Today in the city of Long Beach residents await the arrival of their new baseball team. Their was one team that called the city home from 1996 to 2007, that team was the named the Ice Dogs.
The franchise was founded in 1990 in the International Hockey League as the San Diego Gulls.
After five seasons the Gulls moved to Los Angeles and rebranded and became the Los Angeles Ice Dogs for the 1995-1996 season.
Due to poor attendance at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena that season. The team moved once again. This time 25 miles down the coast to the city of Long Beach.
The Long Beach Ice Dogs were born in the 1996-1997 season, there they would find success.
Ice Dogs played at the Long Beach Sports Arena from 1996-2007.
Jeff Elliott, a Long Beach native, recalls the time going to the arena and watching the Ice Dogs play.
Elliott said, “I remember the tickets were five bucks and going to the games was fun and there was not a bad seat in the house”.
In its first season the Ice Dogs finished with 54 wins to top south division and first place in the western conference.
In the Turner Cup playoffs the Ice Dogs beat the Milwaukee Admirals, Utah Grizzlies and Houston Aeros to win the Ken Ullyot Trophy as western conference champion.
In the Turner Cup Finals the Long Beach Ice Dogs lost to the Detroit Vipers in six games.
The following year the Ice Dogs won the Fred A. Huber Trophy for best record in the 1997-1998 season.
In 2000, owner Barry Kemp moved the team to the West Coast Hockey League where they played in until 2003 when they moved to the East Coast Hockey League.
The Ice Dogs future was uncertain after having the lowest attendance in the league.
Kemp sold the team to Ted Foxman, his goal was to keep the team in Long Beach but also wanted to promote boxing at the Long Beach Arena.
On April 20, 2007 the ECHL announced suspension of operations for the Long Beach Ice Dogs.
Former goalie Jaroslav Halak was the last Long Beach Ice Dogs to make it to the NHL in 2007-2008 season.
Throughout the NHL’s history in Southern California there has been a total of six players that came from the city of Long Beach.
Today, the Long Beach Bombers are the only professional hockey in the United States Premier Hockey League at the ice rinks in the city of Lakewood.
Long Beach native Brain Mantooth and forward for the Bombers started playing hockey when he was two years old. His family are Los Angeles Kings fans and remember rooting for the Ice Dogs.
Mantooth likes that he can play hockey close to where he grew up.
“I love it, the community is pretty cool and it’s just pretty cool playing for family and friends real local and just not having to travel too far to play for this level,” Mantooth said.
With the Long Beach Arena getting upgrades for the 2028 Summer Olympics, there is an opportunity for a professional hockey team to call Long Beach home.
“Yeah, that would be awesome. I’d love for it to happen again,” Mantooth said.
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