The Jacksonville Lizard Kings 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 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 ...

. Formerly known as the

Louisville Icehawks The Louisville Icehawks were a professional ice hockey team competing in the East Coast Hockey League. The team, based in Louisville, Kentucky, played from 1990 to 1994. Their home venue was Broadbent Arena at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The ...

, they played in the

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 ...

(ECHL) from 1995–2000. They played their home games in 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 ...

History

The Lizard Kings began play in the

as the

, based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. They played in Louisville from 1990 until 1994, but suspended operations after the 1993–94 season, and the organization decided to relocate to

. The team, now rebranded as the Jacksonville Lizard Kings, promoted themselves in their new city with a substantial marketing campaign, including television ads featuring a goalie catching a puck with a lizard tongue. They faced some competition from another local hockey team, the

Jacksonville Bullets The Jacksonville Bullets were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the Sunshine Hockey League, later renamed the Southern Hockey League, from 1992–1996. They played their games at Jacksonv ...

, but were able to secure a lease to the

, and became Jacksonville's only professional hockey team when the Bullets folded in 1996. Despite their advertising the Lizard Kings were not able to cover their operating costs, and lost $2.2 million over four years. The management determined they would not be viable in the aging Jacksonville Coliseum, and decided to suspend operations in 2000 in anticipation of the construction of 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 ...

. The team eventually ceased operations. In 2002 a new team, the

Jacksonville Barracudas The Jacksonville Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were established in 2002, and played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002–2003), the World Hockey Association 2 (2003–2004), ...

, began play in the Coliseum and secured a contract for the new arena, completed in 2003.

References

{{ECHLdefunct Defunct ECHL teams Ice hockey teams in Florida Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey teams in Jacksonville, Florida Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliates 1995 establishments in Florida 2000 disestablishments in Florida Ice hockey clubs established in 1995 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2000