El Paso Buzzards
| El Paso Buzzards | |
|---|---|
| City | El Paso, Texas |
| League |
WPHL CHL |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Home arena | El Paso County Coliseum |
| Owner(s) | Bill Davidson |
| General manager | John Zang, Tommy Benezio |
| Head coach | Trent Eigner, Craig Coxe |
| Franchise history | |
| 1996–2003 | El Paso Buzzards |
| Championships | |
| Playoff championships | 2 (1996–97, 1997–98) |
The El Paso Buzzards were a professional ice hockey team in El Paso, Texas and were members of the Western Professional Hockey League and Central Hockey League. They played their home games at El Paso County Coliseum.
The team was one of the original members of the Western Professional Hockey League starting in 1996, winning the leagues first two championships in the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. The team was coached by Todd Brost, a former member of Canada's Olympic hockey team.
The team was founded by Jim Burlew and John Kettle who brought in Rich Szturm to run the ice operations and start a youth hockey program for the city.
In 2003, the El Paso Buzzards were the first former WPHL team to fold after the WPHL was bought by the Central Hockey League in 2001. Hockey would not return to El Paso until the junior hockey team, the El Paso Rhinos, joined the Western States Hockey League as an expansion team in 2006.