The Toledo Goaldiggers were a minor 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 ...

club based in Toledo, Ohio, from 1974 to 1986. They played in the International Hockey League (IHL) and held their home games at the

Toledo Sports Arena Toledo Sports Arena was a 5,230-seat multi-purpose arena at 1 Main Street, Toledo, Ohio. It was built in 1947 and demolished in 2007. As a concert venue, it seated 6,500, for theater concerts and stage shows, 4,400 and for boxing and wrestling, ...

on the east side of Toledo. Prior to the Goaldiggers, Toledo had two minor league franchises: The Mercurys (1947–1962) and Blades/Hornets (1963–1974).

History

During their 12-year history, the Goaldiggers qualified for the post season 10 times, reaching the playoff finals six times (1975, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983 and 1984) winning four

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

playoff championships (1975, 1978, 1982, and 1983). Also, the "Diggers" won two regular season championships (Fred A. Huber, Jr. Memorial Trophy) finishing with the most points in the IHL two consecutive seasons (1981–82 and 1982–83). In 1981,

Bill Beagan William Thomas Beagan (born December 1, 1937) is a Canadian retired ice hockey administrator and ice hockey referee. He served in the Canadian Army for thirteen years, before refereeing in the National Hockey League (NHL) for two seasons. He ...

became a partial owner and the general manager of the Goaldiggers. Under his management, the team won Turner Cup championships during the 1981–82 IHL season and the 1982–83 IHL season. After the 1985–86 season the franchise was forced to suspend operations due to financial difficulties and poor attendance. The dormant franchise was eventually sold to Russ and Diane Parker and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where they became the

Kansas City Blades The Kansas City Blades were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (IHL) from 1990 until 2001, when the league folded. The Blades were based in Kansas City, Missouri, at Kemper Arena. Team history Russ and Diane Pa ...

in 1990.

Season-by-season record

Franchise records

All-time leaders

References

External links