Florida Panthers
FHN Fiesta Bowl Special: The Hockey History of Mississippi
With the Miami Hurricanes playing Ole Miss tonight in the Fiesta Bowl, someone asked, ‘has Mississippi ever had a professional hockey team?’
Well yes.
Yes they have.
The University of Mississippi is, without much doubt, the biggest sports team in the state — although Mississippi State fans (and, those from Southern Miss, Jackson State, etc.) would argue that as opinion and not fact.
What is not much doubt is that Mississippi’s sports culture is dominated by its college teams and not professional ones.
The Magnolia State has not only had pro hockey teams — but enjoyed some success on the ice.
The Mississippi Sea Wolves, for instance, played in Biloxi for about 15 seasons although it did have to stop play for a couple of years due to Hurricane Katrina.
The Sea Wolves played in the ECHL and won the Kelly Cup in 1999.
The Jackson Bandits also played in the ECHL from 1999-2003.
If Miami Wins Tonight, Tkachuk Says Sharks Game Time Should Be Changed
The Sea Wolves ECHL team officially folded in 2009 but came back in a prospects league and are now known as the Biloxi Breakers.
The state has also had teams in the SPHL (Mississippi Surge, Mississippi RiverKings), and WPHL (Tupelo T-Rex).
As for Miami, professional ice hockey started not far from the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables with the Tropical Hockey League in 1938 — although it was a short-lived four-team league, it did inspire the Florida Panthers’ Winter Classic uniforms.
The city of Miami was also the original home of the Panthers (1993-98) and also hosted the Miami Matadors of the ECHL during the 1998-99 season before it disbanded due to low interest.
The Miami Manatees of the WHA2 also lasted one season in 2003.
The Panthers, you may have heard, returned to Miami last Friday for a game in Little Havana.
It was only a one-game thing, but it was pretty successful.
So, if anyone brings up hockey while watching tonight’s Fiesta Bowl … now you can talk about the Sea Wolves and the Bandits.
ON DECK: GAME No. 43
FLORIDA PANTHERS at MONTREAL CANADIENS
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Bell Centre, Montreal
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 931 or 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Canadiens won 4-0
- This Season (Canadiens lead 1-0) — At Montreal: Thursday; April 7. At Florida: Canadiens 3, Panthers 2 OT (Dec. 30).
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 58-43-11, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Ottawa Senators, 7
