The Asheville Smoke were a minor professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team in the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

. Home games were played in the

Asheville Civic Center The Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville, previously known as the U.S. Cellular Center and originally as the Asheville Civic Center Complex, is a multipurpose entertainment center, located in Asheville, North Carolina. Opened in 1974, the compl ...

in Asheville, North Carolina.

Team history

The team played in Asheville, North Carolina, from 1998 to 2002. The Smoke were coached by

Keith Gretzky Keith Edward Gretzky (born February 16, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player who served as interim general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, from January 23 to May 7, 2019. He is a brother of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. ...

from 1998 to 2000. Prior to the 1998 relocation to Asheville, the team was known as the

Brantford Smoke The Brantford Smoke were a minor professional ice hockey team in the Colonial Hockey League and the United Hockey League. They played in Brantford, Ontario, from 1991–92 (the league's inaugural season) until 1997–98, playing home games at th ...

. The closest rival of Asheville were the Knoxville Speed. Original employees of the team included majority team owner and president Dan Wilhelm and assistant general manager Jeff Young. In three of their four seasons played, the Smoke finished with a near 0.500 record each season. In the 2000 season, the team recorded 45 wins against 22 losses, and made it to the championship before losing to the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named after the Mallards team ...

. Overall, in four seasons, the team recorded a record of 151 wins and 129 losses. The Civic Center facility was considered outdated which was a challenge for the team, and while other teams using the facility were allowed to keep the concession revenues, the Smoke had to turn these funds over to the city. A similar arrangement existed with the facility fee. Further, the 2002 bankruptcy of their geographic rival in Knoxville left the team with no nearby teams in the league. Smoke owner Dan Wilhelm also had a minority ownership in the Speed, which was primarily owned by his brother Andrew Wilhelm. Sharing the facility also resulted in the Smoke's games being given less than optimal time slots. Attendance during the inaugural season averaged 3,362 but fell to just over 2,500 in the 2001–02 season, ranking 11th out of the 14 UHL teams. An attempt to hold a raffle to help the team finish the 2001–02 season raised legal concerns. Despite efforts to save the team, the franchise folded in 2002. However, the team's successes led to the creation of the Asheville Aces in 2004 as a member of the more regional Southern Professional Hockey League. Although the team was active in Asheville for four seasons, they inspired at least two popular local songs: "Asheville Smoke" by GFE and "Blood On The Ice" by The Monsters of Japan.

References

External links

The Internet Hockey Database - Asheville Smoke
Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey teams in North Carolina Ice hockey clubs established in 1998 Sports clubs disestablished in 2002 {{NorthCarolina-sport-team-stub