San Antonio Dragons
The San Antonio Dragons were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League for two seasons in 1996–97 and 1997–98. The Dragons were based in San Antonio, Texas and played at the Freeman Coliseum and occasionally the Alamodome.
For the first month of the 1996–97 season, the Dragons wore temporary white with green trim and logo (home) and black with green and white trim and logo (road) jerseys because the new jerseys had not come in yet. The team folded after two seasons due to financial problems. Although the Iguanas were established, the Dragons drew more fans than the Iguanas and also captured a larger share of the corporate support of San Antonio. Following an overhaul of the front office and following the loss of assistant coach, John Torchetti (former Iguanas head coach), the Dragons in year two of their existence and being the only hockey team in the city floundered and finally went under. Ownership misread the market and finally pulled the plug following poor hockey and business decisions while at odds with the county owned Freeman Coliseum. This allowed the San Antonio Iguanas to reclaim the building lease and start up again. This time of two hockey teams playing in not only the same market, but the same building fractured the hockey fan base for years to come.