New Mexico Scorpions



The New Mexico Scorpions are an inactive Central Hockey League team located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The team was established in 1996 as a part of the six-team Western Professional Hockey League. In 2001, the league merged with the Central Hockey League to form a sixteen-team league. In July 2009, the team announced it was ceasing operations for the 2009-10 CHL season.

The Scorpions played in Tingley Coliseum at Expo New Mexico, the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque. The team suspended operations for the 2005-06 season in order to prepare to move to the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho for the 2006-07 season.

New Mexico captured the regular-season title in 1996, but has undergone a streak of futility in league playoffs. The Scorps are 5-of-10 in playoff series and 27-of-39 in playoff games. They reached the league final in 2000, but lost to the Shreveport Mudbugs (now Bossier-Shreveport) in six games. In 2007, they won the CHL Southwestern Division Championship and reached the Southern Conference Championship series by defeating the Amarillo Gorillas and the Arizona Sundogs. They lost to the Laredo Bucks 4 games to 1.

The owners include former NHLers Dave Ellett and Brian Savage. The coach is Randy Murphy. The team's archrival is the Arizona Sundogs.