The Mississippi Sea Wolves are a professional hockey team based in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, and play in the

Mississippi Coast Coliseum Mississippi Coast Coliseum is an 11,500-seat reserved seating, 15,000 festival seating, multi-purpose arena in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was built in 1977. It hosted the WCW Beach Blast in 1993 and the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tourname ...

. The Sea Wolves are members of the

FPHL 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. ...

. They are a revival of a team by the same name that played in the

ECHL 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 ...

, making them a phoenix club. The ECHL’s Sea Wolves were founded in 1996 and had considerable success over their 10 seasons in the league. They reached the playoffs in five of their first seven years and a league championship in 1999, when they defeated the Richmond Renegades in a best of seven series to claim the

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

. Damages from

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum forced the team to suspend operations for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons under the ECHL's hardship provisions. Hurricane Katrina resulted in extensive damage to the team’s home arena, including flood damage to team offices and locker rooms as well as the ice-making equipment and two Zambonis. During the 2006–07 ECHL All-Star Game, the league officially confirmed the Sea Wolves would return in 2007–08. On March 30, 2009, the Sea Wolves announced that the organization would be suspending operations again for the 2009–10 season, but a little more than a month later the team's management announced that professional hockey would continue to be played on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the form of the Mississippi Surge in 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 midw ...

. The Surge played at the Coast Coliseum from the 2009–10 season through 2013–14. In 2021, 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 ...

hosted three neutral site games in Biloxi. Biloxi Pro Hockey sold 20,163 tickets in the month of December and an announcement was made on December 30 that the Sea Wolves would return in 2022. On April 27, 2022, the team announced Phil Esposito, a former ECHL player and winningest FPHL Head Coach, will serve as the teams first head coach in its FPHL history. After a 2-9-2 start to their inaugural FPHL season, Esposito was relieved of his duties on November 28, to be replaced by team CEO, Defenseman, and director of Hockey Operations Joe Pace Jr. as interim Head Coach/Player.

History

References

External links

Sea Wolves Home Page

{{ECHLdefunct Defunct ECHL teams Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliates Norfolk Admirals Ice hockey teams in Mississippi Arizona Coyotes minor league affiliates Los Angeles Kings minor league affiliates Minnesota Wild minor league affiliates Montreal Canadiens minor league affiliates Philadelphia Flyers minor league affiliates Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States 1996 establishments in Mississippi 2009 disestablishments in Mississippi Ice hockey clubs established in 1996 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2009 Sports in Biloxi, Mississippi