Long Beach Ice Dogs
| 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 |
| Owner(s) | 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 Championships | 1 (1997–98) |
The Long Beach Ice Dogs were a professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season.
The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Diego Gulls, a team in the now-defunct International 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 the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the team was on the move again after just one season, this time to Long Beach, California, where it retained the "Ice Dogs" name and played at the Long Beach Sports Arena. During the team's time in the IHL, it was coached by John Van Boxmeer. The Ice Dogs lost the 1997 IHL Turner Cup finals 4-games-to-2 against the Detroit Vipers. The Ice Dogs were also the first professional sports franchise to ever broadcast their full season (1997–98) schedule on the internet at Broadcast dot com with Ted Sobel calling the play the play for all five of their IHL seasons in Long Beach.
In 2000, Barry Kemp, the television executive who had become the team's owner, withdrew the team from the IHL and moved it to the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL), where it remained until the league was folded in 2003 by the member clubs, which were then admitted into the East 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 the HealthSouth Training Center, owned by the Los Angeles Kings, when the Long Beach facilities were being used as garage space for the Champ Car Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach during the ECHL playoffs.
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