The Tacoma Rockets were a

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

(WHL) from 1991 to 1995. They played at the Tacoma Dome in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

. The Rockets were granted as an expansion franchise, and were named after the defunct professional team of the same name.

After the 1994–95 season, low attendance forced the team to move to

Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word '' ...

after only four seasons, where they became the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The R ...

. While the Rockets drew high attendance numbers when they played the

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in acc ...

, they did not draw as well with other teams. The Tacoma Dome was not well-suited for hockey as the risers for the seats were too shallow, making the sightlines bad for hockey.

Franchise history

Marcel Comeau Marcel Comeau (born March 1, 1952) is a Canadian ice hockey scout, and former player, coach, and National Hockey League team executive. He played eleven seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL), where he was the league's top scorer an ...

was hired to be the first coach of the Rockets, and stayed with the team all four seasons. The 1991–92 season marks the first season of the expansion side Rockets, who began play in the Tacoma Dome, one of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

's largest hockey arenas. The inaugural Rockets blasted their way to one of the most memorable inaugural seasons in the 25-year history of the

. Attendance of 14,975 and 15,240 at two heated contests against their then arch rival, the

. This assisted the Rockets in chalking up the highest per game average for a first year expansion team under the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey ...

umbrella. In 1992–93, the Rockets startled everyone in the league by winning 24 straight home games for an all-time Western Hockey League record. Tacoma held first place in the West Division for three months and finished with a promising 45–27–0 season. Head coach

won the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL coach of the year, and the CHL Coach of the Year Award as well. In addition to their winning streak, the Rockets home record of 36–6–0 and collecting 37 more points than the previous year, proved them serious contenders in the WHL. Once again the Rockets attendance of 13,769 saw them defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 in win number 24, marking the third largest crowd in the history of the WHL. Three Rockets won best in the WHL West. Goaltender, Jeff Calvert – Most Valuable Player;

Michal Sykora Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Juda ...

– Most Valuable Player; and Jamie Black selected as Most Sportsmanlike Player. The 1993–94 season marked the year of transition for the Rockets, with the graduation of high scoring veteran

Allan Egeland Allan Egeland (born January 31, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was drafted in the third round, 55th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Egeland was born in Lethbridge, Alberta. Playi ...

, a solid forward, Trever Fraser, and netminder, Jeff Calvert. The Rockets' third season also brought forward some of the league's best rookies and a phenomenal base of nine NHL drafted players. Six alone were selected in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, bringing the total to thirteen Rockets drafted in three seasons. Rockets finished third in the Western Hockey League with a 33–34–5 record. With a strong finish in the 1993–94 season, the Rockets strove to compete at a higher level of excellence. They launched their third season boasting size in defense and the strength of nine NHL draft picks. Adding the skill and talent of one of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

's top young forwards, Vaclav Varada, who slotted 50 points and tied the team's rookie scoring record.

Todd MacDonald Todd MacDonald (born 1973 in British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian Australian actor who is best known for his roles on the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and the drama series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and '' Rush''. MacDonald graduated in 1996 from ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home g ...

draft choice, became the team's top goalie, nominated for the Best in the West award. Veteran Dallas Thompson became team

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. This combination brought the Rockets to a second-place finish in the West.

Season-by-season records

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

NHL alumni

References

{{Defunct WHL Defunct Western Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Sports in Tacoma, Washington Ice hockey teams in Washington (state)