Orlando Solar Bears

Orlando Solar Bears
	Orlando Solar Bears
City	Orlando, Florida
League	ECHL
Conference	Eastern
Division	South
Founded	2012
Home arena	Kia Center
Colors	Solar purple, seafoam green, sunset orange, sunrise gold, white;
Owner(s)	RDV Sports, Inc.
Head coach	Matt Carkner
Media	Orlando Sentinel , WJRR, ECHL.TV,
Affiliates	Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL); Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
Website	orlandosolarbearshockey.com
Franchise history
Previous franchise history
Championships
	Current season

For the IHL franchise, see Orlando Solar Bears (IHL).

The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at Kia Center (formerly Amway Center^[2]) in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

History[]

Orlando Pro Hockey Operations, L.P. and primary owners Joe Haleski, Bob Ohrablo, and Jason Siegel, obtained an expansion franchise in the ECHL in November 2011.^[3] The team revived the name of the original Orlando Solar Bears, who played in the International Hockey League from 1995 to 2001.^[4] The franchise also retained the original colors of their IHL predecessor, while adding the color Sunrise Gold. They are Orlando's third professional hockey team, after the original Solar Bears and Orlando Seals (2002–2004). Together with the Florida Everblades of Estero and the Jacksonville Icemen, they are one of three ECHL franchises in Florida. They are the eighth ECHL franchise to have the name of a previous IHL franchise, joining four current teams (Cincinnati Cyclones, Fort Wayne Komets, Utah Grizzlies and Kalamazoo Wings) and three former teams (the defunct Phoenix Roadrunners and Long Beach Ice Dogs; and the Peoria Rivermen).

The Solar Bears utilize RDV Sportsplex Ice Den as their training facility and offices.

For their first season in 2012–13, the team became affiliated with the Minnesota Wild of the NHL and the Houston Aeros of the AHL.^[5] They hired former NHL player Drake Berehowsky as the team's first head coach.^[6] During their inaugural season, the Solar Bears posted a 20–11–1–4 record on home ice; however, the team struggled on the road and missed the playoffs with a 28–27–7 overall record.^[7]

The Solar Bears then named Vince Williams, a former Solar Bears defenseman, as head coach for the 2013–14 season. They also added an affiliation with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL and the Toronto Marlies of the AHL while also keeping the Wild as an affiliate. The Leafs extended their affiliation with the Solar Bears for an additional two years in 2014 and the Leafs became the Solar Bears' sole NHL affiliate.^[8]

The Solar Bears hosted the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game at Amway Center on January 21, 2015.

For the 2015–16 season, Anthony Noreen became the head coach of the Solar Bears after guiding the United States Hockey League's Youngstown Phantoms to the league championship and being named USHL Coach of the Year.^[9] The Solar Bears also renewed their affiliation with the Maple Leafs and Marlies.^[10] The Solar Bears missed the 2016 playoffs and then started the 2016–17 season with a 5-5-1-0 record. On November 14, 2016, head coach Anthony Noreen was replaced by former Solar Bears' head coach Drake Berehowsky.^[7]

In May 2017, the DeVos family, owners of the Orlando Magic, agreed to purchase the Solar Bears when the Orlando Pro Hockey Operations, L.P. ownership group informed them that they could no longer sustain the team. The DeVos family were the owners of the IHL Solar Bears from 1995 through 2001.^[1]

In the 2018 Kelly Cup playoffs, the Solar Bears swept the South Carolina Stingrays to win their first playoff series, before losing to the regular season champions, the Florida Everblades, in the division finals. After the season, the Solar Bears and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their five-season affiliation when Toronto affiliated with the expansion Newfoundland Growlers team.^[11] The Solar Bears then affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning on a three-year agreement,^[12] which was then extended through at least the 2022–23 season.^[13]

On April 25, 2022, the team announced that they and Drake Berehowsky had mutually agreed to part ways.^[14]

Media[]

The radio broadcasts for Orlando Solar Bears games are streamed online through iHeart Radio on the online channel for WYGM "740 the Game" and on Mixlr. News6 WKMG broadcasts select games throughout the season. Joey Battaino, formerly of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, is the play-by-play announcer for the Solar Bears.

As with all ECHL teams, video of Orlando Solar Bears games are available on FloSports and ECHL.TV, usually with a choice between home or away radio feeds for audio. The 2022-2023 season home opener was simulcast on WKMG-TV (Orlando's CBS affiliate) and Cozi TV.

