The Colorado Gold Kings, previously known as the Alaska Gold Kings, were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

professional

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 ...

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 based in Fairbanks,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, and later

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The Gold Kings were members of the

West Coast Hockey League The West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the Western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Id ...

History

Amateur and semi-professional days (1975–1995)

The Gold Kings were founded in 1975 as an amateur

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

team in Fairbanks as the Alaska Teamsters. The Teamsters hockey team were the brainchild of Gary Atwood, father of hockey playing sons, and then head of the Fairbanks Teamsters Local 959. Wanting a higher level of ice hockey for local youth to aspire to, and to provide Fairbanks with a sports institution that could compete with Anchorage, Atwood helped form the team in 1975. In 1977, the stockholders met and formed the Fairbanks Gold Kings. The name was created by Joe Jackovich of Jackovich Tractors and Equipment Co. in homage to the gold mining history of Fairbanks, the Alaska Goldpanners baseball team, and his favorite NHL team the Los Angeles Kings. The team's name was again later changed to the Alaska Gold Kings.Zarnke, Randy
"Alaska Gold Kings named to Fairbanks Hockey Hall of Fame"
''

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner The '' Fairbanks Daily News-Miner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Denali Borough, Alaska, Denali Borough, and the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Yukon-Koyukuk Census ...

'', February 12, 2011. (accessed 14 June 2015) Between 1983 and 1995 the Gold Kings won five national championships at the senior men's level, and routinely played the powerhouse teams from the Lower 48 and Canada. From the 1980s until 1994 the Gold Kings played primarily as members of the semi-professional Pacific Southwest Hockey League (PSHL). While in Fairbanks the Gold Kings once hosted their own international tournament, the Alaska Cup, facing the likes of Team

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and Team

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. They also were the American representatives in the 1990 Tournoi du Mont-Blanc, a traditional tournament played around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

in several

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

resorts. During the 1994–95 season the Gold Kings played in the short-lived

Pacific Hockey League : ''For the 1990s semi-professional ice hockey league, see Pacific Hockey League (1994).'' The Pacific Hockey League was a low-level minor professional hockey league that existed for two seasons in 1977–78, and 1978–79. Its member teams from Ca ...

, winning the league's only championship.Pacific Hockey League (1994-1995) history and statistics
hockeyDB.com. (accessed 11 June 2015)

WCHL Alaska Gold Kings (1995–1997)

In 1995, the Gold Kings along with two other former PHL teams, the

Fresno Falcons The Fresno Falcons are an adult travel inline hockey team and were a minor league hockey team. The ice hockey Falcons were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey Leagu ...

and Anchorage Aces (now Alaska Aces) became members of the newly formed professional

. The Alaska Gold Kings made their only WCHL playoff appearance during the inaugural 1995–96 season, losing in the first round to the eventual champion

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Anaheim Ducks. The team plays its home games at Pechanga Arena. History On Jan ...

. The team suspended operations after a last place finish in 1996–97 and did not play in the 1997–98 season.

Colorado Gold Kings (1998–2002)

In 1998, the Gold Kings relocated to Colorado Springs and became the Colorado Gold Kings. In its four seasons in Colorado the team fared better than it did in Alaska by qualifying for the postseason every year, but still failed to move past the second round of the playoffs. The Colorado Gold Kings folded after the 2001–02 season.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes'' Final records.Hockeydb.com
Colorado Gold Kings Statistics and History
/ref>

References

{{Reflist Defunct ice hockey teams in Colorado Sports in Colorado Springs, Colorado West Coast Hockey League teams 1997 establishments in Colorado 2002 disestablishments in Colorado Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2002 Defunct sports clubs and teams in Colorado