Mississippi Sea Wolves (FPHL)
{{Infobox ice hockey team
|team=Mississippi Sea Wolves
|bg_color=background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#003AB1 5px solid; border-bottom:#CD0030 5px solid
|text_color=#000
|logo=Mississippi_Sea_Wolves_(FPHL)_Logo.svg
|city=Biloxi, Mississippi
|league=Federal Prospects Hockey League
|division=Continental
|founded=2021
|arena=Mississippi Coast Coliseum
|owner=Barry Soskin
|GM=Joe Pace Jr.
|coach=Rich Parent
|media=WLOX
|website=https://www.mississippiseawolves.com/
}}
The Mississippi Sea Wolves are a professional hockey team located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and play at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They currently play in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. The team is named after a former ECHL team that played in Biloxi from 1996 to 2009.
History
On July 19, 2021, it was announced that the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) were going to host three neutral site games in Biloxi in order to garner momentum and fan support for a new team. The team would be owned by Barry Soskin with Joe Pace Jr running the operations. Biloxi Pro Hockey sold 20,163 tickets in December 2021 and an announcement was made on December 30 that a new Sea Wolves team would return in 2022 with a multi-year lease agreement to be signed in February.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-15 |title=Mississippi Sea Wolves L.L.C and Mississippi Coast Coliseum reach lease agreement. |url=http://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/mississippi-sea-wolves-l-l-c-and-mississippi-coast |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.mississippiseawolves.com}} Biloxi Pro Hockey set FPHL attendance records during the neutral site games twice. First with 7,288 fans at the Coast Coliseum on December 17, 2021{{Cite web |date=2021-12-21 |title=Biloxi shatters Federal Prospects Hockey League attendance record - SuperTalk Mississippi |url=https://www.supertalk.fm/biloxi-shatters-federal-prospects-hockey-league-attendance-record/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |language=en-US}} and then a sell-out crowd of 8,646 on December 30, 2021.{{Cite web |title=Stats - Federal Prospects Hockey League |url=https://www.federalhockey.com/stats#/182/game/423340 |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.federalhockey.com}}
The new team began play in the 2022–23 FPHL season. On April 27, 2022, the Sea Wolves announced that winningest FPHL head coach Phil Esposito would coach the team for their inaugural season.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-27 |title=Sea Wolves Hire Head Coach |url=http://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/sea-wolves-hire-head-coach |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.mississippiseawolves.com}} Following a 2–9–2 start to the season, Esposito was fired on November 28, 2022, and team COO Joe Pace Jr. became the head coach and general manager of the Sea Wolves.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-28 |title=News: Mississippi Sea Wolves Release Head Coach Phil Esposito - Mississippi Sea Wolves |url=http://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/mississippi-sea-wolves-release-head-coach-phil-esp |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.mississippiseawolves.com}} The Sea Wolves finished their first season with a record of 17–35–4 and missed the playoffs.
On March 1, 2024, the Sea Wolves changed their name for one night to the Biloxi Bone Crushers.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-20 |title=Mississippi Sea Wolves changing name for one night |url=https://www.wxxv25.com/mississippi-sea-wolves-changing-name-for-one-night/ |access-date=2024-03-03}}
On June 3, 2024, the Sea Wolves announced that Ray Tremblay would be the team's fourth head coach, replacing Dustin Skinner.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-03 |title=News: Sea Wolves Announce Fourth Coach in Franchise History - Mississippi Sea Wolves |url=http://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/sea-wolves-announce-fourth-coach-in-franchise-hist |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=www.mississippiseawolves.com}} Tremblay stepped down a month later, to be replaced by David Heeps, giving Mississippi their fifth coach in three seasons.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-04 |title=News: Mississippi Updates Coaching Moves - Mississippi Sea Wolves |url=http://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/mississippi-updates-coaching-moves |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=www.mississippiseawolves.com}} Another coaching change came in November 2024, with Heeps being replaced by Rich Parent.{{cite web |last=Kliment |first=Jon |date=November 20, 2024 |title=News: Sea Wolves Make Coaching Change |url=https://www.mississippiseawolves.com/news/sea-wolves-make-coaching-change |access-date=December 9, 2024 |publisher=Mississippi Sea Wolves}}
Season-by-season results
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="12" |Regular season ! colspan="3" |Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
| Season | {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | {{abbr|W|Wins}} | {{abbr|L|losses}} | {{abbr|OTL|Overtime losses}} | {{abbr|Pts|Points}}{{efn|The FHL awards 3 points for a regulation time win, 2 points for an overtime win, and 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss}} | {{abbr|Pct|Points percentage}} | {{abbr|GF|Goals for}} | {{abbr|GA|Goals allowed}} | {{abbr|PIM|Penalties in minutes}} | Finish | Head coach | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | 56 | 17 | 35 | 4 | 51 | .304 | 199 | 304 | 1324 | 5th - Continental Div.
8th - Overall | Phil Esposito{{efn|Esposito was fired after 2–9–2 start.}} | colspan="3" |Did not qualify | |||
| 2023–24
|56 |21 |32 |3 |61 |.363 |199 |265 |1412 |4th - Continental Div. 8th - Overall |Joe Pace Jr Dustin Skinner{{Efn|Skinner replaced Pace on February 14th 2024}} |L, Columbus, 2-0 | colspan="2" |N/A |
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.mississippiseawolves.com/ Mississippi Sea Wolves website]
{{FHL}}
{{Mississippi Sports}}
Category:2021 establishments in Mississippi
Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 2021
Category:Federal Prospects Hockey League teams