IHL

[sportsfan2004]

Will the International Hockey League ever come back? if it had teams in Peoria Mustangs, River City Lancers, Youngstown Phantoms, Joilet, IL, Grand Rapids Griffins, Vancouver Giants, Kansas City, KS, Tri-City Americans, Prince Albert Raiders?

[Y2KOMETS32]

we'll never see the IHL again.

[SuperSonicStuart]

The IHL folded in 2001 and 6 teams from the IHL moved to the AHL and the others folded.

[nksports]

Will the International Hockey League ever come back? if it had teams in Peoria Mustangs, River City Lancers, Youngstown Phantoms, Joilet, IL, Grand Rapids Griffins, Vancouver Giants, Kansas City, KS, Tri-City Americans, Prince Albert Raiders?

I'd rather see the Dayton Gems (the greatest minor league hockey team of all time, at least when I was a kid), Troy Bruins, Fort Wayne Komets, Toledo Golddiggers, Cincinnati Mohawks, Kalamazoo Wings, Flint Generals, Muskegon Zephyrs, Saginaw Gears, Port Huron Flags, Columbus Checkers, Windsor Hettche Spitfires and Marion Barons.

OK, OK, I'm living in the past here.

[chdahs]

most of those teams still exist.

Dayton is now the Bombers

FT Wayne, K-Zoo, PH AND Flint HAVE retained their names, and the Flags are back.

Toledo remains as the Storm

[nksports]

most of those teams still exist.
Dayton is now the Bombers
FT Wayne, K-Zoo, PH AND Flint HAVE retained their names, and the Flags are back.
Toledo remains as the Storm

But it just isn't the same — no drunk fans stacking up their beer cups on the side of the wall at Hara Arena on a 10¢ beer night. No two-hour delays due to broken down buses. No waiting for the hockey game to break out between the fights. No players banned for life (remember Willie Trognitz). No teams shutting down after the auto plants shut down, making 3/4 of the fan base unemployed (the demise of most of the Michigan-Ohio teams in the late 70s-early 80s.) You even had the odd player making it from your podunk little town to the NHL.
While it wasn't all good in the old IHL (it was a lot like minor league hockey today only without the glitter), it was a lot of fun. There were bloody fights and live organists. The rinks smelled like hockey rinks (kind of a stale sock smell).
There was a lot that was hokey in the movie "Slapshot" but it had the feel of what hockey back then was like. It was a marginal business, but a heck of a lot of fun.

[jwalters]

I never got to go to an IHL game but I used to watch the Detroit Vipers on t.v. all the time. To this day the IHL is still my favorite hockey league. I like the NHL but the old IHL games just seemed to be so much more important. Bring it back!