Columbia Inferno

Columbia Inferno
City	Columbia, South Carolina
League	ECHL
Conference	American Conference
Division	South Division
Founded	2001
Home arena	Carolina Coliseum
Colors	Red, yellow, black, white
Owner(s)	Dr. Ezra Riber and Sam Imbeau
General manager	Jimmy James
Head coach	Vacant
Affiliates	Independent
Franchise history
2001–present	Columbia Inferno
Championships
Regular season titles	none
Division Championships	2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Conference Championships	2002–03
Kelly Cups	none

The Columbia Inferno are an ECHL team based in Columbia, South Carolina. The team is currently on voluntary suspension awaiting construction of a new arena in suburban Lexington County. They played their home games at the Carolina Coliseum. They planned on playing in a new arena during the 2002-03 season, the Colonial Life Arena which was intended for them. The arena was not given to them due to legal issues. The Inferno first took the ice in 2001 as an expansion team after a group of physicians dubbed the "Hockey Docs" sought to purchase a team. While officially unaffiliated in their first season, the Inferno soon reached a working relationship with the Manitoba Moose that turned into a formal affiliation the following season. On July 10, 2006, the team announced the end of their affiliation with the affiliate of Manitoba Moose (AHL) and Vancouver Canucks (NHL) (1). On July 12, 2006, the team announced a new affiliation with the Toronto Marlies (AHL) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL). The team was voluntarily suspended for the 2008–09 season as the team was told that it could not be guaranteed a lease with the Carolina Coliseum in time to meet league requirements. The voluntary suspension was extended during subsequent seasons and, according to Joe Babik, the Director of Communications for the ECHL, includes the 2011-2012 season.

History of the Columbia Inferno

Coaching history

Coach	Tenure	W	L	OTL	Current status
Scott White	2001–2005	165	87	36	Director of Minor League Operations, Dallas Stars
Ted Dent	2005–2006	25	39	8	Head Coach, Rockford IceHogs
Troy Mann	2006–2008	62	62	20	Assistant Coach, Hershey Bears

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2001–02	72	36	22	14	--	86	211	197	1618	3rd in Southeast	Div SF, (Pride)
2002–03	72	47	23	2	--	96	265	202	1158	1st in Southeast	Final, 1-4 (Boardwalk Bullies)
2003–04	72	44	20	--	8	96	275	217	1855	1st in South	Div SF, 1-3 (Stingrays)
2004–05	72	38	22	--	12	88	199	186	1333	1st in East	Conf QF, 2-3 (Checkers)
2005–06	72	25	39	--	8	58	209	290	1596	7th in South	Out of Playoffs
2006-07	72	29	34	--	9	67	214	247	1316	7th in South	Out of Playoffs
2007-08	72	33	28	--	11	77	212	217	1171	5th in South	Conf SF, 2-3 (Stingrays)

Current roster

Team captains

• 2007-2008
  • C - Brad Ralph
    • A - Patrick Wellar
    • A - Tyson Marsh
    • A - Mac Faulkner
    • A - Jeff Miles
    • A - Donny Grover
    • A - Steve McJannet

• 2006-2007
  • C - Chris Thompson
  • C - Brad Ralph
    • A - Mike Vellinga
    • A - Tyson Marsh
    • A - Jeff Miles
    • A - Brad Ralph

• 2005-2006
  • C - Jay Legault
    • A - Leon Hayward
    • A - Derek Eastman

• 2004-2005
  • C - Trevor Demmans
    • A - Brad Ralph
    • A - Matt Ulwelling
    • A - Kevin Hopke
    • A - Robin Carruthers

• 2003-2004
  • C - Barrie Moore
    • A - Dennis Vial
    • A - Sean Owens
    • A - Robin Carruthers

• 2002-2003
  • C - Barrie Moore
    • A - Dennis Vial
    • A - Corey Hessler

NHL alumni

• Alex Auld
• Eric Boulton
• Alexandre Burrows
• Fedor Fedorov
• Alex Foster
• Robert McVicar
• Mike Minard
• Brandon Nolan
• Phil Oreskovic
• Bryan Rodney
• Jesse Schultz
• Dennis Vial

Notable players

• Patrick Couture (ECHL 2002–03 Second Team All-Star)
• Tim Smith (ECHL 2003-04 Leading Scorer)
• Rejean Stringer (ECHL 2002-03 Sportsmanship Award)

Miscellaneous

Team highs

In the 2002-03 season, the Columbia Inferno were the Southern Conference champions.

Infamous moments

During the 2002–03 season, the Columbia Inferno played the rival South Carolina Stingrays at home. There was a fight in the second period involving every player from both teams. During this fight over 110 penalty minutes were awarded to both teams combined

External links

• Columbia Inferno Official Homepage
• Columbia Inferno Booster Club
• ECHL Official Website
• Martial Image Photography, Official Game Photographer of the Columbia Inferno