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The Mississippi Sea Wolves were a professional hockey team based in Biloxi, Mississippi and playing in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves were members of the ECHL. The Sea Wolves were founded in 1996 and enjoyed considerable success over their 10 seasons in the ECHL. They reached the playoffs in five of their first seven years, and celebrated a league championship in 1999, when they defeated the Richmond Renegades in a best of seven series to claim the Kelly Cup. Damages from Hurricane Katrina to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum forced the team to suspend operations for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons under the ECHL's hardship provisions caused by Hurricane Katrina. A second team, the Texas Wildcatters, was also granted a hardship provision because of Hurricane Rita for one year, and resumed play in 2006–07. Hurricane Katrina resulted in extensive damage to the team’s home arena, including flood damage to team offices and locker rooms as well as the ice-making equipment and two Zambonis. During the 2006–07 ECHL All-Star Game, the league officially welcomed back the Sea Wolves at the Board of Governors Meeting held during the festivities. “The ECHL is delighted to officially welcome back the Sea Wolves for their belated 10th year in the ‘Den’. While much works remains to be done, there has been significant progress since Dec. 1, 2006 and we expect that momentum will continue throughout the spring and summer months,” said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. “The ownership group is unanimously behind the team and now we need fans and sponsors to lend their support to ensure a successful return.” On March 30, 2009, the Sea Wolves announced that the organization would be suspending operations again for the 2009–10 season but a little more than a month later the team's management announced that pro hockey would continue to be played on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the form of the Mississippi Surge in the Southern Professional Hockey League. The team's management was able to keep the tradition going. The Surge played at the Coast Coliseum from the 2009–10 season through 2013-14.〔 〕 ==Origin== The legend of the Sea Wolves can be traced far out into the nearby Gulf of Mexico and far back into the annuals of time, to the days when men sailed the high seas in search of trove and treasure. Synonymous with pirates, buccaneers, maraudars and corsairs, Sea Wolves were ruthless raiders who stalked the shipping lanes looking for unsuspecting prey to get rich off of, just as the Mississippi Sea Wolves plan to do to their unsuspecting East Coast Hockey League opponents this season. The name itself came about as a result of a highly-popular "Name The Team" Contest sponsored by the Sun Herald and some exhaustive research by the Sea Wolves staff. After sorting through over 2,500 entries, some 400 different names and three finalists, General Manager Stephan Boutin announced on April 13, 1996 that the choice was Sea Wolves, an entry submitted by 15-year old Nicholas Martin of Pascagoula. For his winning entry, Martin won two Gold star season tickets (a $770 value) and an authentic Sea Wolves game jersey. "Wolves live and hunt in packs like hockey teams should do in hockey." Boutin said at the press conference to announce the selection. "It's not an individual sport and if you don't act like a team, you're not going to go far. "We can do a lot with Sea Wolves. It's an easy name to pronounce and to work with. We're very happy about this one." The next step in the evolution of the expansion Sea Wolves was to get an eye-catching logo and for that the organization turned to NHL Enterprises Inc. the marketing arm of the National Hockey League. Boutin began the process by giving the NHL people a general idea of what he wanted. They came back with an initial sketch and the revisions began. After much back and forth, the work was done and the finished product was unveiled to an enthusiastic crowd at the Coast Coliseum on July 1, 1996. The final look of a fierce-looking wolf sporting a pirate's hook for an arm was chosen because it opened up numerous possibilities on the marketing and merchandising side and because Boutin believed it to be a logo that not only adults would love, but the kids as well. Next up was the choice of a color scheme that made a statement and for that Boutin simply looked out hi window. His decision to go with red, blue and gold reflected his most vivid impressions of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Boutin said, with red representing the heat, blue representing the nearby water, and gold the beaches. He also likes to joke that he considered including humidity but couldn't find a color to represent it. The final piece to the puzzle was the addition of Hook, the Sea Wolf, the furry mascot that will b one of the most visible signs of the Sea Wolves organization this season. In another contest sponsored by The Sun Herald, 15 year old Heather Talley of Gulfport submitted the winner, one of 246 prospective names from some 1,000 entries. Altogether, it adds up to a good start for the East Coast Hockey League's lone franchise this season. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mississippi Sea Wolves」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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