The Arkansas GlacierCats were a short-lived
minor-league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
hockey team located in
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
.
The Arkansas GlacierCats were a
Western Professional Hockey League
The Western Professional Hockey League (abbreviated WPHL) is a defunct minor professional ice hockey league.
The WPHL operated from 1996 to 2001 with teams based in the southern United States, primarily Texas and Louisiana. The league started with ...
(WPHL) franchise in
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
. The team was owned by
Ed Novess and
Dan Hart of
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
and they played in the WPHL during the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons. Home games were played at the old
Barton Coliseum
Barton Coliseum is a 7,150-seat multi-purpose arena located within the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock, Arkansas. .
The GlacierCats were popular in their first year but were forced to suspend operations permanently in April 2000 largely due to competition by the
Arkansas RiverBlades of the
East Coast Hockey League
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The E ...
who played at the newly opened
ALLTEL Arena
Alltel Wireless was a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before acquisitions by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, it served 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition ...
in
North Little Rock
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...
, directly across the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
from downtown Little Rock.
References
Defunct companies based in Arkansas
Sports in Little Rock, Arkansas
Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States
Ice hockey teams in Arkansas
1998 establishments in Arkansas
2000 disestablishments in Arkansas
{{LittleRockAR-stub