The Shreveport Mudbugs are a Tier II junior

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

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, as a member of the

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 new Mudbugs replaced a former professional team that played in the area from 1997 to 2011 known as the

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were a professional ice hockey team which played in the Bossier City- Shreveport metropolitan area of Louisiana. From 1997 to 2001, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were members of the Western Professional Hockey Le ...

History

From 1997 to 2000, Shreveport, Louisiana was home to a professional hockey team in the

Western Professional Hockey League The Western Professional Hockey League (abbreviated WPHL) is a defunct minor professional ice hockey league. The WPHL operated from 1996 to 2001 with teams based in the southern United States, primarily Texas and Louisiana. The league started with ...

(WPHL) named the

Shreveport Mudbugs The Shreveport Mudbugs are a Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a member of the North American Hockey League. The new Mudbugs replaced a former professional team that played in the area from 1997 to 2011 known as ...

. In 2000, the Mudbugs relocated to nearby

Bossier City Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

to play out of

CenturyTel Center The Brookshire Grocery Arena (formerly CenturyLink Center, CenturyTel Center, and Bossier City Arena) is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in Bossier City, Louisiana. The naming rights were purchased by the company Brookshire Grocery Group of ...

and changed their name to the

. The Mudbugs then joined 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 ...

in 2001 when the WPHL merged with the CHL. The professional Mudbugs would eventually fold in 2011 citing low attendance and financial issues even though the team had just won the league championship. In October 2015, it was announced that a new Mudbugs team would return for the 2016–17 season after signing a 12-year lease agreement with the Louisiana State Fairgrounds and returning to Hirsch Coliseum but as a member of the Tier II junior

. On April 8, 2016, the Shreveport Mudbugs were officially announced as an expansion team in the NAHL. Former

player, Karlis Zirnis, was named the team's first head coach. In their second season, the Mudbugs finished first in the South Division at the end of the regular season and played their way through the

Robertson Cup 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 ...

playoffs to take the NAHL championship in 2018. Following the season, head coach Zirnis left the team to take an assistant coaching position with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Shreveport Mudbugs
(Official website) {{Louisiana Sports 2016 establishments in Louisiana Ice hockey clubs established in 2016