
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