For some of us it was the Monarchs, for others the Ice Caps or maybe the Generals or Checkers. How many other people on here were followers of the minor league teams coming up?

I remember when the Monarchs were affiliated with the Panthers and then forced to leave Greensboro b/c the Hurricanes were on their way to town. This also effectively killed the Ice Caps, which really upset me at the time cause the Ice Caps were pretty awesome. Also used to go to Monarchs games when we lived there when I was very small.

Wasn't there a team in Winston-Salem that was in the ECHL as well?

2/20/2009 6:59:23 PM

fayetteville force!

2/20/2009 7:00:34 PM

catzor destroyed my Monarchs miniature stick with a Sharpie (he got a Packers helmet and Spirits bat too). I still have a puck around here somewhere.

RockOnn made an older couple uncomfortable by screaming profanities during a Twin City Cyclones game a few years ago

Quote :

"Wasn't there a team in Winston-Salem that was in the ECHL as well?"

The Thunderbirds

[Edited on February 20, 2009 at 7:17 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2009 7:13:32 PM

LETS GO CHECKERS

2/20/2009 7:17:58 PM

Thunderbirds moved to Wheeling WV when I was like 7, and they have been there ever since....and doing very well. I remember going to those games wishing I could be a hockey player but youth hockey wasn't big in WS so I got fucked and played soccer instead like a true douche bag.

2/20/2009 9:34:30 PM

LYLE WILDGOOSE!

2/20/2009 9:36:26 PM

I loved going to Checkers games when I was a kid, especially since I grew up a Rangers fan, so I kept up with guys as they rose into the NHL.

I miss the old Checkers logo though



[Edited on February 21, 2009 at 2:05 AM. Reason : -]

2/21/2009 2:03:17 AM

CHARLOTTE CHECKERS, 1996 RILEY CUP CHAMPIONS

2/21/2009 2:18:01 AM

Quote :

"LYLE WILDGOOSE!"

I remember my first Ice Caps game and he was playing. There was a really drunk guy with a mullet who kept asking for him to go in. Ice Caps games at Dorton were amazing.

2/21/2009 11:02:10 AM

i swear i remember there being fog delays at dorton arena. that's what happens you play in a place designed for livestock shows.

Also, I remember being present for a hatty from ...

Quote :

"LYLE WILDGOOSE!"

2/21/2009 4:25:10 PM

There were indeed fog delays at Dorton from time to time. Also, daytime practices featured the center circle melting because the sun would shine directly on it. Wildgoose and Jimmy Powers, among others, are still around here.

2/21/2009 4:30:53 PM

I'm going to the Checkers game tonight. w00t for free tickets! This will be the first Checkers game I've see at the Time Warner Cable Arena. I loved seeing games at the old Charlotte Coliseum (aka Independence Arena aka Cricket Arena aka Bojangles' Coliseum ). There was just something unique to that building, and the old wooden seats epitomized the fun no frills nature of minor league hockey.

2/21/2009 4:46:51 PM

Here's my wish:

-the Everblades leave Florida due to the decline in the economy there due to the housing bubble
-they move to Greensboro and rename themselves the Monarchs again
-they still affiliate w/ the Canes

I'd get season tickets.

My only Ice Caps game was a real experience. There was about 1,000 people in attendance on a Sunday night against the Richmond Renegades so me and some friends got to sit behind the 'Gades bench. Taunts didn't help, the Caps lost by a lot.







[Edited on February 21, 2009 at 4:57 PM. Reason : /]

2/21/2009 4:48:54 PM

Wildgooooooooose! God those were fun games.

2/21/2009 5:32:55 PM

bttt

5/10/2009 1:49:57 PM

I remember being pissed as shit when the Greensboro Monarchs changed their name to the Carolina Monarchs for the AHL

that was some bullshit

5/10/2009 3:49:46 PM

I grew up going to Hershey Bears games.

5/10/2009 4:18:02 PM

Winston-salem now has the polar twins. I went to a game last year, pretty entertaining.

5/10/2009 8:17:43 PM

man when the monarchs left i was distraught.....we used to go to almost every game

5/10/2009 8:25:22 PM

turn to Versus for some minor league hockey right now

5/10/2009 8:48:54 PM

ZING!

5/10/2009 9:47:48 PM

Quote :

"Winston-salem now has the polar twins. I went to a game last year, pretty entertaining."

they went bankrupt

5/22/2009 12:46:55 PM

This song came up on my shuffle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68uWGunx3yQ



When I was younger I thought the Johnstown Chiefs were the same team as the one in Slapshot. They always beat the IceCaps

6/26/2009 5:10:24 PM

The Johnstown Chiefs ARE the ones from Slap Shot.

6/26/2009 5:13:56 PM

You know, I always figured the Charlestown Chiefs were entirely made up like the rest of the teams. I mean, the teams in that movie are all NY teams (Syracuse, Long Island, etc) so I for some reason thought it was a fictitious NY team, but IMDB says they filmed it in Johnstown so I guess you're right and I'm just stupid

edit: actually wikipedia says they used players from the Johnstown JETS, who were in the North American Hockey league and went under in 1977, so technically they aren't the same team! the hansons played for the jets.

[Edited on June 26, 2009 at 5:20 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2009 5:18:03 PM

My gf in high school babysat for quite a few of the players so I went to a lot of Force games

never been to a Fireantz game though

6/26/2009 5:22:30 PM

Yes, but the Chiefs play in the War Memorial, and recognize all of the Jets' records and retired numbers.

6/26/2009 5:23:42 PM

I used to go to Icecaps and Monarchs games all the time before they moved. The zambonis at Dorton Arena had black tires.

6/26/2009 6:41:14 PM

Three teams in Knoxville between 1988 and now: Knoxville Cherokees, Knoxville Speed, and the Knoxville IceBears. All in played in the crappy POS known as the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Only 100 ice level seats, while the other 7,000 were 10 feet above the ice. Like the Five County Stadium of hockey.

6/26/2009 10:30:25 PM