Jacksonville Lizard Kings
Encyclopedia
Jacksonville Lizard Kings were a professional minor league ice hockey
team based in Jacksonville, Florida
. Formerly known as the Louisville Icehawks
, they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1995–2000. They played their home games in the Jacksonville Coliseum.
. They played in Louisville from 1990 until 1993, but suspended operations during the 1993-94 season, and the organization decided to relocate to Jacksonville, Florida
.
The team, now rebranded as the Jacksonville Lizard Kings, promoted themselves in their new city with a substantial marketing campaign, including television ads featuring a goalie catching a puck with a lizard tongue. They faced some competition from another local hockey team, the Jacksonville Bullets
, but were able to secure a lease to the Jacksonville Coliseum, and became Jacksonville's only professional hockey team when the Bullets folded in 1996. Despite their advertising the Lizard Kings were not able to cover their operating costs, and lost $2.2 million over four years. The management determined they would not be viable in the aging Jacksonville Coliseum, and decided to suspend operations in 2000 in anticipation of the construction of the new Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
. They never returned; in 2002 a new team, the Jacksonville Barracudas
, began play in the Coliseum and secured a contract for the new Arena, completed in 2003.
The Lizard King General managers were Jeff Brubaker, Larry Lane, and Shawn Hegan. The head coaches were Jeff Brubaker, Bruce Cassidy
1996-98, Brian Curran 1998-99, and Alain Lemieux 1999-2000. Past players over the years included Andy MacIntyre, Eric Cloutier, Kurt Mallett, Rick Bennett, Tobias Ablad, Jason Clark, Mike Hall, Doug Evans, David Cunniff, Ronald Ozolinsh, Tim Chase, James Mooney, Steve Vezina, Marc Yakabuski, Marc Salsman, Craig Lutes, Patrick Clement, Shane Doyle, Mick Kempffer, Jon Bonvie, Jason Smith, Johan Slirg, Stan Dovan, Brian Massa, and Dan Carney.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team based in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Formerly known as the Louisville Icehawks
Louisville Icehawks
The Louisville Icehawks were a professional ice hockey team competing in the East Coast Hockey League. The team, based in Louisville, Kentucky, played from 1990-1994. Their home venue was Broadbent Arena at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The mascot was called Tommy Hawk, a play on tomahawk, and...
, they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1995–2000. They played their home games in the Jacksonville Coliseum.
History
The Lizard Kings began play in the East Coast Hockey League as the Louisville Ice Hawks, based in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. They played in Louisville from 1990 until 1993, but suspended operations during the 1993-94 season, and the organization decided to relocate to Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
.
The team, now rebranded as the Jacksonville Lizard Kings, promoted themselves in their new city with a substantial marketing campaign, including television ads featuring a goalie catching a puck with a lizard tongue. They faced some competition from another local hockey team, the Jacksonville Bullets
Jacksonville Bullets
The Jacksonville Bullets were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the Sunshine Hockey League, later renamed the Southern Hockey League, from 1992–1996...
, but were able to secure a lease to the Jacksonville Coliseum, and became Jacksonville's only professional hockey team when the Bullets folded in 1996. Despite their advertising the Lizard Kings were not able to cover their operating costs, and lost $2.2 million over four years. The management determined they would not be viable in the aging Jacksonville Coliseum, and decided to suspend operations in 2000 in anticipation of the construction of the new Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
The Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena is a 15,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Jacksonville, Florida. It was built in 2003 as part of Mayor John Delaney's Better Jacksonville Plan to replace the outdated Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum....
. They never returned; in 2002 a new team, the Jacksonville Barracudas
Jacksonville Barracudas
The Jacksonville Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were established in 2002, and played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League , the World Hockey Association 2 , and the Southern Professional Hockey League , before folding in 2008.They won...
, began play in the Coliseum and secured a contract for the new Arena, completed in 2003.
The Lizard King General managers were Jeff Brubaker, Larry Lane, and Shawn Hegan. The head coaches were Jeff Brubaker, Bruce Cassidy
Bruce Cassidy
Bruce James Cassidy is a former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks...
1996-98, Brian Curran 1998-99, and Alain Lemieux 1999-2000. Past players over the years included Andy MacIntyre, Eric Cloutier, Kurt Mallett, Rick Bennett, Tobias Ablad, Jason Clark, Mike Hall, Doug Evans, David Cunniff, Ronald Ozolinsh, Tim Chase, James Mooney, Steve Vezina, Marc Yakabuski, Marc Salsman, Craig Lutes, Patrick Clement, Shane Doyle, Mick Kempffer, Jon Bonvie, Jason Smith, Johan Slirg, Stan Dovan, Brian Massa, and Dan Carney.