The New Orleans Brass were a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

team in the

ECHL 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 ...

from 1997 to 2002. The team was at one time affiliated with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

. Home games were played first at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium (until October 29, 1999) and then at the

New Orleans Arena Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to Caesars Superdome. The arena opened in 1999 as New Orleans Arena and ...

. In 2002, the NBA's

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

moved to New Orleans and became the primary tenant in the arena. The

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

(now the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

) pressured the state of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, which owns the arena, into demanding that the Brass bear the expense of converting the arena to and from basketball and hockey as a condition of staying in the arena. The expense was more than the Brass' ownership was willing to pay. The Municipal Auditorium had recently replaced its floor, and in the process removed its ice plant. Without a suitable home, the Brass folded. The only head coach of the Brass was

Ted Sator Ted Sator (born November 18, 1949) is an American professional coach (ice hockey), ice hockey coach. He has twelve seasons of National Hockey League (NHL) coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach for various teams and head coach of the N ...

. The team's first GM was Larry Kish, who was succeeded by Dan Belisle. Future New Orleans mayor

Ray Nagin Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Ka ...

was a co-owner and president of the team. The Brass made the playoffs every year, winning three series, two in the 1998–99 season (the same season the Brass earned its worst record), and one in the 2000–01 season, putting the Brass in the conference semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. The principal rivals of the Brass were the Louisiana IceGators and the

Mississippi Sea Wolves The Mississippi Sea Wolves are a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and play in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves are members of the FPHL. They are a revival of a team by the same name that played in the ECHL, ma ...

(Biloxi, MS). The

Baton Rouge Kingfish The Baton Rouge Kingfish were a minor professional ice hockey team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a member of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996 after relocating from Erie, Pennsylvania, where they had played ...

were another, intrastate rival for the Brass. The team's games were broadcast in New Orleans on radio station WSMB (now

WWWL WWWL (1350 AM, "The Bet New Orleans") is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a sports gambling format. The station's studios are located at the 400 Poydras Tower in Downtown New Orleans. T ...

). The first radio voice of the Brass was Steve Carroll, who is now the radio voice of the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

Season results

Sources:

Playoffs

*1997–98: Lost to

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

3–1 in first round. *1998–99: Defeated

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

2–0 in first round; defeated

3–2 in second round; lost to

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, a Native American tribe that historically inhabited the region. His ...

3–1 in quarterfinals. *1999–00: Lost to Augusta 2–1 in first round. *2000–01: Defeated Augusta 2–1 in first round; lost to

3–2 in second round. *2001–02: Lost to

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

1–0 in first round. Sources:

References

External links

Archive of the Brass website
Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Defunct ECHL teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Sports clubs disestablished in 2002 1997 establishments in Louisiana 2002 disestablishments in Louisiana Ice hockey teams in Louisiana Nashville Predators minor league affiliates San Jose Sharks minor league affiliates {{NewOrleans-stub