| Ice hockey in Delaware | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Delaware | |
| Country | United States |
| Governing body | USA Hockey [1] |
| National team(s) | Men's national team Women's national team |
| First played | 2011 |
Club competitions | |
List
| |
Delaware is almost a non-entity when it comes to ice hockey in the United States. With virtually no organized hockey presence beyond the high school level, Delaware has little to no impact on the sport.
As one of the smallest and least populous states, Delaware has yet to be the focus of any concerted effort by the ice hockey community. Internally, a dozen high schools play varsity hockey and have sent several players into the college ranks but very few have achieved anything of note.
The first formal ice hockey team in the state never actually played in Delaware. The Delaware Federals were created in 2011 as an emergency replacement by the Federal Hockey League after the Vermont Wild folded just 10 games into the season. Because the team didn't have a home arena for games or practices, the entirety of their existence was spent on the road. [2] The Federals played 13 games before the league abandoned the experiment and simply cancelled the rest of the Vermont/Delaware schedule.
The State remained without an organized team until the FHL returned in 2019. The Delaware Thunder began play that season and had their home venue, the Centre Ice Rink expanded to 700 seats for their arrival. [3] While the team was able to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thunder were not successful on the ice. In 2023, the team lost 28 consecutive games, setting a new record for professional teams in North America. After the season, the Delaware State Fair, which owned the Centre Ice Rink, didn't offer the team a new lease, forcing the franchise to look elsewhere. Because the Thunder could not find a home in time for the start of the following season, they temporarily withdrew from the league while they resolved their arena situation. [4]
| Team | City | League | Years Active | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware Federals | None | FHL | 2011–2012 | Defunct |
| Delaware Thunder | Harrington | FPHL | 2019–2023 | Dormant |
Despite the states proximity to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, both of whom have long histories with ice hockey, only one person from Delaware has yet achieved any notability in ice hockey. Mark Eaton was born and raised in Wilmington and even attended John Dickinson High School but he had to travel to Pennsylvania to play high school hockey as the level of competition in the diamond state was insufficient.
John Clark LeClair is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1991 to 2006. With the Flyers, LeClair became the first American-born player to score 50 goals in three consecutive NHL seasons while playing on the Legion of Doom line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg. LeClair was a member of the Montreal Canadiens' Stanley Cup winning team in 1993.
Trenton Thunder Ballpark, formerly known as Mercer County Waterfront Park and Arm & Hammer Park, is a ballpark in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the home park for the Trenton Thunder, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They were previously a Double-A level Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League (1994–2020). For 2021, it served as temporary home of Triple-A East's Buffalo Bisons, as their regular stadium, Sahlen Field, was being used by the Toronto Blue Jays due to travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The official seating capacity is 6,440.
Mark Andrew Eaton is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders. He is the only NHL player to ever come from Delaware. He attended John Dickinson High School in the Wilmington suburbs but played his youth hockey across the state line in Pennsylvania. He is currently the director of player development for the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Herb Brooks Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Lake Placid, New York. This surface, along with the USA Rink, was built for the 1980 Winter Olympics.
The Cambria County War Memorial Arena is a 4,001-seat multi-purpose arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. It is managed by SMG Entertainment.
Gutterson Fieldhouse is a 4,035-seat hockey arena in Burlington, Vermont. It is home to the Vermont Catamounts men's and women's ice hockey teams. It is the largest indoor arena in the state of Vermont. It is adjacent to Patrick Gymnasium and Forbush Natatorium at the school's athletic complex. It is named for Albert Gutterson, class of 1912, the school's first Olympian. He set an Olympic record with a 7.60 meter long jump, beating, among others, the great Jim Thorpe.
The Rostraver Ice Garden is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the Pittsburgh suburb of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA at exit 43, 43a and 43b on Interstate 70.
Teams from 150 high schools competed as varsity ice hockey teams in Western and Eastern Pennsylvania. Unlike many other high school sport in Pennsylvania, hockey is not run under Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association umbrella. However, Pennsylvania's high school ice hockey is sanctioned by USA Hockey and varsity-level programs are marginally overseen by the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers organizations through the Penguins Cup and the Flyers Cup. However although it is considered a club it is still a part of the High School and is affiliated with the school.
The Milton Keynes Thunder are an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, they are known stylistically as the Milton Keynes Rightmove Thunder for sponsorship purposes, and the team currently competes in the Britton Conference, of the National Ice Hockey League Division 1 South. The team was founded in 2001 predominantly to provide competitive hockey and further development opportunities for players leaving the Milton Keynes Junior Ice Hockey system. Their home rink is the refurbished and renamed Planet Ice Arena, known locally as the Thunderdome. It has a capacity of circa 2,500.
Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes is a 2,800-capacity multi-purpose ice rink/hockey rink located in Milton Keynes, England, as part of the Leisure Plaza complex.
Delaware has 12 high schools with varsity ice hockey teams which participate in interscholastic competition. Unlike most other high school sports in the state, ice hockey is not sanctioned under the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association. The state's main ice hockey league, the Delaware Scholastic Hockey Association, is sanctioned by USA Hockey.
The Class of 1923 Arena is the skating rink of the University of Pennsylvania.
Swonder Ice Arena is an arena and recreational sport facility in Evansville, Indiana. It features two NHL size sheets of ice for hockey, figure skating, and open skating. One sheet of ice is open all year. Sound and light, designed with the technology used at the 2002 Olympics, are in use when the skaters skate. Leagues for hockey from beginner to adult also take place year round. On the second level there is a 10,000-square-foot workout facility with a running/walking track.
The Richard J. Codey Arena at South Mountain is an ice hockey and ice skating arena in West Orange, New Jersey as part of the South Mountain Recreation Complex. The arena is named for former Governor of New Jersey Richard Codey. The Codey Arena is owned and operated by the Essex County Department of Park, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs.
IceWorks is an ice arena that is located in Aston, Pennsylvania USA, fifteen minutes southwest of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and ten minutes northeast of Wilmington, Delaware. It opened in October 1997.
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 Penn State Ice Pavilion was a 1,350-seat ice arena on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States. The ice arena included an NHL regulation sized 200' x 85' ice sheet as well as a 45' x 55' studio ice sheet.
The Centre Ice Arena, also called The Centre, is a 700-seat, 49,000 square-foot facility built in 2002. It is located on the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware. The facility holds an ice rink and hosts ice hockey, figure skating and public skating in the winter, and then hosts the 4-H and FFA exhibits and demonstrations during the Delaware State Fair in the summer.
The Delaware Federals were a professional ice hockey team that played in the Federal Hockey League. Despite representing Delaware, the team did not have a home arena for games or practices. They were owned by Delaware Pro Hockey International, their head coach was Dan Farrell. They replaced the folded Vermont Wild on the league schedule and played their first competitive game on December 16, 2011, which ended with an 18–0 loss to the Cape Cod Bluefins.
The Delaware Thunder are a dormant professional ice hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and based in Delaware. From 2019 to 2023, the team played at the Centre Ice Rink in Harrington, Delaware, but are in the process of evaluating building and playing out of the Dover Civic Arena. As of 2023, the Thunder are on hiatus for the 2023–24 season while they continue to work on plans for the new arena. The Thunder were the first professional sports team to play in Harrington.