Jacksonville Rockets

{{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox ice hockey team | text_color = White | bg_color = Blue | team = Jacksonville Rockets | logo = JacksonvilleRockets70.gif | logo_size = 150px | city = Jacksonville, Florida | league = Eastern Hockey League | operated = 1964–1972 | arena = Jacksonville Coliseum | colors = Orange, white, and blue | affiliates =  | reg_season_titles = | division_titles = }} The '''Jacksonville Rockets''' were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1964–1972, when they folded. They were the first professional hockey team to be based in Florida. They played most of their home games at the Jacksonville Coliseum; from 1966–68 they were known as the '''Florida Rockets''', playing some of their home games in St. Petersburg, Florida.

==History== The Rockets joined the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) in 1964, becoming Jacksonville's first professional ice hockey team; they were also the first professional team in Florida since the folding of the Tropical Hockey League in 1939.<ref name=McDonald>{{cite news|title= Bringing Down the House|first= Dan|last= McDonald|newspaper= The Florida Times-Union|date= June 22, 2003|url= http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/062203/dss_12846367.shtml|accessdate= December 16, 2010|archive-date= December 16, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101216052809/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/062203/dss_12846367.shtml|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name=Summerof10>{{cite news |title= Summer of 10: The top 10 little-known sports franchises in Jacksonville history|first= Smits|last= Garry |newspaper= The Florida Times-Union|date= June 7, 2010|url= http://jacksonville.com/sports/2010-06-07/story/summer-10-jacksonvilles-top-10-little-known-sports-franchises|accessdate=December 16, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Jackson>{{cite book |title= The Making of Slap Shot|last= Jackson|first= Jonathon |year= 2010|publisher= John Wiley and Sons|isbn= 978-0-470-15941-5|page= 146}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= McKinley |first= Michael |title= Hockey: A People's History |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5g_r5MsuEf4C&dq=%22Tropical+Hockey+League%22&pg=PA124 |access-date= June 25, 2013 |year= 2009 |publisher= Random House Digital |isbn= 978-0771057717 |page=124 }}</ref> The league decided to expand into Florida and other Southern states after the unexpected success of the Charlotte Checkers in Charlotte, North Carolina.<ref name=Jackson/> Organizers chose Jacksonville as the Jacksonville Coliseum was one of the few arenas in Florida equipped for ice hockey.<ref name=McDonald/> For most of their existence, the Rockets were coached by Bob Sabourin, who initially joined the team as a player and subsequently became the head coach and general manager.<ref name=BASCH>{{cite news|title= Hockey's future a lot brighter in Jacksonville|first= Mark|last= Basch|newspaper= The Florida Times-Union|date= November 8, 2004|url= http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110804/bus_17107357.shtml|accessdate= December 16, 2010|archive-date= October 1, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121001063444/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110804/bus_17107357.shtml|url-status= dead}}</ref>

The Rockets faced an uphill battle in attracting fans, as at the time hockey had made few inroads in the southern United States. A contemporary article in the ''Jacksonville Journal'' commented that when the Rockets began play, locals "didn't know a hockey puck from a bedwarmer or a hockey stick from a shepherd's staff."<ref name=BASCH/> Sabourin and the team launched a number of ventures to promote the sport, organizing youth leagues and skating lessons at the Coliseum.<ref name=McDonald/> Beginning in the 1965–1966 season they played some of their home games at the Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name=allflorida>{{cite news |title= "Jacksonville Rockets Now 'All-Florida'"|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=veMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=InQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7024,2569081&dq=jacksonville-rockets&hl=en|newspaper= St. Petersburg Times|date= April 15, 1966 |accessdate=December 21, 2010}}</ref> In 1966 the Rockets hoped to add West Palm Beach as a home city as well, and they changed their name to the Florida Rockets to reflect their new "all-Florida" status.<ref name=allflorida/> However, the West Palm Beach games were cancelled due to construction delays, and the team resumed their original name in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |title= Palm Beach Erased -- We're One of Two |author= Frank Quine |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8mVQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RVcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288,2549753&dq=florida-rockets+palm-beach&hl=en |newspaper= Evening Independent |date= November 15, 1966 |accessdate=September 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hockeydb.com/stte/jacksonville-rockets-6224.html |title= Jacksonville Rockets |work= hockeydb.com|accessdate=December 21, 2010}}</ref>

The Rockets fielded mostly losing teams and drew modest crowds for most of their run.<ref name=BASCH/> They drew sellout and near-sellout crowds in Jacksonville in 1967, when they were in contention for the EHL championship. Otherwise, they averaged around 2,500 spectators per game.<ref name=McDonald/> The Rockets finally folded in 1972 due to economic pressures. They were followed by the American Hockey League's Jacksonville Barons, who relocated from Cleveland, Ohio in 1973. The Barons folded at the end of the 1973–1974 season, and Jacksonville did not have a hockey team for nearly two decades.<ref name=BASCH/> Bob Sabourin remained in Jacksonville, promoting concerts, professional wrestling and other events. He eventually opened his own skating rink and owned another minor league hockey team, the Jacksonville Bullets.<ref name=McDonald/>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Category:Defunct ice hockey teams in Florida Category:Eastern Hockey League teams Category:Ice hockey teams in Jacksonville, Florida Category:1964 establishments in Florida Category:1972 disestablishments in Florida Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 1964 Category:Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1972