Missouri

Missouri is a state in the central United States.

Its population is about 6,100,000.

Its capital is Jefferson City and the largest city is Kansas City.

History of hockey in Missouri

On January 4, 1899, the St. Louis Ice Palace opened. The first ice hockey game at the rink was played on January 19, with the All-Canadians facing Washington University. The St. Louis Hockey Tournament began, with six teams competing, on February 28. The All-Canadians won. The St. Louis Hockey League was established for the 1899-1900 season. It ran until 1903, when the Ice Palace closed. The St. Louis World's Fair Hockey Club journeyed to Houghton, Michigan in late January 1903, and got blasted by the strong Portage Lakes Hockey Club, 13-0 and 10-1. Cleveland and St. Paul also visited St. Louis that winter. In December 1903, the World's Fair Hockey Club returned to Houghton, where they were again destroyed by Portage Lakes, 21-0 and 24-0.

The Auditorium Ice Rink opened on the site of the former Ice Palace in December 1908, and hockey was revived in St. Louis. Only a few games were played in the winter of 1908-09, a Winnipeg team and the Illinois Athletic Club notably visiting the city. The first hockey game of the 1910 season in St. Louis was arranged for February 3, the West Ends facing the Crystals. After this, hockey was dormant until the St. Louis Winter Garden opened on November 25, 1916. The St. Louis Hockey League began play in January 1917. After a year off, hockey was again played at the Winter Garden in 1919-20 and 1920-21, before disappearing again.

On January 23, 1926, the St. Louis Winter Garden team defeated Concordia Seminary 4-2 in a game played as part of an ice carnival in Springfield, Illinois. On January 2, 1927, the first ice hockey game to be played in St. Louis since 1921 took place outdoors on the Grand Basin in Forest Park, as part of the Silver Skates Ice Carnival, the Chicago Athletic Association edging a picked St. Louis side 3-1. St. Louis beat a picked Springfield, Illinois, team 1-0 as part of an ice carnival in the latter city on the 22nd.

The Kansas City Pla-Mors debuted in the American Hockey Association for the 1927-28 season, and were renamed the Greyhounds in 1933. The Greyhounds became the Americans in 1940, and remained in the league until 1942. The Pla-Mors (1945-1949), Mohawks (1949-50) and Royals (1950-51) later played in the United States Hockey League. The Kansas City Blues competed in the Central Hockey League from 1967-1972 and 1976-77, and the Red Wings played in it from 1977-1979. The Kansas City Scouts played in the National Hockey League from 1974-1976. The Kansas City Blades were members of the International Hockey League from 1990-2001, and the Outlaws played in the United Hockey League in 2004-05.

The St. Louis Flyers joined the American Hockey Association for the 1928-29 season, playing in the league until folded in 1942. The Flyers later competed in the American Hockey League from 1944-1953. The St. Louis Eagles spent one season (1934-35) in the National Hockey League. The Toledo Mercurys of the International Hockey League played some home games in St. Louis in 1959-60, and were known as the Toledo-St. Louis Mercurys that year. The Greater St. Louis Senior Hockey League was contested from 1965-1978. The St. Louis Metro Junior B Hockey League was formed in 1975. The Heart of America Amateur Hockey Association began play in Kansas City in 1962-63. On April 15, 1967, the Kansas City All-Stars lost 11-4 to the Omaha Amateurs. The All-Stars were composed of players from the King Louie Knights, Kansas City Jets, WHB Canadiens, and the Kansas City Black Hawks.

The Syracuse Braves of the Eastern Professional Hockey League moved to St. Louis on January 1, 1963, and finished the season in the city. The St. Louis Braves then played in the Central Professional Hockey League from 1963-1967. The St. Louis Blues have played in the NHL since 1967, and won their first Stanley Cup in 2019.

The Missouri River Otters, from St. Charles, played in the IHL from 1999-2006, and the St. Charles Chill competed in the Central Hockey League in 2013-14. The Missouri Mavericks, based in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, played in the Central Hockey League from 2009-2014, and have been members of the ECHL since 2014.

The St. Louis Billikens formerly played college hockey at the NCAA Division I level from 1970-1979.

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US Capital: Washington, D.C.

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