The Florida Seals were a minor league ice hockey franchise, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Originally based in Orlando, Florida , as the Orlando Seals , they later moved to Kissimmee, Florida , a suburb thirty miles south of Orlando in Osceola County . The Seals were one of eight minor league hockey teams purchased or founded by David Waronker starting in 2003.
24-607: The team was formed as the Orlando Seals and played its first season beginning in October 2002 with the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL). That first year's team included former NHL players Zac Boyer , David Goverde , Chris LiPuma , and Terry Ryan . It was coached by former Tampa Bay Lightning player Stan Drulia . The Seals were running away with the league during the regular season and made
48-516: A 43–14 record. League Commissioner Jim Riggs awarded the trophy to the Waronker and Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer during an on-ice ceremony at one of the regular season games. The Seals swept both Macon Trax and Knoxville in the playoffs to win the championship on the road in Knoxville. The team's celebration event, held at Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando, drew hundreds of fans to celebrate
72-558: A formal presentation to the league. Later in the month, the team's general manager resigned. On January 4, 2007, Osceola Heritage Park, operators of the Silver Spurs Arena, abruptly locked out the Seals after they failed to meet their contractual obligations. OHP facility director Robb Larson said that OHP had run out of patience with the Seals after giving them numerous chances to get back in compliance. Stewart told WFTV that
96-468: A jersey emblazoned with the number "05". Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002%E2%80%9303) The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was a professional minor league ice hockey league based in the United States . The second league to bear the name Atlantic Coast Hockey League , it operated for only one season, 2002–2003, before its franchises split into two new leagues. The 2002 incarnation of
120-528: A pivotal move at the trade deadline getting high scoring center Mike Sanderson and defenseman Dave Mills. These moves at the trade deadline gave the Seals the final pieces to win the ACHL regular season. The Seals' original staff was made up of owner Jeff Brubaker until he ran out of money one month into the season and David Waronker took over the franchise. Other staff members brought in were GM Sammy Wallace, Joe Fellini, John Dyer, Erika Hodges, and Tom Bradley. With
144-845: A variety of features, such as a multi-angle view, instant replays and a wide range of graphics. The arena has been used as a multipurpose venue, primarily hosting the Florida Everblades ECHL ice hockey team. It was also the home for the Florida Flame NBA Development League team, the Florida Firecats , Florida Tarpons and Gulf Coast Fire indoor football teams. Additionally, the venue has hosted various concerts, circuses, boxing, mixed martial arts events, AEW shows, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows, WWE shows, Professional Bull Riders events and family shows. The arena
168-779: Is also home to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles club hockey team of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). In March 2006 and March 2010, the facility hosted the Division 3 ACHA National Championships and in March 2008 the Division 2 ACHA National Championships. The arena has also hosted a college hockey tournament, originally known as the Everblades College Classic and then
192-671: The ECHL . Former Pittsburgh Penguin Jim Paek was brought in to lead the Seals in year two. After the 2003–04 season, the team went through several coaching and staff change including Paek being replaced by former Macon Trax head coach Tommy Stewart when the Trax ceased operations. The Seals were also announced to join the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) for the 2004–05 season . On August 22, 2004,
216-693: The Florida College Hockey Classic . It was a four-team tournament was hosted by the University of Maine Black Bears and the Cornell University Big Red , and two other invited teams. The winner was awarded the Ned Harkness Cup. On March 9, 2022, the arena had its first televised wrestling event as All Elite Wrestling (AEW) had its tapings of Dynamite and Rampage , marking AEW's debut to
240-963: The Lakeland Loggerheads and the Alabama Slammers . The Cape Fear Fire Antz and the Knoxville Ice Bears joined the SEHL with the Huntsville Channel Cats (who were also briefly an ACHL expansion team), the Tupelo T-Rex (who never played due to contractual issues with a previous professional league), and eventually the Winston-Salem T-Birds (who began the season known as the Winston-Salem Hockey Club) as
264-491: The South East Hockey League and World Hockey Association 2 . Surviving franchises would later rejoin each other for the 2004–05 season in the Southern Professional Hockey League . The Orlando Seals won the ACHL's only regular season and playoff championships. Two expansion teams were planned for the 2003–04 season, before the league folded: After the 2002–03 season, David Waronker, who owned four of
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#1732787695147288-509: The 2005–06 season with a 32–17 record with seven overtime losses, placing third in the league, but lost the President's Cup to the Knoxville Ice Bears in five games. Before the 2006–07 season, Waronker agreed in principle to sell the team to real estate developer Bill Lucia. However, while the deal closed in May 2006, Lucia did not file the required league paperwork until October and never made
