Tupelo T-Rex

The Tupelo T-Rex was a professional ice hockey team in the Western Professional Hockey League and played their home games at BancorpSouth Center from 1998 to 2001.[1] The owners of the T-Rex also fielded a junior team in the America West Hockey League from 2001 to 2003 when they were unable to continue fielding a professional team.

Tupelo T-Rex
CityTupelo, Mississippi
LeagueWPHL
DivisionSoutheast Division
Operated1998–2001
Home arenaBancorpSouth Center
ColorsGreen, white, yellow, purple
       
Owner(s)Bill MacFarlane (1998–99)
T-Rex 2000, Inc. (1999–2001)
Head coachPeter Esdale
David Latta
George Dupont
Championships
Regular season titles1 (2000–01)

History

The franchise was originally owned by Bill MacFarlane and was later taken over by a local ownership group in January 2000.[2] During the 2000–01 season, the team brought in key play makers including Jason Firth, Brant Blackned, and Barry McKinley who helped lead the T-Rex to a regular season championship.

Issues with Tupelo, CHL, and SEHL

After the 2000–01 season, Tupelo was invited to be a part of the WPHL-Central Hockey League merger. It would have set up a local rivalry with CHL member, the Memphis RiverKings. However, the T-Rex ownership refused and decided not to join the merger. Their attempts to join two other pro leagues backfired when the CHL invoked a non-compete clause, claiming the territorial rights to Tupelo as part of the merger. With no other options, Tupelo folded as a pro franchise and began as a junior team in the America West Hockey League where they lasted two more seasons before folding again in 2003.[3]

In 2003, the T-Rex attempted join the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, which then was succeeded by the South East Hockey League after a league split. However, the team was again barred by the Central Hockey League, which still had a five-year non-compete clause at the BancorpSouth Center and no professional hockey team could enter the venue in Tupelo.[4]

The legal issues the team faced prevented the team from recovering by the time the non-compete clause terminated. Since then, the only ice hockey to have been played at the BancorpSouth Arena has been the Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs DIII men's ice hockey clubs.

See also

List of defunct Mississippi sports teams

References
  1. Hall, Jamie (April 22, 2001). "Tupelo waits to see whether two teams can survive". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, MO: Rust Communications. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  2. "Another new regime". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Tupelo, MS. January 21, 2000. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  3. Tupelo T-Rex Statistics and History AWHL
  4. Will Birmingham join the South East Hockey League in 2003?
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