The Louisville Icehawks 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 h ...
team competing 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 ...
. The team, 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 ...
, played from 1990 to 1994. Their home venue was
Broadbent Arena at the
Kentucky Exposition Center
The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956. It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with of indoor ...
. The mascot was called Tommy Hawk, a play on
tomahawk
A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...
, and resembled
The San Diego Chicken
The San Diego Chicken, also known as The Famous Chicken, the KGB Chicken or just The Chicken, is a sports mascot played by Ted Giannoulas.
History Origin
The character originated in 1974 in an animated TV commercial for KGB-FM Radio in San Diego. ...
, but with coloration and costume matching the team's. Tommy Hawk was "banned" from the inside portion of the arena for a period of time, due to an altercation with a visiting player who was in the
penalty box
The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...
. In the 1995–96 season, the team was renamed and moved to Florida to become 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 ...
.
For a period of time the Louisville Icehawk's parent team/NHL Affiliate were the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Trevor Buchanan was a player for the Icehawks that spent a great deal of time in the penalty box, thus spawning his own fan club.
Playoffs
*1990–91: Defeated
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
3–0 in quarterfinals; lost to
Greensboro
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...
4–0 in semifinals.
*1991–92: Defeated
Toledo 4–1 in first round; received quarterfinals bye; defeated
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
3–1 in semifinals; lost to
Hampton Roads 4–0 in finals.
*1992–93: Did not qualify.
*1993–94: Defeated
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
2–1 in first round; lost to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
3–0 in quarterfinals.
File:Icehawksjersey.JPG, Icehawks replica jersey
See also
*
Sports in Louisville, Kentucky
Sports in Louisville, Kentucky include amateur and professional sports in baseball, football, horse racing, horse shows, ice hockey, soccer and lacrosse. The city of Louisville and the Louisville metropolitan area have a sporting history from the ...
Defunct ECHL teams
Ice hockey teams in Kentucky
Ice hockey clubs established in 1990
Sports clubs disestablished in 1994
Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States
1990 establishments in Kentucky
1994 disestablishments in Kentucky
Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliates
{{Louisville-sport-stub