Lake Charles Ice Pirates
Playing in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Ice Pirates were an expansion team for the Western Professional Hockey League in 1997 and they played through to the end of the 2001 season. While they made the playoffs in their first three years, they exited in the 1st, 3rd and 2nd rounds respectively and did not qualify for the playoff in their final year. In their final season, they were bought by a new ownership group, and the team failed to make payroll on several occasions throughout the season, prompting some players to leave the team. They barely managed to complete the season and they folded in June 2001. The WPHL also ceased to exist that year, and the remaining teams merged into the Central Hockey League.
