The Topeka Tarantulas were a professional minor league

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

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

. They were a member of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and played their home games at

Landon Arena The Stormont Vail Events Center, formerly known as Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas. Previously, the Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association, Kansas Koyotes indoor football ...

. The team was established in 2004 when the

Indianapolis Ice The Indianapolis Ice were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that played in the International Hockey League from 1988 to 1999 and in the Central Hockey League from 1999 to 2004. Their original home arena ...

moved to Topeka from

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. The Tarantulas played one season and then folded. The Tarantulas were preceded by the

Topeka Scarecrows The Topeka Scarecrows were a professional ice hockey team located in Topeka, Kansas, playing their home games at Landon Arena. The team was a member of the Central Hockey League from their founding in 1998 until 2001 when there franchise was term ...

, who played in the CHL from 1998 to 2001; another franchise also named the Topeka Scarecrows subsequently played in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

from 2001 to 2003. The Tarantulas went 16-39-0-2-3 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) in their only season and then folded in 2005."Topeka Tarantulas", 2004–05 Season Stats, www.hockeydb.com Topeka was without hockey at any level until 2007 when the

Topeka RoadRunners The Amarillo Wranglers are a junior ice hockey#Tier II, Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The team's home arena is the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas. History Lone Star Cavalry The Lon ...

began play in the Tier II junior

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

. The RoadRunners moved to Kansas City in 2020.

References

Defunct Central Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Sports in Topeka, Kansas Ice hockey teams in Kansas Ice hockey clubs established in 2004 Sports clubs disestablished in 2005 2004 establishments in Kansas 2005 disestablishments in Kansas {{Kansas-sport-team-stub