History
The team was established in 1996 and played home games in Luedecke Arena at the Travis County Exposition Center, a multi-purpose building which was furnished with skating ice and dubbed the "Bat Cave" for the games. The team was original affiliated with the Western Professional Hockey League. The Ice Bats joined several other WPHL teams in a merger with the CHL in 2001.
In May 2008, the team announced it was leaving Austin due to lack of fan support at Chaparral Ice. Anticipated competition with the announced AHL Texas Stars has also been cited as a factor. It is unknown where the team intends to relocate to, though apparently an unsuccessful attempt was made to relocate to Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas for the 2008-9 season.
Read more about this topic: Austin Ice Bats
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