Cleveland Lumberjacks
March 27, 2013
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,
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Category: International Hockey League
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Toledo Goaldiggers
February 15, 2013
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
Quebec Rafales
September 14, 2012
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.
Detroit Vipers
April 7, 2012
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.
Denver Grizzlies
March 1, 2012
The Denver Grizzlies hockey team is an anomaly in our One-Year Wonders category, a fraternity of defunct teams typically defined by chaos, dysfunction and insolvency. But the Grizzlies, an International Hockey League club owned by veteran minor league baseball operator David Elmore and Donna Tuttle, were a roaring success both on the ice and at the box office.