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.
| Mississippi Sea Wolves | |
|---|---|
_Logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| City | Biloxi, Mississippi |
| League | Federal Prospects Hockey League |
| Division | Continental |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Home arena | Mississippi Coast Coliseum |
| Owner(s) | Barry Soskin |
| General manager | Joe Pace Jr. |
| Head coach | Rich Parent |
| Media | WLOX |
| Website | https://www.mississippiseawolves.com/ |
History
editOn 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.[1] 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[2] and then a sell-out crowd of 8,646 on December 30, 2021.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
On June 3, 2024, the Sea Wolves announced that Ray Tremblay would be the team's fourth head coach, replacing Dustin Skinner.[7] Tremblay stepped down a month later, to be replaced by David Heeps, giving Mississippi their fifth coach in three seasons.[8]
Season-by-season results
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts[a] | Pct | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Head coach | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 2022–23 | 56 | 17 | 35 | 4 | 51 | .304 | 199 | 304 | 1324 | 5th - Continental Div.
8th - Overall |
Phil Esposito[b] Joe Pace Jr |
Did not qualify | ||
| 2023–24 | 56 | 21 | 32 | 3 | 61 | .363 | 199 | 265 | 1412 | 4th - Continental Div.
8th - Overall |
Joe Pace Jr
Dustin Skinner[c] |
L, Columbus, 2-0 | N/A | |
References
edit- ^ "Mississippi Sea Wolves L.L.C and Mississippi Coast Coliseum reach lease agreement". www.mississippiseawolves.com. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ "Biloxi shatters Federal Prospects Hockey League attendance record - SuperTalk Mississippi". 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ "Stats - Federal Prospects Hockey League". www.federalhockey.com. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ "Sea Wolves Hire Head Coach". www.mississippiseawolves.com. 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ "News: Mississippi Sea Wolves Release Head Coach Phil Esposito - Mississippi Sea Wolves". www.mississippiseawolves.com. 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ "Mississippi Sea Wolves changing name for one night". 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ "News: Sea Wolves Announce Fourth Coach in Franchise History - Mississippi Sea Wolves". www.mississippiseawolves.com. 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ "News: Mississippi Updates Coaching Moves - Mississippi Sea Wolves". www.mississippiseawolves.com. 2024-07-04. Retrieved 2024-07-04.