Season-by-season results[]

Regular season											Playoffs
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	Standing	Avg. attendance	Year	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Kelly Cup
2012–13	72	28	37	3	4	63	197	253	5th, South	6,668	2013	did not qualify
2013–14	72	43	24	2	3	91	225	219	2nd, South	6,355	2014	L, 2–4, CIN	—	—	—
2014–15	72	37	25	6	4	84	236	215	4th, East	6,209	2015	L, 2–4, FLA	—	—	—
2015–16	72	33	30	4	5	75	224	232	3rd, South	6,226	2016	did not qualify
2016–17	72	36	26	7	3	82	260	258	4th, South	5,498	2017	L, 3–4, FLA	—	—	—
2017–18	72	33	30	6	3	75	212	228	3rd, South	5,461	2018	W, 4–0, SC	L, 1–4, FLA	—	—
2018–19	72	41	25	5	1	88	251	238	2nd, South	5,612	2019	W, 4–1, SC	L, 1–4, FLA	—	—
2019–20	62	27	29	5	1	60	170	180	5th, South	5,632	2020	Season cancelled
2020–21	72	36	29	6	1	79	218	232	5th, Eastern	2,464	2021	did not qualify
2021–22	71	33	31	6	1	73	197	226	5th, South	5,120	2022	did not qualify
2022–23	72	30	33	8	1	69	221	264	6th, South	6,033	2023	did not qualify
2023–24	72	38	24	7	3	86	220	206	4th, South	—	2024	W, 4–2, GRN	L, 1–4, FLA	—	—

Players[]

Current roster[]

Updated April 22, 2024.^[15]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Birthplace	Contract
18	United States	Angeli, DarikDarik Angeli	3.0 F	R	34	Lakewood, Colorado	Solar Bears
43	Canada	Bent, KellyKelly Bent	3.0 F	L	29	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Solar Bears
3	Canada	Biakabutuka, JérémieJérémie Biakabutuka	2.0 D	R	22	Longueuil, Quebec	Blues
7	United States	Bird, TylerTyler Bird (A)	3.0 F	R	28	Andover, Massachusetts	Solar Bears
30	Canada	Boisvert, FrancisFrancis Boisvert	1.0 G	R	25	Blainville, Quebec	Solar Bears
61	United States	Boka, LukeLuke Boka	3.0 F	R	25	Plymouth, Michigan	Solar Bears
59	Canada	Carroll, BenBen Carroll	2.0 D	L	29	Sherwood Park, Alberta	Solar Bears
6	Canada	Carter, ChaseChase Carter	2.0 D	L	24	Truro, Nova Scotia	Solar Bears
23	United States	Dickinson, TannerTanner Dickinson	3.0 F	L	22	Perrysburg, Ohio	Blues
21	Canada	Dureau, JaydonJaydon Dureau	3.0 F	L	23	White City, Saskatchewan	Lightning
35	Canada	Fitzpatrick, EvanEvan Fitzpatrick	1.0 G	L	26	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Crunch
28	United States	Frye, AlexAlex Frye	3.0 F	L	26	Clarkston, Michigan	Solar Bears
8	Canada	Gaudet, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Gaudet	2.0 D	L	21	Saint-Ignace, New Brunswick	Blues
20	United States	Gosselin, KurtKurt Gosselin	2.0 D	L	29	Brighton, Michigan	Solar Bears
29	Canada	Hoelscher, MitchellMitchell Hoelscher	3.0 F	L	24	Waterloo, Ontario	Thunderbirds
71	United States	Jacques, JesseJesse Jacques	3.0 F	R	26	Hermantown, Minnesota	Solar Bears
41	Canada	Kersten, SpencerSpencer Kersten	3.0 F	R	24	Waterloo, Ontario	Solar Bears
17	United States	Lombardi, KevinKevin Lombardi	3.0 F	R	26	Schwenksville, Pennsylvania	Crunch
9	Canada	Low, BraydenBrayden Low (A)	3.0 F	L	30	Steveston, British Columbia	Solar Bears
91	Canada	Luchuk, AaronAaron Luchuk	3.0 F	L	27	Kingston, Ontario	Solar Bears
2	Canada	Massicotte, ZacharyZachary Massicotte	2.0 D	L	23	Shawinigan, Quebec	Crunch
77	United States	Mazza, JimmyJimmy Mazza (A)	2.0 D	R	30	Kings Park, New York	Solar Bears
12	United States	Schachle, TannerTanner Schachle	3.0 F	L	27	Wasilla, Alaska	Solar Bears
22	United States	Winslow, AveryAvery Winslow	2.0 D	L	22	St. Pete Beach, Florida	Solar Bears

