The gold-and-black clad Hornets were Toledo’s International Hockey League franchise of the early 1970’s. The Hornets replaced the IHL’s previous Toledo club, the Blades, the fall of 1970. Owner Paul Bright moved the Blades franchise to Lansing, Michigan in the spring of 1974. The IHL responded less than a week later by awarding a new expansion club to Toledo, the Goaldiggers, to begin play that October.
International Hockey League (1992-2001) Born: March 31, 1992 – The Muskegon Lumberjacks announce they will relocate to Cleveland following the 1991-92 season. Folded: May 23,
International Hockey League (1974-1986) Born: May 16, 1974 – IHL expansion franchise Folded: 1986 First Game: October 18, 1974 (W 4-1 vs. Lansing Lancers) Last
The International Hockey League’s Quebec Rafales set up shop at Le Colisee in 1996, replacing the recently departed Nordiques of the National Hockey League. For a minor league, the IHL offered a high quality of play. But by the late 1990’s the 50-year old circuit was unraveling following a continent-wide orgy of expansion earlier in the decade. The Rafales went out of business after two seasons of play in 1998.
The Vipers were owned by Palace Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. For a time in the mid-to-late 1990’s, Vipers games at the suburban Palace at Auburn Hills were a popular take in hockey-crazed Detroit. By 1999 the Vipers claimed 24 of the top 25 single-game crowds in the 50+ year history of the IHL.
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