The El Paso Buzzards were a 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 in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

and were members of the

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 ...

and

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. They played their home games at

El Paso County Coliseum El Paso County Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in El Paso, Texas. It opened on May 21, 1942 and was built originally to support a rodeo and livestock show, but later expanded to cater other types of events. A variety of events th ...

. The team was founded by Jim Burlew, Dave MacPherson and John Kettle, who brought in Rich Szturm to run the ice operations and start a youth hockey program for the city by converting the on-site Equestrian Centre at the Coliseum to a full-time NHL-sized rink. The team was one of the original members of the Western Professional Hockey League starting in 1996, winning the league's first two championships in the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. Those teams were coached by Todd Brost, a former member of Canada's Olympic hockey team. In 2000, the team was sold to West Texas Hockey Management Inc., headed by Bill Davidson. In 2003, the Buzzards were the first former WPHL team to fold after the WPHL was bought by the Central Hockey League in 2001. During the team's final season, the players were locked out of its home arena after owner Bill Davidson failed to pay rent. By March 2003, the team declared bankruptcy after losing its radio deal and missing payroll causing the front office to resign. Davidson would also be charged with stealing 14 pairs of players' skates at the end of the season. Hockey would not return to El Paso until the

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team, the

El Paso Rhinos The El Paso Rhinos are a junior ice hockey organization based in El Paso, Texas. Their home games are played at the County Events Center located within the El Paso County Coliseum complex. The Rhinos are members of the South Division of the Tie ...

, joined the

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 19 ...

as an expansion team in 2006.

References

Defunct Central Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in Texas Ice hockey clubs established in 1996 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2003 1996 establishments in Texas 2003 disestablishments in Texas Ice hockey teams in Texas Sports in El Paso, Texas {{Texas-sport-team-stub