Baton Rouge Kingfish
The Baton Rouge Kingfish first played in the Riverside Centroplex (now River Center) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996-97. The squad took an unusual decision in bringing in Pierre McGuire as its first coach. McGuire was coming off spells as head coach in Hartford and assistant coach in Ottawa at the time, but the Kingfish would be his final coaching job before heading into broadcasting for the following 20 years.
The Kingfish finished 31-33 and missed the playoffs in their inaugural season. McGuire would not return for a second season, and the club would instead choose famed enforcer Dave Schultz as coach. Schultz had been out of hockey since the early 1980s, but had returned to coaching in the CoHL with the Madison Monsters the previous season. He would only manage 59 games with the Kingfish in 1997-98 before being dismissed.
The Kingfish, for their part, would go through eight coaches in their seven seasons of existence, with no coaching change making a significant affect on the ice. Each season, they would win between 29 and 35 games, with the exception of their last season, when they would only win 20. The squad appeared in three postseason games, but only advanced past the first round once. That was in 1998-99, when they defeated Augusta in the first round. Following that, the squad would migrate to Canada after seven years in Louisiana.
The Kingfish finished 31-33 and missed the playoffs in their inaugural season. McGuire would not return for a second season, and the club would instead choose famed enforcer Dave Schultz as coach. Schultz had been out of hockey since the early 1980s, but had returned to coaching in the CoHL with the Madison Monsters the previous season. He would only manage 59 games with the Kingfish in 1997-98 before being dismissed.
The Kingfish, for their part, would go through eight coaches in their seven seasons of existence, with no coaching change making a significant affect on the ice. Each season, they would win between 29 and 35 games, with the exception of their last season, when they would only win 20. The squad appeared in three postseason games, but only advanced past the first round once. That was in 1998-99, when they defeated Augusta in the first round. Following that, the squad would migrate to Canada after seven years in Louisiana.
