Author: Drew Crossley

1964 Denver Invaders program from the Western Hockey League

Denver Invaders

February 25, 2024

The Denver Invaders were an outstanding minor league hockey club that played one season in the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the winter of 1963-64. The Invaders relocated to Denver from Spokane, Washington the previous spring and served as a farm club of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Under head coach Rudy Pilous, the team was terrific on the ice, dominating the WHL with a 44-23-3 regular season record. But lackluster attendance at the Denver Coliseum and disputes between local investors and the Maple Leafs led the franchise to leave Colorado for British Columbia after only a year.

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1992 London Monarchs program from the World League of American Football

London Monarchs / England Monarchs

February 16, 2024

The London Monarchs were a franchise in the NFL’s World League developmental spring league during the 1990’s. The World League initially consisted of both North American and European Clubs when it debuted in 1991. The Monarchs won the first World Bowl that spring, defeating the Barcelona Dragons before 61,108 fans at Wembley Stadium. The original World League went dark in 1993 & 1994 before returning as a Europe-only circuit in 1995. The Monarchs of 1995-1998 failed to recapture the victories or the big crowds of the original World League days. The team moved unpredictably among a series of smaller soccer stadiums before disbanding for good in June 1998.

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1998-99 Colorado Gold Kings Program from the West Coast Hockey League

Colorado Gold Kings

February 13, 2024

The Gold Kings were a Colorado Springs minor league hockey outfit that skated four seasons in the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) between 1998 and 2002. The franchise’s origin story followed a winding route back to Fairbanks, Alaska with the formation of the Fairbanks Teamsters senior amateur hockey team in 1975. Although Colorado Springs was a hockey hotbed and boasted a brand new $59 million arena in 1998, the Gold Kings struggled to carve out a niche and disbanded after four seasons in 2002.

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1993-94 Dallas Freeze Central Program from the Central Hockey League

Dallas Freeze

February 6, 2024

The Dallas Freeze were one of six founding members of the Central Hockey League (CHL) upon that circuit’s creation in 1992. The CHL was a revival of an earlier league of the same name that played in many of the same cities between 1963 and 1984. The Dallas Black Hawks (1967-1982) were a league power in the old CHL. Like the Black Hawks before them, the Freeze played at Fair Park Coliseum in South Dallas. The Freeze struggled to draw interest and the team’s financial outlook deteriorated further when the NHL Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas before the Freeze’s second season. The CHL, which owned all of its member clubs at the time, decided to fold the Freeze after three seasons in the spring of 1995.

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2000 Mobile Seagulls Program from the Indoor Professional Football League

Mobile Seagulls

February 1, 2024

The Mobile Seagulls were a short-lived indoor football promotion that played parts of two summer seasons in the coastal Alabama city in 2000 and 2001. The Gulls played in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 2000 and moved to the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2001. The team disbanded midway through its second season in July 2002.

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