Columbia Inferno

Columbia Inferno
City	Columbia, South Carolina
League	ECHL
Conference	American Conference
Division	South Division
Founded	2001
Home arena	Carolina Coliseum
Colors	Red, yellow, black, white
Owner(s)	Ezra B.Riber, MD
Head coach	Vacant
Affiliates	Independent
Franchise history
2001–present	Columbia Inferno
Championships
Regular season titles	none
Division Championships	2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Conference Championships	2002–03
Kelly Cups	none

The Columbia Inferno are an ECHL team based in Columbia, South Carolina. The team is currently on voluntary suspension awaiting construction of a new arena in suburban Lexington County, South Carolina. They played their home games at the Carolina Coliseum.

The Inferno first took the ice in 2001 as an expansion team after a group of physicians dubbed the "Hockey Docs" sought to purchase a team. While officially unaffiliated in their first season, the Inferno soon reached a working relationship with the Manitoba Moose that turned into a formal affiliation the following season. On July 10, 2006, the team announced the end of their affiliation with the affiliate of Manitoba Moose (AHL) and Vancouver Canucks (NHL) (1). On July 12, 2006, the team announced a new affiliation with the Toronto Marlies (AHL) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL).

The Inferno were originally slated to move across the street to the Colonial Life Arena after the 2007-08 ECHL season, but legal issues with the arena's funding prevented the move. The team was voluntarily suspended for the 2008–09 season as the team was told that it could not be guaranteed a lease with the Carolina Coliseum in time to meet league requirements. The voluntary suspension was extended during subsequent seasons and, according to Joe Babik, the Director of Communications for the ECHL, includes the 2012-2013 season.^[1]

History of the Columbia Inferno

Coaching history

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Current roster

Team captains

• 2007-2008
  • C - Brad Ralph
    • A - Patrick Wellar
    • A - Tyson Marsh
    • A - Mac Faulkner
    • A - Jeff Miles
    • A - Donny Grover
    • A - Steve McJannet

• 2006-2007
  • C - Chris Thompson
  • C - Brad Ralph
    • A - Mike Vellinga
    • A - Tyson Marsh
    • A - Jeff Miles
    • A - Brad Ralph

• 2005-2006
  • C - Jay Legault
    • A - Leon Hayward
    • A - Derek Eastman

• 2004-2005
  • C - Trevor Demmans
    • A - Brad Ralph
    • A - Matt Ulwelling
    • A - Kevin Hopke
    • A - Robin Carruthers

• 2003-2004
  • C - Barrie Moore
    • A - Dennis Vial
    • A - Sean Owens
    • A - Robin Carruthers

• 2002-2003
  • C - Barrie Moore
    • A - Dennis Vial
    • A - Corey Hessler

Hall of Famers

NHL alumni

• Alex Auld
• Eric Boulton
• Alexandre Burrows
• Fedor Fedorov
• Alex Foster
• Robert McVicar
• Mike Minard
• Brandon Nolan
• Phil Oreskovic
• Bryan Rodney
• Jesse Schultz
• Dennis Vial

Notable players

• Patrick Couture (ECHL 2002–03 Second Team All-Star)
• Tim Smith (ECHL 2003-04 Leading Scorer)
• Rejean Stringer (ECHL 2002-03 Sportsmanship Award)

Retired numbers

Miscellaneous

Team highs

In the 2002-03 season, the Columbia Inferno were the Southern Conference champions.

Infamous moments

During the 2002–03 season, the Columbia Inferno played the rival South Carolina Stingrays at home. There was a fight in the second period involving every player from both teams. During this fight over 110 penalty minutes were awarded to both teams combined

References

External links

• Columbia Inferno Official Homepage No longer working.
• Columbia Inferno Booster Club no longer working.
• ECHL Official Website
• Martial Image Photography, Official Game Photographer of the Columbia Inferno