The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A East before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.
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 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.
John Murray Anderson is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger. He was the head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League (IHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) from 1997 to 2008 ,again from 2013 to 2016. Anderson also serves as interim head coach for the Wolves in 2023. In the National Hockey League (NHL), he is a former head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers and assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild. He played 12 seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers.
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 Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina built in 1989. Since 2017, it has been home to the Carolina Thunderbirds, a minor league hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. 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.
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 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 1989–90 ECHL season was the second season of the ECHL. The league brought back all five teams from the inaugural season and added three more franchises in Greensboro, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, and Norfolk, Virginia. Before the season began, the Carolina Thunderbirds changed their name to the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds. The eight teams played sixty games in the schedule, unchanged from the total games played in the inaugural 1988–89 ECHL season. The Winston-Salem Thunderbirds finished first overall in the regular season. The Greensboro Monarchs won their first Riley Cup championship.
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 2007–08 Southern Professional Hockey League season was the fourth season of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The regular season began October 25, 2007, and ended April 13, 2008, after a 52-game regular season and a six-team playoff. The Knoxville Ice Bears won their second SPHL championship.
The 1973–74 Southern Hockey League season was the first season of the Southern Hockey League. 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. Four of the six founding members of the SHL came from the EHL, including the Charlotte Checkers, Greensboro Generals, Roanoke Valley Rebels, and the Suncoast Suns. Two expansion teams were added to complete the league, including the Macon Whoopees, and the Winston-Salem Polar Twins.
The 1974–75 Southern Hockey League season was the second season of the Southern Hockey League. On July 31, 1975, Jack Riley was announced as the new commissioner of the SHL, taking over for interim leader Gene Hawthorne, of the Roanoke Valley Rebels. The four existing teams returned from the previous season, joined by a fifth expansion team from Fayetteville, North Carolina. The new team was named after the Fayetteville Arsenal, and was scheduled to play at the Cumberland County Memorial Arena. In October 1974, owner Bill Raue moved the team, to Hampton, Virginia before playing any games, when availability of home ice dates became a problem. The new Hampton Gulls moved into the Hampton Coliseum recently vacated by the Virginia Wings of the American Hockey League. The five teams played a complete schedule of 72 games, with the Charlotte Checkers winning the regular season, and the playoffs.
The 1975–76 Southern Hockey League season was the third season of the Southern Hockey League. The five existing teams returned from the previous season, joined by a sixth expansion team from Norfolk, Virginia. The Tidewater Sharks joined the league owned by Virginia politician Dick Davis, playing at the Norfolk Scope. The six teams played a complete schedule of 72 games, with the Charlotte Checkers winning the regular season, and the playoffs.
The 1976–77 Southern Hockey League season was the fourth and final season of the Southern Hockey League. The Roanoke Valley Rebels ceased operations, and two new teams were added for the season. The Baltimore Clippers transferred from the American Hockey League, and the Richmond Wildcats were an expansion team. Both the Richmond Wildcats and Greensboro Generals folded on January 3, 1977 due to financial problems. On January 7, the Tidewater Sharks folded after missing payroll, and the Winston-Salem Polar Twins pulled the Polar Twins out of the league. The remaining three teams considered adding a fourth team, but the league was short on funds when Greensboro and Winstom-Salem defaulted on $25,000 loans. The league also considered playing a round-robin tournament to determine a champion, or develop an interlocking schedule with either the North American Hockey League or the International Hockey League. On January 22, 1977, both the NAHL and IHL rejected the proposal, and the final game was played on January 31, 1977, although the league planned on playing a 1977–78 season.
The Carolina Thunderbirds are a minor league professional hockey team located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and play in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. Their home games are played at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena.
The Winston-Salem Polar Twins were a minor league professional ice hockey team, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The team was a founding member of the Southern Hockey League in 1973, and played home games at the Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum. The initial owners of the team were a group of 15 investors, led by Ed Timmerman and Eldridge Hanes. In the 1973–74 season, Winstom-Salem finished fourth place, and lost in the first round of the playoffs under player-coach Don Carter. In 1974, Forbes Kennedy was brought in to coach, and improved results two years in a row, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs both seasons. In December 1975, the Polar Twins were sold to Jim Crockett Jr. Player-coach Ron Anderson took over in the fourth season, and the team was in last place in January. On January 7, 1977, during the team's fourth season, Crockett announced he was folding the team.
