PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY IS SKATING BACK into Stockton after a four-year absence. 

The city of Stockton and Adventist Health Arena officials will unveil details about a new team on Wednesday during a news conference. 

Don Kirnan, commissioner of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, confirmed in a phone interview with Stocktonia on Monday that a franchise coming to Stockton will play in the FPHL.

The city has not had professional hockey since the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League left town at the end of the 2022 season.

“Regularly, we hear the calls from fans across our community asking for the return of hockey to Stockton,” Mayor Christina Fugazi said in a news release Monday. “This is more than just the return of a sport, it’s the return of Stockton’s sports tradition, family entertainment, and the electric atmosphere that brings our community together.” 

Professional hockey in Stockton began in 2005 and coincided with the opening of Adventist Health Arena, formerly called Stockton Arena. The Stockton Thunder were playing as the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies when the team was purchased and moved to Stockton under a franchise sold to Michael Reinsdorf, the current CEO of the Chicago Bulls. At the time, Reinsdorf headed the group that managed the arena. 

The Thunder led the ECHL, formerly the East Coast Hockey League, in their first two years and were bought by the NHL’s Calgary Flames in 2014, setting up a move to Glen Falls, N.Y.

That transition made way for the AHL’s Stockton Heat. The Heat stayed in town until 2022, but played one season in Calgary during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Heat now reside permanently in Calgary. 

“This is more than just the return of a sport, it’s the return of Stockton’s sports tradition, family entertainment, and the electric atmosphere that brings our community together.”
Mayor Christina Fugazi

The Federal Prospects Hockey League, or FPHL, formerly the Federal Hockey League, is an independent minor professional league founded in 2009 that began playing in 2010. It is considered Single-A hockey, on the lower echelon of the professional leagues. 

The FPHL has been based on the East Coast and in the South and Midwest, but is making a push west and recently announced teams in Oceanside, near San Diego, and Fresno. 

Kirnan said the FPHL — called “The Fed” in hockey circles — has prospered in markets with existing fan bases that lost teams, adding that Stockton should be “a great fit.” 

“It’s got the criteria that we’re looking for teams that are really necessary,” Kirnan said. “It’s got the right size. It’s been gone for years; it has a fanbase. Every place that we have gone into like that has really done very well.” 

Wednesday’s scheduled news conference at the arena, which is open to the public, will provide details about the new franchise, including team ownership, a “name the team” contest and a timeline leading up to the upcoming inaugural season, which is scheduled to begin in October. 

“We’re thrilled to reintroduce professional hockey to Stockton and to once again fill the Adventist Health Arena with the energy and excitement this sport brings,” Legends Global Regional General Manager Jason Perry said in the release. “This is about more than games on the ice, it’s about creating moments for families, fans and our entire community to come together.”

This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.