Lexington Men O' War

Lexington Men O' War
City	Lexington, Kentucky
League	East Coast Hockey League
Conference	Northern
Division	Northwest
Founded	1981 (In the CHL)
Operated	2002–03
Home arena	Rupp Arena
Head coach	Jim Wiley
Franchise history
1981-1983	Nashville South Stars
1983–1990	Virginia Lancers
1990–1992	Roanoke Valley Rebels
1992–1993	Roanoke Valley Rampage
1993–1994	Huntsville Blast
1994–2001	Tallahassee Tiger Sharks
2001–2002	Macon Whoopee
2002–2003	Lexington Men O' War
2005–present	Utah Grizzlies

The Lexington Men O' War were a minor league professional ice hockey team and member of the ECHL. The name Man o' War is from a thoroughbred race horse who was bred in Lexington, and also the name of a highly traveled road in Lexington. The Men O' War played at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky from 2002 to 2003.

Like Lexington's previous team before them (the Kentucky Thoroughblades), success on the ice did not bring good attendance figures. They finished with a record of 34-31-7 and 75 points, which placed them fourth in the Northwest Division. However, they only brought in an average of 2368 fans per game, fourth fewest in the league. The team drew the Toledo Storm in the first round of the playoffs that year, and were swept in three games (1–9, 0–3, 1–5). Van Burgess led the team in points with 55, while Mark Smith paced the team with 22 goals. Jay Banach paced the team with 191 penalty minutes. Dan Murphy played a team high 43 games in net, and won 21.

The team folded following the 2002–03 season, and would later be revived as the Utah Grizzlies beginning in the 2005–06 season.

Season-by-season results

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	Playoffs
2002–03	72	34	31	7	75	188	212	Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–3 vs. Toledo Storm

External links

• Lexington Mon O' War Statistics