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "Magic, DeVos family will buy Orlando Solar Bears", May 3, 2017.
↑ NBA.com: Orlando's Premier Downtown Sports and Entertainment Destination to be Renamed Kia Center. NBA (December 20, 2023).
↑ Expansion Membership Approved for Orlando. Orlando Solar Bears (November 1, 2011).
↑ Press release (November 16, 2011). Orlando welcomes back the Solar Bears.
↑ Out of Hibernation and into the Wild. Press Release. Orlando Solar Bears.
↑ SOLAR BEARS NAME NHL/AHL VETERAN DRAKE BEREHOWSKY AS HEAD COACH. Orlando Solar Bears (June 19, 2012).
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 "Berehowsky leaves Wolves for top job in Orlando", November 14, 2016.
↑ Maple Leafs renew ECHL affiliation with Orlando.
↑ ANTHONY NOREEN NAMED SOLAR BEARS' HEAD COACH (June 30, 2015).
↑ Solar Bears Extend Affiliate Agreement with Toronto Maple Leafs.
↑ Solar Bears to Seek NHL Affiliation for 2018-19 Season (June 14, 2018).
↑ SOLAR BEARS BECOME ECHL AFFILIATE OF TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (August 13, 2018).
↑ Solar Bears, Lightning Extend Affiliation Agreement (July 19, 2021).
↑ Solar Bears and Head Coach Drake Berehowsky Agree to Part Ways (April 25, 2022).
↑ Orlando Solar Bears Roster. Orlando Solar Bears (July 24, 2023).

External links[]

Official website

Tampa Bay Lightning
Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Amalie Arena • Syracuse Crunch • Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL)

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Orlando Solar Bears. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[DeVos_Purchase-1] 1.0 ^1.1 "Magic, DeVos family will buy Orlando Solar Bears", May 3, 2017.

[2] NBA.com: Orlando's Premier Downtown Sports and Entertainment Destination to be Renamed Kia Center. NBA (December 20, 2023).

[3] Expansion Membership Approved for Orlando. Orlando Solar Bears (November 1, 2011).

[4] Press release (November 16, 2011). Orlando welcomes back the Solar Bears.

[5] Out of Hibernation and into the Wild. Press Release. Orlando Solar Bears.

[drake-6] SOLAR BEARS NAME NHL/AHL VETERAN DRAKE BEREHOWSKY AS HEAD COACH. Orlando Solar Bears (June 19, 2012).

[Sudbury-7] 7.0 ^7.1 "Berehowsky leaves Wolves for top job in Orlando", November 14, 2016.

[8] Maple Leafs renew ECHL affiliation with Orlando.

[9] ANTHONY NOREEN NAMED SOLAR BEARS' HEAD COACH (June 30, 2015).

[10] Solar Bears Extend Affiliate Agreement with Toronto Maple Leafs.

[11] Solar Bears to Seek NHL Affiliation for 2018-19 Season (June 14, 2018).

[12] SOLAR BEARS BECOME ECHL AFFILIATE OF TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (August 13, 2018).

[13] Solar Bears, Lightning Extend Affiliation Agreement (July 19, 2021).

[14] Solar Bears and Head Coach Drake Berehowsky Agree to Part Ways (April 25, 2022).

[15] Orlando Solar Bears Roster. Orlando Solar Bears (July 24, 2023).

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Syracuse Crunch
Franchise formerly the Hamilton Canucks - Founded in 1992 Based in Syracuse, New York
People	Julien BriseBois - Benoit Groulx
Arenas	Copps Coliseum (1992-1994) - Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial (1994-present)
Rivalries	Grand Rapids Griffins - Utica Comets - Rochester Americans - Cleveland Monsters - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Affiliates	NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning - ECHL: Orlando Solar Bears
Previous Syracuse AHL teams	Syracuse Stars - Syracuse Warriors - Syracuse Eagles - Syracuse Firebirds
Other Syracuse hockey teams	Syracuse Braves - Syracuse Blazers - Syracuse Condors - Syracuse Hornets - Syracuse Jr. Crunch/Syracuse Stars (junior) - Syracuse University Orange (men) - Syracuse University Orange (women)