The Jacksonville Bullets 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 played in the

Sunshine Hockey League The Sunshine Hockey League (SuHL) was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 to 1995. The league was based in Florida and consisted of five teams in its inaugural 1992–93 Sunshine Hockey League season, 1992–93 ...

, later renamed the Southern Hockey League, from 1992–1996. They played their games at

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 ...

and Skate World, now known as Jacksonville Ice & Sportsplex.

History

The Bullets were founded in 1992 as one of the inaugural franchises of the

, a start up league with six teams mostly based in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. They were the first

team to be based in Jacksonville in nearly twenty years, since the

Jacksonville Barons 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 ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

had folded in 1974. They played alternately at the

and Skate World, a skating rink on Jacksonville's

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...

. In 1993 GM Nick Durbano brought in former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

goaltender Doug Keans as Head Coach and Assistant Coach David Baker. The team played barely above the .500 mark in its first season, yet found themselves in the 1993 Sunshine Cup final under coach Doug Keans. In the final the Bullets lost to the powerhouse

West Palm Beach Blaze The West Palm Beach Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in West Palm Beach, Florida. They played in the Sunshine Hockey League, later renamed the Southern Hockey League, from 1992 to 1996. They played their games at ...

. Though often successful on the ice the Bullets struggled with attendance and finances throughout their run. In 1994 they were bought by the owners of Skate World, one of whom was

Bob Sabourin Robert Patrick Sabourin (March 17, 1933 – July 9, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager. A left winger, he played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL), for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1 ...

, who had been the coach of Jacksonville's first professional hockey team, the

Jacksonville Rockets The Jacksonville Rockets were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1964–1972, when they folded. They were the first professional hockey team to be based in Flo ...

. They remained in the league when its name was changed to the Southern Hockey League in 1995. However, their difficulties in attracting fans were exacerbated that year with the arrival of another hockey team, 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 ...

. The Lizard Kings played in the more formidable

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

and had a substantially more effective marketing campaign, and were able to lease the Coliseum for their games. The Bullets managed to survive through the season, but folded along with the league at the end of the 1995–96 season. The ECHL Club followed suit a year later and folded.

Miscellaneous

The radio play-by-play announcer for the Jacksonville Bullets was Howard Brigance, who was one of the founders of amateur hockey in the Jacksonville area. Brigance also did play-by-play announcing for the nearby

. Brigance died due to a heart attack on November 29, 2004. He was 65 years old.

References

{{reflist Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Sports teams in Jacksonville, Florida Ice hockey teams in Florida Sunshine Hockey League teams Southern Hockey League (1995–96) teams 1992 establishments in Florida 1996 disestablishments in Florida Ice hockey clubs established in 1992 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1996