Fresno Falcons

The Fresno Falcons are a former ice hockey team and was active until 2008 in the ECHL. They played until 2008 in Fresno, California, USA in the Save Mart Center. They were from 2003 to 2007, the farm team of the NHL clubs San Jose Sharks and also worked together with the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League.

History

The Fresno Falcons have already been established in 1946 to play in the Pacific Coast Hockey League ( PCHL ). Fresno played a total of four seasons in the PCHL before one 1952/53, the Gordon Petrie Trophy was a champion of an amateur league, which was also named Pacific Coast Hockey League, win after two years of abstinence at the end of the season. After the championship season it took until the beginning of the 1970s to Fresno again Hockey was played. After a season in the Cal - Neva Hockey League, the then owner James Freeman tried the franchise in the Western Hockey League ( WHL) buy, with the newly built Selland Arena should serve as a driving force. There he did not succeed, and so the team for the semi-professional Pacific Southwest Hockey League ( PSHL ) reported, where the team until 1995 was a total of ten championships, mostly against other team from Southern California to celebrate. Each of their home games they wore while out in the Selland Arena.

At the start of the 1995/96 season, the franchise became increasingly professionalized and began in the newly formed West Coast Hockey League ( WCHL ). Right in the first year they reached the final of the Taylor Cup, where the San Diego Gulls but lost. The local proximity of the two teams, one of the greatest rivalries in American Hockey Sports unterklassigen built on. Middle of the 2001/02 season, successful team found the otherwise at the last place of the league again, but the Falcons did not give up and secured with a win in the sixth game of the finals series for the first time Taylor Cup. In the following season, the team reached the final, but lost as in 1996 against the San Diego Gulls in the decisive seventh game. It was also the last game, which was played in the WCHL.

In the 2003 /04 season reached a new level hockey in Fresno, after being included in the ECHL, as the WCHL was taken over by this. In addition, we moved into the newly built Save Mart Center and signed a contract with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League ( NHL) in order to train as a farm team young hopeful talents. The first player who made ​​the jump from the Falcons in the NHL, was goalkeeper Nolan Schaefer, of the twelve games for the team played in the first ECHL season of the team. Go to the top of the season 2007/ 08 ended the collaboration with the San Jose Sharks, as the expiring contract had not been extended.

On 22 December 2008, the Assembly of the ECHL team owners decided to disband the franchise, after the owner of the Falcons declared that they could no longer fund the team.

Season statistics

Team Records ( ECHL )

Career Records

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