The Phoenix Roadrunners 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 Nort ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the International Hockey League. The team was housed at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The team played in the IHL from 1989 to 1997. The IHL Roadrunners were named for a

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

team of the same name. The IHL Roadrunners used a similar skating cartoon bird logo as the WHA team with different colors, without the outline of the state of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. In 1996, the original

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

relocated to Phoenix, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes, now the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

. After one year competing with the Coyotes for fans, the Roadrunners folded at the end of the 1996-97 season. Coincidentally, the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, share the name and similar logo to the displaced IHL team.

Notable NHL alumni

List of Phoenix Roadrunners alumni who played more than 100 games in Phoenix and 100 or more games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. * Dan Bylsma * Ken McRae * Brent Thompson

References

1989 establishments in Arizona 1997 disestablishments in Arizona Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey clubs established in 1989 Defunct ice hockey teams in Arizona International Hockey League (1945–2001) teams Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1997 Sports in Phoenix, Arizona {{US-icehockey-team-stub

Notable NHL alumni

See also

References