New Orleans Brass

New Orleans Brass

The New Orleans Brass was a hockey team in the ECHL from 1997 to 2002. The team was at one time affiliated with the San Jose Sharks. Home games were played first at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium (until October 29, 1999) and then at the New Orleans Arena. In 2002, the NBA's Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans and became the primary tenant in the arena. The New Orleans Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans) pressured the state of Louisiana, which owns the arena, into demanding that the Brass bear the expense of converting the arena to and from basketball and hockey as a condition of staying in the arena. The expense was more than the Brass' ownership was willing to pay. The Municipal Auditorium had recently replaced its floor, and in the process removed its ice plant. Without a suitable home, the Brass folded. The only head coach of the Brass was Ted Sator. The team's first GM was Larry Kish who was succeeded by Dan Belisle and owned by future New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. The Brass made the playoffs every year, winning three series, two in the 1998–99 season (the same season the Brass earned its worst record), and one in the 2000–01 season, putting the Brass in the conference semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. The principal rivals of the Brass were the Louisiana IceGators and the Mississippi Sea Wolves (Biloxi, MS). The Baton Rouge Kingfish were another, less successful intrastate rival. The team's games were broadcast in New Orleans on radio station WSMB (now WWWL). The first radio voice of the Brass was Steve Carroll, who is now the radio voice of the Anaheim Ducks.

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