New Mexico Scorpions
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The New Mexico Scorpions are a minor league ice hockey team located in Rio Rancho, NM, the largest suburb of Albuquerque, 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.
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 Scorpions' mascot is named Stanley. The owners include former NHLers Dave Ellett and Brian Savage. The coach is Randy Murphy. The team's archrival is the Arizona Sundogs.
Off the ice, the primary rival for the Scorpions has been the city of Albuquerque which has consistently shown less than ideal support for the franchise[citation needed]. That could be because the team was once owned by a shady chiropracter[citation needed] and once used a stand up comedian[citation needed] as its coach for one game.
As a result of somewhat inept team ownership and a general indifference from Albuquerque sports fans growing tired of the Scorpions' act, plus tepid support on a taxpayer-funded new arena, the team went dark for the 2005-2006 season and resurfaced in 2006 in Rio Rancho's new Santa Ana Star Center.
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