Minor Teams From Major Cities Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aeros

The Houston metropolitan area is home to more than seven million people making it the largest American market to have never had an NHL franchise. However, Houston did have a professional level team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) named the Houston Aeros which operated from 1972-1978.

A minor league team also named the Houston Aeros was later founded in 1994. The Aeros competed in both the International Hockey League (IHL) from 1994-2001 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 2001-2013. Following the 2012-13 season, the Houston Aeros moved to the city of Des Moines, Iowa, where they became the Iowa Wild.

Answer: Gladiators

The Atlanta Gladiators are a minor league team that competes in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). The team was founded in 1995 and was originally based in Mobile, Alabama, where they were named the Mobile Mysticks. The team moved to the Atlanta area in 2003 and adopted the name Gwinnett Gladiators. They changed their name to the Atlanta Gladiators in 2015.

Atlanta, Georgia was previously home to two NHL teams. The first were the Flames, which operated from 1972-1980. Following the 1979-80 season, the Flames moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Atlanta was then given a second NHL team known as the Thrashers which operated from 1999-2011. The Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada following the 2010-11 season where they became the second iteration of the Winnipeg Jets.

Answer: Bulls

The San Francisco Bulls were a short-lived minor league team that competed in the ECHL from 2011-2014. The Bulls were not the first minor league team to be based out of the San Francisco area. The San Francisco Seals were a minor league team that began playing for the Western Hockey League (not the current one) in 1960. In 1966, the Seals moved across the bay to Oakland and changed their name to the California Seals. In 1967, the Seals would be upgraded to a professional team by the NHL.

Throughout their NHL years, the Seals changed their name several times until finally in 1976, the team relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. The NHL would eventually place another pro team in the San Francisco Bay Area when the San Jose Sharks were founded in 1991. In 2015, the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL moved to the area from Worcester, Massachusetts.

Answer: Gulls

The San Diego Gulls of the AHL began its existence as the Norfolk Admirals in 2000. The team moved to San Diego in 2015 and changed their name to the Gulls. This would not be San Diego's first minor league hockey team. There were several minor league teams to have operated in the area, with four of them also named the San Diego Gulls.

Although it has never hosted an NHL team, San Diego did briefly operate a professional hockey team in the WHA known as the San Diego Mariners from 1974-1977. Despite having over three million people living in its metropolitan area, it has been difficult for the city to maintain a professional franchise other than the San Diego Padres baseball team. The San Diego Chargers of the NFL were forced to move to LA in 2017 after the city declined to build them a new stadium.

Answer: Winter Hawks

The Portland Winterhawks are a junior level hockey team that competes in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The franchise was initially known as the Edmonton Oil Kings and were one of the founding members of the modern WHL, which is under the umbrella of the larger Canadian Hockey League. The team moved to Portland, Oregon in 1976 where they adopted the name Portland Winter Hawks. In 2009, the name was modified slightly to Winterhawks.

While the city of Portland has never hosted a professional hockey team, there have been over a dozen minor league teams to have operated in the city over the years. Despite having over 2.5 million people living within its metropolitan area, Portland has only has two professional level teams as of 2023, the Portland Trailblazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS).

Answer: Checkers

In 2010, the third minor league team to bear the name Charlotte Checkers began competing for the AHL. The first franchise operated from 1956-1977 and competed for the Eastern Hockey League and Southern Hockey League, which are both defunct. The second franchise operated from 1993-2010 and competed in the ECHL.

In 1997, the former Hartford Whalers of the NHL moved to North Carolina to become the Carolina Hurricanes. However, instead of moving the team to Charlotte (which has more than 2.7 million people living in its metro area) the Hurricanes opted to be based out of Raleigh, whose metro area population is nearly half that of Charlotte's.

Answer: Solar Bears

There have been two minor league teams named the Solar Bears that have operated out of Orlando, Florida. The first Solar Bears franchise competed in the now defunct IHL from 1995-2001. The second and current Solar Bears franchise was founded in 2012 and competes in the ECHL.

Two other minor league clubs have operated in Orlando over the years. One of these was the Orlando Fury, who competed in the short-lived Southern Elite Hockey League from 1999-2000. The second was the Florida Seals, who competed with three separate now defunct leagues between 2002-2005. Orlando is currently home to two professional level teams, the Orlando Magic (NBA) and the Orlando City SC (MLS).

Answer: Cyclones

Cincinnati, Ohio has been home to three minor league teams to bear the name Cyclones. The first team was founded in 1990 and competed in the ECHL from 1990-1992. That team would move to Birmingham, Alabama in 1992 to become the Birmingham Bulls. The second team was founded in 1992, where it competed in the IHL until the league folded in 2001. The third team was founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1995, where they went by the name Louisville RiverFrogs. The RiverFrogs moved to Miami, Florida in 1998 to become the Miami Matadors. In 2001, the team moved again to Cincinnati where they became the current Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Cincinnati was previously home to the Cincinnati Stingers, a professional hockey team that competed in the WHA from 1975-1979. In addition, there have been several other minor league teams over the years that have been based out of Cincinnati.

Answer: Mavericks

The Kansas City Mavericks minor league team was originally founded in 2009 as the Missouri Mavericks who competed in the Central Hockey League (CHL), which ceased operations in 2014. The Mavericks were revived in 2017 and became part of the ECHL under the name Kansas City Mavericks.

Kansas City was previously home to the Kansas City Scouts of the NHL, which was founded in 1974. However, the Kansas City Scouts only played for two seasons before moving to Denver, Colorado in 1976 to become the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, the franchise was moved again, this time to East Rutherford, New Jersey to become the New Jersey Devils.

Answer: Monsters

The Cleveland Monsters began its existence as the Utah Grizzlies, a minor league team that operated from 1994-2005 and competed in both the IHL and AHL. In 2006, the franchise was bought out and moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area where it was renamed the Lake Erie Monsters. The team changed its name to the Cleveland Monsters in 2016 and currently competes in the AHL.

Cleveland was once home to several professional hockey teams. The first was the Cleveland Crusaders who competed with the WHA from 1972-1976. Following the folding of the WHA, the California Seals of the NHL moved to Cleveland in 1976 and became the Cleveland Barons. Unfortunately, the Barons only lasted two seasons before the franchise folded in 1978.