The Edmonton Road Runners were an

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 ...

team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

. They played in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada at

Rexall Place Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and N ...

History

After the 2003–04 season the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

announced that the

Toronto Roadrunners The Toronto Roadrunners were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Ricoh Coliseum. In their only season the Roadrunners featured players such as Jani Rita, Brad Winchester, Jamie Wright a ...

would play the 2004–05 season in Edmonton, where they were based in the Oilers' own arena,

. The NHL team's decision to re-locate its affiliate to Edmonton was an unusual one for a

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 ...

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

organization, and was likely influenced by the expectation that the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

would wipe out the

2004–05 NHL season The 2004–05 NHL season was the National Hockey League's 88th season of operation. The entire 1,230-game schedule, that was set to begin in October, was officially canceled on February 16, 2005 due to an unresolved lockout that began on Septe ...

. The expectation proved accurate, as the season was officially cancelled on February 16, 2005. With no NHL hockey for the season, the team proved highly successful at the gate, finishing third in the AHL in attendance at 8,854 fans per game despite a disappointing season plagued by injury. Despite the franchise's short term success, the Oilers' owners realized that Edmonton could probably not support both NHL and AHL franchises in the long term, and Edmonton was never intended to be a permanent location for the Roadrunners. The eventual plan was to re-locate the Roadrunners to

Credit Union Centre SaskTel Centre (formerly Credit Union Centre, and originally Saskatchewan Place; informally also known as ''Sask Place'') is an arena located in the Agriplace Industrial Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. With 15,195 permanent stadium seats ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

as part of a transaction that would have re-located 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 ...

Saskatoon Blades The Saskatoon Blades are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Eastern Division of the Western Hockey League, formerly the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL). They are based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, playing at the 15,195-seat SaskTe ...

to Edmonton in exchange. However, an agreement could not be reached with the owners of the Blades. Without their backing Credit Union Centre was unavailable to the Roadrunners as the terms of the Blades' lease precludes its abrogation save for the relocation of an NHL team to the facility. As a result, the team announced on June 6, 2005 that they were requesting permission from the American Hockey League to suspend team operations. The decision was likely motivated by the improving lockout negotiations and the widespread belief that the Oilers would be back for the 2005–06 season, which was confirmed when the owners and players agreed on July 13, 2005, to a new six-year collective bargaining agreement. Though the Oilers chose first to maintain split AHL affiliations in 2005–06 and 2007–08, then make a conventional agreement with the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ariz ...

for the next three seasons, they retained the rights to the dormant Road Runners franchise. The franchise was resurrected as the

Oklahoma City Barons The Oklahoma City Barons were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team's first season was 2010–11. They played their home games at the Cox Convention Center, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. History On February 9 ...

in the 2010–11 season.

Season-by-season results

Team records

:Goals: 22 Tony Salmelainen,

Brad Winchester Bradley A. Winchester (born March 1, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger. He was selected in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 35th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers. Playing career Winchester spent two s ...

:Assists: 26

Kyle Brodziak Kyle Brodziak (born May 25, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He previously played for the Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, 214th overa ...

:Points: 46 Tony Salmelainen, Raffi Torres :Penalty minutes: 231

Rocky Thompson Rocky Lee Thompson (born August 8, 1977) is a Canadians, Canadian former ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right wing, who is currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, NHL. He was drafted in the third ...

:GAA: 2.63

Tyler Moss Tyler Moss (born June 29, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Moss played for the Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Moss played junior for th ...

:SV%: .906 Tyler Moss :Goaltending wins: 24 Tyler Moss :Shutouts: 5 Tyler Moss :Games: 80 Jeff Woywitka Affiliates *

(2004-2005)

References

External links

The Internet Hockey Database - Edmonton Road Runners
{{Defunct AHL 2004 establishments in Alberta 2005 disestablishments in Alberta Defunct ice hockey teams in Alberta Edmonton Oilers minor league affiliates Ice hockey teams in Alberta Roa Ice hockey clubs established in 2004 Sports clubs disestablished in 2005

History

Season-by-season results

Team records

See also

References

External links