The Jacksonville Barracudas were a professional

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 Nor ...

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 based in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. They were established in 2002, and played in the

Atlantic Coast Hockey League The Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL) was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey. The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the team who won the league playoff championship. Acco ...

(2002–2003), the

World Hockey Association 2 The World Hockey Association 2 was a minor professional ice hockey league created at the instigation of the organizers of the proposed recreated World Hockey Association to serve as its development league. The WHA2 teams — some of which had ...

(2003–2004), and the

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the mid ...

(2004–2008), before folding in 2008. They won the WHA2 championship title in 2003 – becoming the only Jacksonville pro hockey team to win a league championship – and went to the playoffs three times in the SPHL, advancing to the league finals in 2007 and 2008. They ceased operations after the 2007–2008 season after being unable to secure a suitable venue for the upcoming season.

History

ACHL and WHA2

The Barracudas began play in the second

(ACHL) in the 2002–03 season. Their original owner was David Waronker, who owned three other teams in the league. Jacksonville's first professional hockey team since the

Jacksonville Lizard Kings The Jacksonville Lizard Kings were a professional ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formerly known as the Louisville Icehawks, they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1995–2000. They played their home games in the J ...

folded in 2000, they played their first home games at the

Jacksonville Coliseum The Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum (originally and still commonly known as the Jacksonville Coliseum) was a multi-purpose arena located in Jacksonville, Florida. Built in 1960 and known as "northern Florida's most historic concert venue ...

. However, the ACHL's instability caused Waronker to lose confidence in the league. After the season, he announced he was withdrawing his four teams and creating a new league, the

(WHA2), which he envisioned as a developmental league for a proposed revival of the World Hockey Association. Though the revived WHA never took the ice, the WHA2 did play its 2003–04 season. Jacksonville became the fledgling league's most successful team, taking the regular season title and being the only team to draw an average of over 3,000 fans per game.Stott, p. 187. They began the season in the old Jacksonville Coliseum, and moved to the new

Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (originally Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Jacksonville, Florida. It currently serves as the home arena of the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL, the Jacksonville Giants o ...

when it was completed. However, the WHA2, which was largely controlled by Waronker, struggled. The Barracudas beat Miami two games to one and then swept Macon two games to none bringing Jacksonville its only professional hockey championship. Shortly thereafter the WHA2 collapsed, and many of its teams joined the new

(SPHL).

SPHL

In 2004, a group of Jacksonville investors organized to purchase the Barracudas from Waronker and join the newly formed SPHL. The team ended the 2004–05 season with a third-place finish and a semi-final loss in the playoffs, and finished the 2005–06 season at the bottom of the SPHL standings. Attendance was modest in the first two years in the SPHL; they drew an average of just below 3,000 in 2005–2006. The Barracudas improved both their record and their attendance the following season; under new coach Rick Allain, they finished the regular season sixth in the league with a 25–24–7 record. This qualified them for the 2007 playoffs, where they defeated the

Columbus Cottonmouths The Columbus Cottonmouths were a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is nicknamed the Snakes and played their home games at the Columbus Civic Center. In 2017, the team suspended operations after failing to find a new ...

3–1 in the semi-final series, vaulting Jacksonville into the SPHL Finals for their first time. They were ultimately defeated by the

Fayetteville FireAntz The Fayetteville Marksmen are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They currently play in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) and play their home games in the Crown Coliseum. The team, orig ...

3–1 in the finals series. Their on-ice success, combined with schedule changes that allowed them to play more home games after

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

season, saw their attendance improve measurably for the 2006–07 season. Still, however, management at the 8,500-seat Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena worried that the team's revenues were too low to justify the expense of setting up the facility for ice hockey. After the season, the Arena proposed an increase in the Barracudas' yearly lease that was beyond what the team could afford. For the 2007–08 season, they relocated to

Jacksonville Ice Community First Igloo is a recreational ice rink in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to skating lessons, figure skating teams, indoor football, and recreational ice hockey, it serves as the home for the Southern Steam indoor football team. It h ...

, a local 900-seat recreational

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

. They continued their on-ice success, qualifying for the playoffs and advancing to the league finals for the second year in a row, ultimately losing to the

Knoxville Ice Bears The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Ice Bears have made the playoffs ...

. However, the new venue was too small for the team to be financially viable, and unable to secure any other arena lease, the Barracudas suspended operations after the season. While team officials believed that an arena of between 3,000 and 6,000 seats would allow the team to be viable, the Barracudas have not returned to the ice since.

Championships

Notes

References

External links

The Southern Professional Hockey League website
{{Florida Sports Defunct Southern Professional Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2008 Ice hockey clubs established in 2002 Ice hockey teams in Jacksonville, Florida Ice hockey teams in Florida Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002–03) teams World Hockey Association 2 teams 2002 establishments in Florida 2008 disestablishments in Florida