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Spokane Comets

Field	Value
text_color	#000000
bg_color	background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#1a4498 5px solid; border-bottom:#ef181d 5px solid;
team	Spokane Comets
city	Spokane, Washington
league	Western Hockey League
operated	1959–63
arena	Spokane Coliseum
colours	Blue, red and white
affiliates	Montreal Canadiens
owner	Mel Smith
name1	Spokane Spokes
dates1	1958–1959
name2	Spokane Comets
dates2	1959–1963
name3	Denver Invaders
dates3	1963–1964
name4	Victoria Maple Leafs
dates4	1964–1967
name5	Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL)
dates5	1967–1974
name6	Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)
dates6	1974–1977

The Spokane Comets were a minor professional ice hockey team that was located in Spokane, Washington. They played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1959 to 1963.

History

In April 1961, the franchise considered a move to San Francisco in view of the financial loss of the previous three years but, after several meetings, it remained in Spokane.

The 1962-63 team was coached by Roy McBride who piloted the team to a 30-38-2 record.

In June 1963 the Spokane franchise was purchased by a group led by the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League which relocated them to become the Denver Invaders and act as their farm team. Spokane quickly generated the Spokane Jets, which commenced play in the Western International Hockey League in the 1963–64 WIHL season.

The previous hockey team to play in Spokane had been the Spokane Flyers, who played in the senior amateur WIHL until the pro Flyers joined the WHL as the Spokane Spokes. The pro team's nickname was changed to the Comets in 1959–60.

Season-by-season records

All seasons played in Spokane included.

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
1958-59	70	26	38	6	58	217	275	4th	Lost opening round
1959-60	70	19	48	3	41	201	324	7th	out of playoffs
1960-61	70	33	34	3	69	247	258	5th	Lost Quarter Final
1961-62	70	37	28	5	79	272	242	2nd South	Lost Final
1962-63	70	30	38	2	62	219	252	4th South	out of playoffs

Comets who played in the NHL

Norm Beaudin
Gilles Boisvert
Gerry Brisson
Don Cherry
Roy Edwards
Bill Folk
Emile Francis
Bill Johansen
Earl Johnson
Eddie Johnston
Forbes Kennedy
Connie Madigan
Cesare Maniago
Seth Martin
Ernie Wakely
Carl Wetzel
Steve Witiuk

References

(April 11, 1961). "Comets Move Hangs Heavy". The Spokesman Review.
(April 23, 1961). "Pro Hockey Remains in Spokane". The Spokesman Review.
"Spokane Comets Statistics and History".
(1963-06-06). "Pilous Offered Job As Boss at Denver, Leafs New Farm Club". [[The Globe and Mail]].
(1963-06-05). "Leafs buy coast club". [[Toronto Daily Star]].
Missildine, Harry. (1963-06-05). "Spokane's Western Hockey Franchise Moves to Denver; Toronto Maple Leafs Purchase Mel Smith's Comet Stock". [[The Spokesman-Review]].
Stott, Jon C. (2008). "Ice Warriors: The Pacific Coast/Western Hockey League 1948-1974". Heritage House Publishing.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

sports-in-spokane,-washington defunct-ice-hockey-teams-in-the-united-states western-hockey-league-(1952–1974)-teams ice-hockey-clubs-established-in-1958 ice-hockey-clubs-disestablished-in-1963 defunct-ice-hockey-teams-in-washington-(state) 1958-establishments-in-washington-(state) 1963-disestablishments-in-washington-(state)

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