Albuquerque Chaparrals

After the one-year wonder Albuquerque Six Guns closed up shop at Tingley Coliseum, the Chaparrals (another name for the roadrunner family of bird) took up residence for the 1975-76 season and part of the short-lived SWHL. Unlike the professional minor league of the CHL that the Six Guns' had been a part of, the SWHL attempted to be an amateur developmental league. In their first season, the Chaparrals went 39-32-1, finished just three points shy of the Amarillo Wranglers. The league and the Chaparrals would come back for a second season but neither was financially viable. A team from Bismarck, ND, folded in November and by December the Chaparrals were attempting to raise money to be able to send players home for the holidays. The team's General Manager refused to pass that money on to the players, and they promptly quit. The SWHL itself wouldn't be far behind, as the league folded in January of 1977.