The Minot Raiders are a defunct 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 which played in the

Southwest Hockey League The Southwest Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that operated in the Southwestern United States from 1975 to 1977. The Southwest Hockey League (SWHL) was established in 1975 to train players for professional leagues. Ralph Engelstad, ...

for a little under a year from 1976 to 1977.

History

The franchise was one of the original six teams and began play as the El Paso Raiders, playing out of the El Paso County Coliseum. After 37 games in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, the team's situation had worsened to the point that they could no longer continue. After the dissolution of the

Reno Broncos Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, in the Truckee River v ...

earlier in the season, Ralph Engelstad didn't want to see two of his new clubs vanish in the during the first year and moved the Raiders north to

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

on January 25. The team was able to stabilize their financial situation in the short term and finished out the year at the All Seasons Arena. A second team was placed in

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

for the start of the league's second season, which would help to alleviate travel costs following the offseason relocation of the

Butte Copper Kings In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French word , meaning ' ...

. Unfortunately, the

Bismarck Capitols The Bismarck Capitols were a semi-professional ice hockey team playing in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Capitols were members of the Southwest Hockey League The Southwest Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that operated in the Southweste ...

only lasted 20 games and the rest of the SWHL wasn't in much better shape. In the midst of the league's troubles, the Raiders were renamed as the 'Rangers' on January 12 but the new moniker lasted less than two weeks. The Rangers, along with the rest of the SWHL, permanently suspended operations on January 24.

Season record

''Combined records of the franchise'' ''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

References

{{reflist Defunct ice hockey teams in North Dakota 1976 establishments in North Dakota 1977 disestablishments in North Dakota Ice hockey clubs established in 1976 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1977