| Long Beach Ice Dogs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Long Beach, California |
| League | IHL (1990–2000) WCHL (2000–03) ECHL (2003–07) |
| Division | Eastern |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Operated | 1995–2007 |
| Home arena | Long Beach Sports Arena |
| Colors | Navy and gold |
| Owners | Steven Bash Ted Foxman Isaac Bash, M.D. |
| Affiliates | Anaheim Ducks,Boston Bruins,Dallas Stars,Montreal Canadiens (NHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1990–1995 | San Diego Gulls |
| 1995–1996 | Los Angeles Ice Dogs |
| 1996–2007 | Long Beach Ice Dogs |
| Championships | |
| Conference titles | 2 (1997,1998) |
TheLong Beach Ice Dogswere an American professional ice hockey team based inLong Beach, California, at theLong Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the2006–07 ECHL season.
The Ice Dogs trace their origins to theSan Diego Gulls, a team in the now-defunctInternational Hockey League (IHL), that began play in 1990. In 1995, the team moved north to become the Los Angeles Ice Dogs. Due to poor attendance at theLos Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the team was on the move again after just one season, this time toLong Beach, California, where it retained the "Ice Dogs" name and played at theLong Beach Sports Arena. During the team's time in the IHL, it was coached byJohn Van Boxmeer. The Ice Dogs lost the1997 IHLTurner Cup finals four-games-to-two against theDetroit Vipers. The Ice Dogs were also the first professional sports franchise to ever broadcast their full season (1997–98) schedule on the internet, atBroadcast.com, withTed Sobel calling the play for all five of their IHL seasons in Los Angeles/Long Beach.[citation needed]
In 2000, Barry Kemp, the television executive who had become the team's owner, withdrew the team from the IHL and moved it to theWest Coast Hockey League (WCHL), where it remained until the league was folded in 2003 by the member clubs, which were then admitted into theEast Coast Hockey League (ECHL), at the behest of owners who had interests in both leagues.
In 2005, it was forced to play first-round ECHL playoff games in theHealthSouth Training Center, owned by theLos Angeles Kings, when the Long Beach facilities were being used as garage space for theChamp CarToyota Grand Prix of Long Beach during the ECHL playoffs.
In the summer of 2006, Kemp sold the Ice Dogs to a new investment group led by Chicago businessman Ted Foxman and the Los Angeles-based brothers, attorney Steven Bash and physician Isaac Bash, M.D.[1] The new ownership group had plans to keep the team in Long Beach. The future of the team there had been uncertain because the Ice Dogs typically had the lowest average attendance in the ECHL. The new owners also planned to promoteboxing cards at the Long Beach Arena.
On October 20, 2006, the Ice Dogs reached an affiliate agreement with the NHL'sBoston Bruins.[2]
On April 20, 2007, the ECHL announced the suspension of the team's operations, citing that Foxman had informed the board that the Ice Dogs would not play in Long Beach Arena in 2007–08. The ECHL added that the team's status would be clarified at the league's next meetings in June.[3]
Team co-owner Steven Bash told thePress-Telegram that the team was losing too much money for it to continue operations. Bash added that the Ice Dogs were negotiating abuyout of the remaining five years of their lease withSpectacor Management Group, which operates the Long Beach Arena.[4]
On June 18, 2007, during the ECHL Board of Governors Annual Meeting, the Ice Dogs membership in the ECHL was immediately terminated because the Long Beach ownership group was unable to continue to operate in 2007–08.[5]
Meanwhile, former ownerBarry Kemp, after originally being awarded a new franchise forOntario, California, during the merger of the WCHL and ECHL[6] that eventually became thePhoenix RoadRunners in 2005,[7] relocated one of his other teams in 2008 to Ontario as theOntario Reign.[8][9]