The Huntsville Blast were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

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 and member of 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 ...

(ECHL). The Blast played at the

Von Braun Center The Von Braun Center (known as the Von Braun Civic Center until 1997) is an entertainment complex, with a maximum arena seating capacity of 9,000, located in Huntsville, Alabama. The original facility debuted in 1975 and has undergone several si ...

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, for the

1993–94 ECHL season The 1993–94 ECHL season was the sixth season of the ECHL. In 1993, the league saw the Roanoke Valley Rampage move to Huntsville, AL becoming the Huntsville Blast, as well as an expansion to three new markets: Charlotte, NC, North Charleston, SC ...

. Previously the franchise played as the

Roanoke Valley Rampage The Roanoke Valley Rampage were a minor league hockey franchise in the ECHL during the 1992–93 season. The Rampage played their games at the LancerLot in Vinton, Virginia. The Rampage had played from 1983–90 as the Virginia Lancers, played as ...

in Vinton,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, prior to their relocation following the 1992–93 season. Following their lone season in Huntsville, the franchise relocated to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where they were rebranded as the

Tallahassee Tiger Sharks The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1994 to 2001 as members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Tiger Sharks home rink was the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center ...

. As of February 2008, the Blast moniker has been adopted by the women's-only hockey league team in Huntsville.

References

{{ECHLdefunct Defunct ECHL teams Defunct ice hockey teams in Alabama Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 Sports clubs disestablished in 1994 Sports in Huntsville, Alabama 1993 establishments in Alabama Ice hockey teams in Alabama 1994 disestablishments in Alabama