The Vermilion County Bobcats 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 in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

, that began play in the 2021–22 season as a member of the

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the mid ...

. They ceased operations effective February 9, 2023.

History

Danville has a history of hosting hockey teams going back to the

Danville Dashers The Danville Dashers were a semi-professional ice hockey team that played in Danville, Illinois, United States, at the David S. Palmer Arena. Originally, the Dashers played in the Continental Hockey League (1972–1986), Continental Hockey Leagu ...

of the semi-professional Continental Hockey League of the early 1980s, and the junior

Danville Wings The Danville Wings were a Tier I ice hockey team that played the North American Hockey League from 1994 until 2003 when they moved to the United States Hockey League for the 2003–04 season. After that season, the team was relocated to Indianapol ...

of 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 ...

between 1994 and 2004, and another

of the

Federal Prospects Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. D ...

(FPHL) between 2011 and 2020. The FPHL Dashers elected to not participate in the 2020–21 season due to the ongoing restrictions during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On March 9, 2021, the operators of the

David S. Palmer Arena The David S. Palmer Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Danville, Illinois, that has a seating capacity of 4,750 for concerts and 2,350 for sports. It was built in 1980. Palmer Arena is the home for the Eastern Illinois University ice hockey club. A ...

held a meeting to determine whether to keep the FPHL Dashers as a tenant or give a contract to a new team. The operators decided to void their contract with the Dashers and go forward with a new team owned by Ellen Tully, a local business owner and hockey photographer, called the Vermilion County Bobcats in the

(SPHL). The SPHL announced the Bobcats an expansion franchise on March 10. The team initially hired Brent Hughes as head coach in June 2021, but by August he still could not travel out of Canada due to border crossing restrictions during the pandemic. They then hired former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

as its head coach. The Bobcats had to postpone their opening weekend set of games scheduled for October 15 and 16 at home against the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

after the ice conditions at Palmer Arena were deemed unsuitable. The Bobcats played their inaugural game on the road in a 3–2 loss to the

Quad City Storm The Quad City Storm is a professional minor league hockey team to begin play in the 2018–19 season as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The team is based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, with home games at the Vi ...

on October 23. Head coach Watt left the team on October 28 after a 0–4 start and was replaced by Nick Niedert on November 2 before the team's home opener on November 4. The Bobcats replaced Niedert with

David Ayres David Ayres (; born August 12, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current Head Coach of the Port Perry Lumberjacks of the Provincial Junior Hockey League. He achieved fame as the first emergency backup goaltender ...

in April 2022. Ayres made his professional coaching debut at the Ford Center against the

Evansville Thunderbolts The Evansville Thunderbolts are a minor league ice hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League. The team plays at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The team replaced the Evansville IceMen of the ECHL. History During the 2015� ...

in a 7–4 loss. On February 5, 2023, the Bobcats were scheduled to host the

, but no Bobcats players or coaches were in the arena. The Storm were awarded a forfeit win. This was the 77th loss in the Bobcats' 86 total games to date. The Bobcats officially ceased operations on February 9, 2023. With this, Vermillion County has finished with a 9-70-7 record, having the worst record in SPHL history, and one of the worst in the entire history of professional hockey.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Defunct ice hockey teams in Illinois Defunct Southern Professional Hockey League teams Vermilion County, Illinois Ice hockey clubs established in 2021 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2023 2021 establishments in Illinois 2023 disestablishments in Illinois