Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system.
The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the United States and Canada. The league was headquartered in Rochester, Michigan, and, in its last year, consisted of seven teams. It folded in 2010, with most of its teams joining the Central Hockey League. The Central Hockey League teams still operating in 2014 were then added to ECHL. The only former CoHL/UHL/IHL teams still active as of 2022 are the Fort Wayne Komets and Kalamazoo Wings.
The SPHL is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the midwestern United States.
The Adirondack Frostbite were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Glens Falls, New York, and were a member of the United Hockey League (UHL). They played their home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The Winston-Salem Polar Twins were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Polar Twins were launched in the 2004–05 season of the Southern Professional Hockey League, playing home games at the LJVM Coliseum Annex. The Polar Twins folded after the inaugural season.
The Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL) was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey. The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the team who won the league playoff championship.
The Carolina Thunderbirds were a professional ice hockey team located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The Thunderbirds played their home games at the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum before the arena was demolished in 1989. The team played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1981 to 1987, the All-American Hockey League during 1987–88 and finally moved into the newly created East Coast Hockey League in 1988.
The Greensboro Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Monarchs joined the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) as an expansion franchise prior to the start of the 1989–90 season and surrendered the franchise back to the league when the Monarchs ownership obtained an expansion franchise in the American Hockey League (AHL) at the conclusion of the 1994–95 ECHL season.
Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,200 people and was eventually replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989. It was home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team from 1956 to 1989, though from 1959 onward the Deacons played many of their games at the Greensboro Coliseum as well.
The Southern Hockey League was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league that operated from 1973 to 1977. The league was formed when the Eastern Hockey League split in two; the southern teams became the Southern Hockey League, and the northern teams became the North American Hockey League. It was the first professional hockey league to operate wholly within the Southern United States, and followed the establishment of the Atlanta Flames in the National Hockey League; and also the Richmond Robins and the Tidewater Wings in the American Hockey League. The Southern Hockey League was a feeder league for the recently started World Hockey Association. Tedd Munchak was appointed the league's first commissioner, and was owner of the Greensboro Generals. The championship trophy of the league was named the James Crockett Cup, after local figure Jim Crockett Sr. The league disbanded during its fourth season, when four of its seven teams folded due to financial issues.
The Carolina Monarchs were a short-lived ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum, succeeding the ECHL Greensboro Monarchs, some of whose owners accepted an expansion proposal from the AHL to start play in the 1995-96 season.
The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was built in 1989. It was formerly home to the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds, Winston-Salem Mammoths, Winston-Salem IceHawks, Winston-Salem T-Birds, Winston-Salem Polar Twins, and Twin City Cyclones ice hockey teams. It also serves as an occasional concert venue, hosting Bob Dylan on two occasions, in 1991 and 2002.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Originally called the Pee Dee Cyclones, the Twin City Cyclones were a minor league ice hockey team based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They began play in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in the 2005–06 season. In the 2005–06 season, they finished sixth out of seven teams in the regular season standings, made the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the Knoxville Ice Bears. In the 2006–07 season, their final in Florence, South Carolina, the Cyclones finished in seventh place and failed to make the playoffs. They were called the Pee Dee Cyclones as the region of South Carolina around Florence that is usually named after the Pee Dee River.
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Sanctioned by USA Hockey, for most of the league's existence, the winner of the NA3HL playoffs would advance to play for the Tier III National Championship, however, this has not been held since 2015.
The Utica Blizzard were a professional ice hockey team from Utica, New York, and member of the Colonial Hockey League (CoHL) from 1994 to 1997. The Blizzard replaced the Utica Bulldogs after the team had to be taken over by the league in the middle of the previous season due to mismanagement. The Blizzard were owned by Jeff Croop and Ric Seiling was the team's first head coach, who also appeared in one of the team's games as emergency replacement player.
The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was a professional minor league ice hockey league based in the United States. The second league to bear the name Atlantic Coast Hockey League, it operated for only one season, 2002–2003, before its franchises split into two new leagues.
The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Don Kirnan is the league's commissioner. The league also occasionally branded itself as the Federal Professional Hockey League from 2015 to 2018 until it began using the name Federal Prospects Hockey League and completing the rebrand in 2019.
The Augusta RiverHawks were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Augusta, Georgia. They played in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) from 2010 to 2013. They played their home games at the James Brown Arena.
The Mohawk Valley Comets were a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York. They were a member of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1985 until the league suspended operations until 1987.
