Launching the League

ID: 3325 ~ Source: Image courtesy of Patrick Springfield, Houston Chronicle, October 13, 2021. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/general/article/Western-Professional-Hockey-League-25-years-16528758.php.
This file appears in: Waco Wizards

The Waco Wizards were one of the original six Western Professional Hockey League teams. The other five included the Central Texas Stampede (Belton), the El Paso Buzzards, the New Mexico Scorpions (Rio Rancho), the Austin Ice Bats, and the Amarillo Rattlers.

This file appears in: Waco Wizards

By Maria Petrolia
Until the 1990s, hockey teams in the South were few and far between. The heat prevalent in the southern states did not exactly lend itself to ice-based sports, leading locals to favor warm-weather…