The Brantford Smoke were a minor 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 Colonial Hockey League and the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

. They played in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, from 1991–92 (the league's inaugural season) until 1997–98, playing home games at the Brantford Civic Centre. They won the Colonial Cup in 1993, beating the St. Thomas Wildcats in a series that included a bench brawl in a game in St. Thomas. Prominent players included goalie Mark Laforest, who played 98 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 ...

, and Cory Banika, who was called up to play for the St. John's Maple Leafs of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. In 1998, they moved to

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, as the Asheville Smoke.

References

Defunct ice hockey teams in Ontario Sport in Brantford Ice hockey clubs established in 1991 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1998 1991 establishments in Ontario 1998 disestablishments in Ontario Calgary Flames minor league affiliates {{ontario-icehockey-team-stub