312-660: The 4th team. All times are local ( EST ) Germain Arena Hertz Arena is a 7,181-seat multi-purpose arena in Estero, Florida , outside Ft. Myers, Florida , which is located between Miromar Lakes, Florida and Bonita Springs, Florida . The arena opened in November 1998 and serves as the home of the Florida Everblades of the ECHL . The arena was first named Everblades Arena in 1998 after
336-749: The ACHL's teams in whole or in part, announced he would be founding a new league the following year. This was the World Hockey Association 2 , which was envisioned as a developmental league to a revived World Hockey Association . Waronker's teams, the Jacksonville Barracudas , the Macon Trax , the Orlando Seals , and the ACHL expansion team, the Miami Manatees , joined this new league; they were joined by
360-628: The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was the second organization to bear this name, after the original Atlantic Coast Hockey League , the early 1980s predecessor of the East Coast Hockey League . The ACHL would last only one season, and was notable for the early-season move of the St. Petersburg Parrots to Winston-Salem, North Carolina . After a bitter split among the franchises, the league split into two new leagues,
384-761: The City of Orlando revoked its lease at the TD Waterhouse Centre due to a clause about attendance and the Seals would miss the season. On October 19, 2004, the ownership group announced a new three-year lease with the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee , changing its name to the Florida Seals. The team resumed play in the 2005–06 season, hosting their first home game against the Jacksonville Barracudas on October 29, 2005. The Seals finished
408-561: The backing of several Solar Bears' season ticket holders, the Seals got off to a solid start attendance-wise and later on the ice thanks to a solid core of hockey fans in Orlando and a roster full of veteran players. With Waronker's investment, the staff was able to make the team a success. The Seals were the winners of that league's first and only President's Cup in 2003 as well as the Commissioner's Cup as regular season champions after
432-531: The city's second hockey championship. When the ACHL folded, they and two other teams, the Jacksonville Barracudas and the Macon Trax, merged into the new World Hockey Association 2 (WHA2), founded by Waronker and longtime Canadian hockey man and former WHA staffer Peter Young. The second season brought a coaching change as Stan Drulia left Orlando to take over the coaching duties of the Augusta Lynx of
456-516: The entertainment segment in Southwest Florida. Hertz Arena features LED lighting, luxury seating, a state-of-the-art sound system, video boards, a VIP lounge and much more. Some of the luxury seating options available at the arena include a lounge, suite and box seating. The arena's VIP lounge, which can be rented out for private events, contains a wide variety of amenities.The arena's video boards are used to broadcast live events and offer
480-604: The hockey team that plays there. TECO Energy was the first company to obtain the naming rights to the building, changing the name to TECO Arena. In 2004, TECO Energy decided they were no longer interested in holding the naming rights. Germain Motor Company bought the rights, and in 2004 the venue was renamed to Germain Arena. This same company, an automobile dealership with locations in Florida, Arkansas, and Ohio, also held
504-627: The naming rights to the Germain Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio . In September 2018, The Hertz Corporation bought the naming rights for the arena and it was renamed Hertz Arena on October 1. The company petitioned the city to repaint the arena bright yellow with black accents to match their branding. In August 2019, the Hoffmann family entered into an agreement to purchase both the arena and hockey team as part of their plan to expand
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#1732787695147528-686: The private sector. Ryan Morris was working in the music field with Rymo Records. Erika Hodges went on to work for the Florida Panthers , and Tom Bradley earned a Stanley Cup ring with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Seals first two coaches were still active with Drulia working with the Milwaukee Admirals and Paek with the Grand Rapids Griffins . The mascot of the Florida Seals was Sealvester . He wore
552-731: The rest of the board had essentially abandoned the team; he had been the only one paying the bills. Several members of the Seals' organization continued their careers in professional sports with Sammy Wallace working for the Germain Arena in Estero, Florida , and Peter Young was with a baseball team in Arizona. Joe Fellini became the director of sales at the Tsongas Center at University of Massachusetts Lowell in Massachusetts, while Brian Fling moved to Colorado to work in
576-510: The team was short on cash and had missed several payments on its lease with the arena. At the same time, the players had been kicked out of their apartments because the team was not paying the rent. The next day, the SPHL Board of Directors held an emergency meeting and voted to expel the Seals from the league. The players were parceled out to the other SPHL teams in a dispersal draft. Lucia later revealed that, for all intents and purposes,
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