| 2002–03 Knoxville Ice Bears | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 record | 36-21-2 |
| Home record | 20-8-2 |
| Road record | 16-13-0 |
| Goals for | 217 |
| Goals against | 204 |
| Team information | |
| General Manager | Tommy Benizio |
| Coach | Tony Martino |
| Assistant Coach | Preston Dixon |
| Captain | Steve Zyork |
| Arena | Knoxville Civic Coliseum |
| Average attendance | 3,643 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Kevin Swider (40) |
| Assists | Jim Bermingham (43) |
| Points | Kevin Swider (80) |
| Penalties in minutes | Alex Alepin (292) |
| Plus/minus | Kevin Swider Jim Bermingham (+20) |
| Wins | Frederick Beaubien (26) |
| Goals against average | Frederick Beaubien (2.76) |
The 2002–03 Knoxville Ice Bears season was the franchise's first season in existence. The team was formed when the Knoxville Speed folded after the 2001–02 United Hockey League season.
The Knoxville Speed was a UHL team which played from 1999-2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee with home ice at the James White Civic Coliseum. They were formerly the Madison Monsters, and in April 1999 team owner Andrew Wilhelm announced that the franchise would relocate to Knoxville due to low attendance in Madison.
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 2018 are the Fort Wayne Komets and Kalamazoo Wings.
The Ice Bears played their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League. They finished with a 36-21-2 record, good for 2nd in the ACHL standings, behind the Orlando Seals. In the playoffs, the Ice Bears swept the St. Pete/Winston-Salem Parrots 3 Games to 0, but were swept by Orlando in the ACHL Finals.
The St. Pete/Winston-Salem Parrots were an ice hockey team in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League in the 2002-03 season. They began the season in St. Petersburg, Florida and moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on November 30, 2002. They folded after the season with a record of 28-23-6.
After the season, head coach Tony Martino left to coach HC Varese and Tommy Benizio was not retained as general manager. In addition, the ACHL folded, and the Ice Bears moved to the newly formed South East Hockey League, along with the Fayetteville FireAntz. The Ice Bears averaged 3,643 fans a game in their inaugural season, which was first in the ACHL. [1]
The Hockey Club Varese is an ice hockey team from Varese, Italy. It was created on 1977 under the name A.S. Mastini Varese Hockey. In 2005 (June) the club folded, but it continued to play in the Under 19 series under the name Hockey Club Varese, a new team founded in August 2005. In 2008 the club reintegrated the professional championship. In 2017 Killer Bees and Mastini Varese, the two Varese's non-professional teams, associated to create a new identity named Hockey Club Varese Bandits. In 2018, HC Varese 1977 s.c.s.d. came back to the Mastini naming.
The South East Hockey League was a minor ice hockey league formed in August 2003. It succeeded the short-lived Atlantic Coast Hockey League and had 4 teams for its first and only season. Jim Riggs was the commissioner.
