The Sunshine Hockey League ( SuHL ) was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 to 1995. The league was based in Florida and consisted of five teams in its inaugural 1992–93 season . Each team's initial head coaches were former NHL players including Bill Nyrop, West Palm Beach; Rocky Saganiuk, Daytona Beach; Jim Mikol, Lakeland Warriors; and Lou Francheschetti, Jacksonville Bullets.
10-585: The St. Petersburg Renegades, led by Jim McGeough as player-coach, joined the league after the season had already begun. In the 1993 final, the West Palm Beach Blaze defeated the Jacksonville Bullets in a three-game sweep for the Sunshine Cup. The league founders, who were adamant in the initial season not to include "professional" in the name of the league, suggested a high-level junior program
20-593: The Southern Hockey League , they were reformed as the West Palm Beach Barracudas but were unable to duplicate their success, finishing with a losing record. They folded along with the league after one season, when their home venue, the Coliseum was closed to the public and sold. This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
30-862: The 1994 final, the West Palm Beach Blaze again defeated the Jacksonville Bullets in a three-game sweep for the Sunshine Cup. In its final season of 1994–95 , the league included the Fresno Falcons. This was an unusual addition, since all of the teams in the Sunshine Hockey League were based in Florida and the Falcons' home ice was located in California. Fresno had difficulty finding any competitive teams in California to compete with and agreed to fly
40-650: The NHL Montreal Canadiens, as the Blaze in 1992. One of the inaugural franchises of the Sunshine Hockey League , a league with six teams mostly based in Florida . They dominated the Sunshine Hockey League, finishing with the best record and winning the championship in each year of the league's existence, defeating the Jacksonville Bullets each time in the finals. After the Sunshine Hockey League transformed into
50-606: The NHL, AHL, and ECHL. West Palm Beach Blaze The West Palm Beach Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in West Palm Beach, Florida . They played in the Sunshine Hockey League , later renamed the Southern Hockey League , from 1992 to 1996. They played their games at the West Palm Beach Auditorium . The team was founded, by two Montana ranchers, Jim King and Bill Nyrop, formerly of
60-560: The SHL teams to California to get the Western League started. Fresno played 16 games that season and was not included in postseason play. In the 1995 final, for the third consecutive year, the West Palm Beach Blaze defeated the Jacksonville Bullets in a three-game sweep for the Sunshine Cup. Goaltender Kelly Dyer , one of five females to ever play professional hockey in North America, played in
70-472: The SHL with the West Palm Beach Blaze from 1993 to 1995. In three seasons with the team, she made 15 appearances, and went 4-0-0 with a 6.75 GAA. Dyer also joined the Daytona Beach SunDevils on a winter trip to France and Italy to compete in an international tournament that Daytona's former head coach, Constant Priondolo, and their GM, Dave MacPherson, put together. Dominic Delannoy, majority owner of
80-628: The SunDevils, was a former French national team player. The tournament was held in Briancon, France, with games in Gap, Toulon and Nice. In 1995, the league expanded outside of Florida and changed its name to the " Southern Hockey League ". With the city of West Palm Beach selling its coliseum to a national religious group, the league was left with only a merger to continue. Many SHL players went on to careers in Europe,
90-600: The team's proximity to the National Hockey League 's (NHL) Tampa Bay Lightning , who announced a move from Expo Hall to the Florida Suncoast Dome until their new arena was built in downtown Tampa. The Renegades had issues with the ability of the Bayfront Center to make and keep professional caliber ice. The team was losing the battle for fan support, as an average of 889 people attended their games. In
100-467: Was better suited to the cities due to the lack of quality dates and virtually no practice rinks in the state. Despite the obvious attendance problems and lack of facilities in the state to grow the sport, the team owners, in a heavily disputed move, continued in the professional ranks, changed leagues names and eventually folded. The 1993–94 season saw the St. Petersburg Renegades franchise fold mainly because of
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