Arkansas

Arkansas is a state in the southern region of the United States. Arkansas has 75 counties and a total population of over 3 million and is 53,179 square miles making Arkansas the 34th most populous and 29th largest state in the US. The state name derives from the French pronunciation of a Kaw word meaning "people of the south wind."

History of hockey in Arkansas

The Royal Ice Palace became Arkansas's first ice rink when it opened in Little Rock in 1977. Hockey made its debut at the rink the following year. An amateur team known as the Arkansas Royal Knights played a two-game series against the Tulsa All-Stars on March 4-5, 1978, winning the first 4-3, and dropping the second 10-3. There was another team known as the Little Rock Wheels, who faced the Royal Knights in a benefit game on November 11, 1978.

In December 1978, a team of high school aged players from Oklahoma City blasted the Royal Knights 22-1. The Royal Knights beat the Dallas Raiders 4-2 on March 3, 1979. On November 5, 1980, they thumped Memphis 15-2. The Knights defeated the Memphis Eagles 10-1 on February 1, 1981, and the Oklahoma City All-Stars 14-1 on August 22 of the same year. A month later, the Knights beat OKC 16-4 and 13-5 on the road. A four team tournament was played at the Royal Ice Palace in April 1981, involving outside teams from Birmingham, Memphis, and New Orleans.

Professional hockey came to Arkansas in 1998, with the Arkansas Glaciercats joining the Western Professional Hockey League, calling Little Rock's Barton Coliseum their home. The Arkansas RiverBlades played in the ECHL from 1999-2003. Their home rink was Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. The Little Rock Wildcats were set to play in the Gulf Coast Hockey League in 2001-02, but withdrew. The Texarkana Bandits did spend that season in the league, and 2002-03 as an independent team. At the junior level, the Bandits played in the North American Hockey League from 2003-2006.

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