Mississippi
Mississippi is a state in the Deep South region of the United States. Mississippi has 82 counties and a total population of almost 3 million and is 48,434 square miles making Mississippi the 35th most populous and 32nd largest state in the US. The state name derives from the Mississippi River that runs along the western border of the state. The term Mississippi derives from Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning "great river."
History of hockey in Mississippi
The first ice hockey game in Mississippi was played on December 18, 1962, at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, between two Eastern Hockey League teams. An estimated crowd of 4,000 watched the Nashville Dixie Flyers edge the Knoxville Knights 6-5. There were plans for the two sides to meet again in Jackson on January 23, 1963, but the game was cancelled as ice and snow in Tennessee prevented them from traveling to Mississippi. On November 20, Knoxville blasted Nashville 7-3 at the Coliseum. On February 12, 1965, the Minneapolis Bruins edged the Tulsa Oilers 2-1 in a Central Hockey League game in Jackson. Two days later, the Omaha Knights beat the Bruins 5-4.
Mississippi landed their first professional franchise in 1996, when the Mississippi Sea Wolves, based in Biloxi, were founded and joined the ECHL. The team remained active until 2009, missing the 2006 and 2007 seasons due to arena damages from Hurricane Katrina. The Tupelo T-Rex played in the Western Professional Hockey League from 1998-2001, and later had a junior franchise in the America West Hockey League from 2001-2003.
The Jackson Bandits played in the ECHL from 1999-2003. Starting in 2000, the Memphis RiverKings played their home games at the Landers Center (formerly DeSoto Civic Center) in Southaven, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis. The team changed its name to the Mississippi RiverKings in 2007. Another team in Biloxi, the Mississippi Surge, were active from 2009-2014. A second incarnation of the Sea Wolves joined the Federal Prospects Hockey League in 2022.
Youth and adult hockey is also played in Biloxi. A youth program dated back to the Mississippi Sea Wolves era, but went dormant after the Surge left Biloxi in 2014, before being revived in 2018 with the formation of the Gulf Coast Aces. There is also a youth program at the Mid-South Ice House in the Memphis suburb of Olive Branch.
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