City Topeka, Kansas Home arena Landon Arena Owner(s) Barbara & Donald Stone Arena/Stadium Landon Arena Division South Color Navy Blue, Red, White | League NAHL Colors Navy Blue, Red, White General manager Joe Clark Head coach Josh Kamrass Date founded 2003 | |
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Location Topeka, Kansas, United States Profiles | ||
Topeka roadrunners december 2016 pump up
The Topeka RoadRunners are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The team's home arena is the 7,773-seat Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas.
Contents
- Topeka roadrunners december 2016 pump up
- Topeka roadrunners 2016 intro
- Lone Star Cavalry
- Santa Fe RoadRunners
- Topeka RoadRunners
- Playoffs
- Team captains
- Honored members
- Alumni
- References
Topeka roadrunners 2016 intro
Lone Star Cavalry
The Lone Star Cavalry were granted an expansion franchise in the America West Hockey League in March 2003. They stayed in the league when it merged with the North American Hockey League for the 2003–04 season. The Cavalry played out of the Blue Line Ice Complex in North Richland Hills, Texas and served the immediate "Mid-Cities" area of Metro Dallas-Fort Worth. The Cavalry were part of the NAHL’s new South Division along with the Central Texas Blackhawks, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Springfield (MO) Spirit, Texas Tornado, Texarkana Bandits, and Wichita Falls Rustlers.
Santa Fe RoadRunners
After financial difficulties caused the Cavalry’s home rink, the Blue Line Ice Complex, to close, the Cavalry were left without a home. Due to this and other factors, the Cavalry ended up being sold and relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The team was granted membership on September 20, 2004, and began play on September 25, 2004, under their new identity as the Santa Fe RoadRunners. The Santa Fe RoadRunners played out of the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe. In their inaugural season in New Mexico, the RoadRunners played in the South Division, against the Central Texas Marshals, Springfield (IL) Jr. Blues, Springfield Spirit, Texarkana Bandits, Texas Tornado, and the Wichita Falls Wildcats, finishing with a 33-15-8 record, good for 3rd place in the division. The following season they finished dead last in the South Division behind the Tornado, Bandits, Jr. Blues, and the Wildcats. The third and final season in Santa Fe saw the RoadRunners finishing with a 41-17-4 record for 2nd place in a South Division which consisted of the St. Louis Bandits, Texas Tornado, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Wichita Falls Wildcats, and the Alaska Avalanche.
Topeka RoadRunners
On February 26, 2007, the team announced their move to Topeka, Kansas from Santa Fe, New Mexico, due to claims of poor attendance. Santa Fe ranked 17th out of 18 teams in attendance.
The move to Topeka was initiated by a grass roots effort, led by hockey fans from Topeka. In their first season in Topeka, 2007–08, they were third in league attendance. That season the team won the NAHL South Division and South Division Playoffs. They finished in third place at the Robertson Cup competition. The 2008–09 season saw the RoadRunners finishing fourth in league attendance and 2nd in the South Division. The team lost in the second round of the South Division playoffs. In 2009–10 The RoadRunners finished first in the South Division, and they were second in attendance. The 2010–11 season saw the RoadRunners claim the NAHL President's Cup as the league's regular season champions.
On January 7, 2016, the RoadRunners fired long-tenured head coach and general manager Scott Langer, who had been with the team since their days as the Cavalry and the head coach since their first season in Santa Fe. He was hired immediately after the season ended by the Aberdeen Wings.
Playoffs
Team captains
Honored members
Retired numbers: The Topeka RoadRunners have officially retired two numbers in their franchise history, the 11 of forward and team captain John Stoddard, and the 21 of Peter Halash.
On January 6, 2014, Topeka Roadrunner Peter Halash died in a car wreck. The Roadrunners team had a jersey retirement ceremony before a game against the Springfield Jr. Blues on March 23, 2014 where all of his family and friends came to remember the life of Peter Halash.
Alumni
The RoadRunners have had a number of alumni move on to NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III, ACHA Division I and II, higher levels of junior ice hockey, and professional ice hockey, including: