Idaho Steelheads | |
---|---|
City | Boise, Idaho |
League | ECHL |
Conference | Western |
Division | Mountain |
Founded | 1997 (in the WCHL) |
Home arena | Idaho Central Arena |
Colors | Navy blue, silver, black, white |
Owner(s) | Rapid City Rush |
General manager | Steven Anderson [1] |
Head coach | Everett Sheen |
Media | KTIK Idaho Statesman |
Affiliates | Dallas Stars (NHL) Texas Stars (AHL) |
Website | idahosteelheads |
Franchise history | |
1997–present | Idaho Steelheads |
Championships | |
Regular season titles | 3 (2002–03, 2009–10, 2022–23) |
Division titles | 6 (2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2022–23) |
Conference titles | 6 (2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2022–23) |
Kelly Cups | 2 (2003–04, 2006–07) |
Current season |
The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season.
In 1996, the Steelheads were announced as a 1997–98 expansion team by Diamond Sports Management, headed by Cord Pereira, as a member of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). The Steelheads and the rest of the WCHL joined the ECHL in 2003. As of the 2022-23 season, the Steelheads are the westernmost ECHL team. During the 2003–04 season and since the 2005–06 season the Steelheads have been an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.[2] The Austin-based Texas Stars have been the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate since the 2009–10 season. Home games are played at the 5,002-seat Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.
The Steelheads are named for a species of seagoing rainbow trout native to Idaho streams and rivers and popular with local anglers. Despite this, the original primary and alternate logos consisted of a puck bouncing off a hockey mask and the state of Idaho respectively. When the team underwent a rebrand in the 2006–07 season, a trout was included in Idaho's alternate. After the departure of the Victoria Salmon Kings in 2011, the Steelheads made the trout logo their new primary one.