Tag: Colorado Springs World Arena

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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1999 Rocky Mountain Thunder Program from the Indoor Professional Football League

Rocky Mountain Thunder

February 26, 2023

The Rocky Mountain Thunder was an indoor football team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that played one season in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) during the summer of 1999. The IPFL was a small league of just six members that season, with other franchises in Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Players were primarily local guys and paychecks were modest at $200 per game. The Thunder played at the $59 million World Arena, which had opened just a year earlier.

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