The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

History

The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor league baseball

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. During their last five years of existence, the team was owned by John Bellanti who had previously owned the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portugues ...

of the original Major Indoor Soccer League. The team's attendance was always in the top five of the league until its last season, and they had their record high attendance year in 1993–1994 season with an average attendance of 8,435 fans. The major stars of the team were the Pikuzinski brothers,

Rudy Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

and

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

, who rank sixth and ninth on the all-time points list. The team colors were blue, purple, black, and white, and the team mascot was a dog Spyke who rode a four-wheeler. The team never won a playoff series. The NPSL ceased operation in 2001 and several of its remaining teams formed the Major Indoor Soccer League, but the Blizzard declined to participate and folded at that time.

Year-by-year record

Coaches

1992–1994:

Trevor Dawkins Trevor Dawkins (born 7 October 1945) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He spent seven seasons in the Football League, five in South Africa, and seven in the United States, most in indoor league ...

1994–1996: Jim May
1996–1997:

George Fernandez George Fernandez is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He coached in both the Continental Indoor Soccer League and NPSL and was the 1994 CI ...

1997–1998:

Carlos Salguero Carlos Salguero (10 June 1955 – 26 December 2006) was an Argentine professional football forward. He died aged 51 from cancer in 2006. He spent one season in the North American Soccer League, one in the United Soccer League and nearly ten i ...

1998–1999: Jim May
1999–2001:

Paul Kitson Paul Kitson (born 9 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as in the Football League with Leicester Cit ...

Players

Rudy Pikuzinski Rudy Pikuzinski (born August 9, 1959) is a former U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He was a three time American Indoor Soccer Association MVP and served as an assistant coach his last year as a player. Yo ...

1992-2000 *

Randy Pikuzinski Randy Pikuzinski (born June 9, 1965) is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League and United Soccer League. Pikuzinski, and his brother Rudy, learned soccer ...

1992-2001

Year by year average game attendance

*1992/93: 7,068 *1993/94: 8,435 *1994/95: 7,283 *1995/96: 6,364 *1996/97: 7,974 *1997/98: 7,834 *1998/99: 7,068 *1999/00: 6,587 *2000/01: 4,635

References

Sports in Buffalo, New York Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) teams Association football clubs established in 1992 Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) 1992 establishments in New York (state) 2001 disestablishments in New York (state) Association football clubs disestablished in 2001 {{NewYork-footyclub-stub