Hockey fans in Jacksonville will be getting a local team to root for as the city welcomes a new minor league team this fall.
The Jacksonville IceMen will hit the ice at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jacksonville had a previous hockey team called the Lizard Kings in the mid-'90s before the franchise was discontinued in 2000.
The IceMen will play a 36-game regular season home schedule against South Division teams from Atlanta, Cincinnati, Naples/Fort Myers, Orlando, and Greenville and Charleston, SC, as well as the rest of the 28-team ECHL, which extends from Jacksonville to Anchorage, Alaska.
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“The City of Jacksonville is thrilled to welcome the Jacksonville IceMen to our sports and entertainment landscape,” Mayor Lenny Curry said. “Jacksonville is a great sports city and we are excited about the opportunity to bring professional hockey to our Veterans Memorial Arena.”
The ECHL serves as a development league for the National Hockey League.
“Jacksonville is a natural fit for professional hockey,” said Ron Geary, who has owned the IceMen team for the past eight years in Evansville, Indiana. “We looked at the enthusiastic support current teams receive here and are excited to join them in providing Jacksonville fans with solid family-priced sports entertainment.”
Jacksonville is getting a hockey team! 🏒 More info here: https://t.co/Wp5a06bAhd pic.twitter.com/PVBI5N99g3
— Erica Simon (@EricaOnABC13) February 8, 2017
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