Mobile Mysticks

The Mobile Mysticks were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Mobile, Alabama that played in the ECHL. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center. The team was founded in 1995 as an expansion franchise, joining the ECHL alongside the Louisville RiverFrogs and the Louisiana IceGators. The Mysticks owed their name to the prevalence of mystic societiessocial organizations responsible for throwing parades and balls during the Carnival seasonthat existed in Mobile since the early 18th century.

Mobile Mysticks
CityMobile, Alabama
LeagueECHL
Operated19952002
Home arenaMobile Civic Center
ColorsPurple, gold, green
     
Franchise history
19952002Mobile Mysticks
2003–2015Gwinnett Gladiators
2015–presentAtlanta Gladiators

The Mysticks qualified for the Kelly Cup playoffs for five out of their seven seasons, but never advanced past the second round. In 2002, the franchise suspended operations and moved to Duluth, Georgia for the 200304 season. Originally the Gwinnett Gladiators, the team changed its name to the Atlanta Gladiators in 2015.

Franchise history

The Mobile Mysticks began play in the ECHL as an expansion franchise for the 199596 season under head coach and former NHL player Eddie Johnstone. During this time, they served as a minor league affiliate for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers and the AHL's Hershey Bears.

Following a rough start (the Mysticks finished seventh in their division and did not qualify for the playoffs their inaugural year; the following year they finished fourth in their division and were eliminated from the playoffs in a first-round sweep by the Louisiana IceGators) the Mysticks decided against renewing Johnstone's contract.[1] His replacement, Matt Shaw, led Mobile to a fifth-place divisional finish and another first-round loss, again in a three-game sweep by the IceGators. Shaw did not return to the Mysticks for the following season.[2]

Jeff Pyle joined the Mysticks as head coach for the 199899 season. With Pyle at the helm, the team saw postseason action for the next three seasonslosing in the 1999 preliminary round to the Birmingham Bulls; falling in the first round of the 2000 playoffs to the Greenville Grrrowl; and in their most successful playoff bid, falling in double overtime in the second round to the South Carolina Stingrays (the eventual Kelly Cup champions) in 2001.[3] The Mysticks failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2002, and the franchise suspended operations, eventually moving to Duluth, Georgia, in 2003 to become the Gwinnett Gladiators (branded as the Atlanta Gladiators since the 2015–16 ECHL season).

Season-by-season record

Records as of 200102 season.[4]

Regular season

SeasonGamesWonLostTiedOTLSOLPointsGoals
for
Goals
against
StandingAverage attendance
19959670223711552653257th, South5,310
19969770342511792572634th, South4,917
1997987035278782362335th, Southwest4,558
1998997031318702312595th, Southwest3,874
1999007040282822752302nd, Southwest4,177
2000017238286822402333rd, Southwest3,542
20010272282618742152376th, Southwest2,618

Playoffs

SeasonPrelim1st round2nd round3rd roundFinals
199596Out of playoffs
199697L, 03, LOU
199798L, 03, LOU
199899L, 02, BIR
199900L, 23, GRN
200001W, 32, JACL, 32, SC
200102Out of playoffs

References

  1. "Transactions". The New York Times. May 15, 1997. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  2. Herndon, Mike (May 17, 2010). "Former Mobile Mysticks coach helps Sharks in NHL playoffs". Press-Register. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  3. Press release (October 14, 2005). "ECHL coaches biography: Jeff Pyle - Gwinnett Gladiators". ECHL. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  4. "Standings for the Mobile Mysticks of the ECHL". hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.