Havana Tropicals
The Havana Tropicals were one of four teams in the Tropical Hockey League. The THL played one official season in 1938-39 at the Metropolitan Ice Palace in Miami, Florida. Yes, the first known pro hockey game in Florida occurred almost 90 years ago.
The THL was made up of four clubs (Tropicals, Miami Beach Pirates, Coral Gables Seminoles, and the Miami Clippers). The players on the teams, however, were all Canadian imports, therefore the Tropicals had no Cubans or Floridians among their ranks. The Tropicals finished 4-11 in their lone season, while Coral Gables won the league title by going 12-2. According to newspaper reports, the league may have continued for another year or two, but it's uncertain, and if it did, it didn't get much notice.
The THL was genuinely ahead of its time, since the state would not host pro hockey again until the Jacksonville Rockets of the EHL arrived in 1964. Miami would not have another professional team until the Panthers arrived in town in 1993, more than a half-century after the THL.
The THL was made up of four clubs (Tropicals, Miami Beach Pirates, Coral Gables Seminoles, and the Miami Clippers). The players on the teams, however, were all Canadian imports, therefore the Tropicals had no Cubans or Floridians among their ranks. The Tropicals finished 4-11 in their lone season, while Coral Gables won the league title by going 12-2. According to newspaper reports, the league may have continued for another year or two, but it's uncertain, and if it did, it didn't get much notice.
The THL was genuinely ahead of its time, since the state would not host pro hockey again until the Jacksonville Rockets of the EHL arrived in 1964. Miami would not have another professional team until the Panthers arrived in town in 1993, more than a half-century after the THL.
