The Danville Dashers were a semi-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 hock ...

team that played in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

, United States, at the

David S. Palmer Arena The David S. Palmer Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Danville, Illinois, that has a seating capacity of 4,750 for concerts and 2,350 for sports. It was built in 1980. Palmer Arena is the home for the Eastern Illinois University ice hockey club. A ...

. Originally, the Dashers played in the Continental Hockey League (CnHL) from 1981 to 1986. In their first season, they were coached by Gordie Gibson and were regular season and Wal-Mar playoff champions in 1981–82.

William "Chick" Chalmers William Junior Chalmers (January 24, 1934 – December 7, 1994), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played one game in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers during the 1953–54 season. The rest of his career, which l ...

was then hired as the next head coach and eventually led the team to another playoff championship in 1984. Ken Wilson then moved to Danville and became general manager and head coach from 1984 to 1986. The CnHL folded in 1986 and Danville was one of three CnHL teams that founded a new league, the

All-American Hockey League The All-American Hockey League (AAHL) was a minor professional hockey league formed in 1986 after the Continental Hockey League (CnHL) ceased operations. The league was created by the CnHL teams Danville, Dayton, and Troy adding the Downriver ...

. Simultaneously, Danville rebranded to the Danville Fighting Saints. With former NHL player

Lindsay Middlebrook Lindsay Middlebrook (born September 7, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers between 1979 ...

in goal, the Saints were league champions in the 1986–87 season. Their coach for the 1987–88 season was Robert Nagy.

Season-by-season record

References

External links

Dashers statistics

Defunct ice hockey teams in Illinois Dashers CnHL 1981 establishments in Illinois 1989 disestablishments in Illinois Ice hockey clubs established in 1981 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1989 {{Illinois-sport-team-stub