Sports stats



Time Runs Out for Iggys

June 26, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
San Antonio Iguanas News Release


SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - San Antonio Iguanas General Manager Rick Carden announced today that the Iguanas have requested and were granted a one-year suspension of operations from the Central Hockey League. "We have worked very diligently to procure something for this season, but with it already being well into the month of June and still we are without a finalized ownership group, it would be impossible and unfair to continue operating," said Carden. "I am very disappointed but can certainly hold my head up knowing that we as an organization with support from the league and our wonderful owner did everything possible to make this work for this season." The Iguanas played last season in the Freeman Coliseum but had their lease expire following the 2001-02 season. A season that saw the Iguanas finish 40-16-8 on the ice, the fourth highest point total in the 16-team Central Hockey League. In the stands, the Iguanas were also successful as one of the main tenants for the coliseum, drawing over 150,000 fans in 32 home dates averaging just under 5,000 fans per game, third highest average in the league. The upcoming season was to be the eighth for the Iguanas in the city of San Antonio. In seven previous seasons, the team had drawn 1,074,870 fans (an average of just under 5,000 per game). "This also hits hard because of the strides the organization was making to re-establish the Iguanas in the city after the disastrous ice wars of a few years ago," Carden continued. During the 1996 season, the International Hockey League decided to play in the Alamo City despite the presence of the Iguanas and it caused much confusion and set the sport of hockey back several seasons in San Antonio. The period of time was typically called the "Ice Wars" by many of the hockey fans in the city. History does sometimes repeat itself, as the Iguanas once again would face the challenge of another hockey team from another league playing during this upcoming season further complicating and over saturating the established hockey market in San Antonio. Carden knows this decision will have an impact on many people. "The amount of work and effort to brand Iguanas hockey can not be overlooked. We had an amazing staff, great players and tremendous fans that will all no doubt have heavy hearts because of this decision but it was the only one that could be made after many recent attempts to garner investors fell short. We had a deal in place with the Alamodome with numbers that would have been very workable for the next few seasons and felt we had an agreement in place with a potential ownership group a few weeks ago but somewhere things just fell through the cracks"

The loss of the Iguanas also has an effect on the Central Hockey League who will be losing one of the top markets in their league. With the announcement by the Iguanas, the CHL will play the 2002-03 season with 16 teams including franchises in Austin, Corpus Christi, Laredo, San Angelo and Fort Worth. "Based upon the current market climate in San Antonio, the decision has been made to suspend the Iguanas' operation for the coming season. The Central Hockey League will continue to work in conjunction with San Antonio Iguanas ownership and management to best evaluate all options available to the franchise for the 2003/2004 season," said CHL President Brad Treliving. The possibility does exist for the Iguanas to return to the CHL. As they will work diligently to secure a stable ownership group for the future and explore all options within the confines of the city of San Antonio and in the surrounding areas. "I really do hope the Iguanas are able to make yet another comeback in the San Antonio area because of the loyalty and support our fans have shown," said Carden. "Not just any brand of hockey will do for our following, it is the Iguanas that they wanted to see."

• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...

Central Hockey League Stories from June 26, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent San Antonio Iguanas Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central