The Phoenix Mustangs were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). The Mustangs played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the grounds of the Arizona State Fair, from the 1997–98 season through the 2000–01 season. The Mustangs came into existence after the demise of the International Hockey League's Phoenix Roadrunners who lost funding from a local Indian community and ceased operations after the 1996–97 season. Their arrival rekindled a decades long rivalry between Phoenix and San Diego based teams in several minor leagues.
The Mustangs were quite successful on the ice their first three seasons, including winning the WCHL's Taylor Cup Championship in 2000 with a four-game sweep of the Tacoma Sabercats, with an exciting sudden-death overtime victory at the Coliseum in game four. The Mustangs were not so blessed the following season, finishing last in their final season in 2000–01. The Mustangs were unable to secure a new lease with the Coliseum for the 2001–02 season and were forced to cease operations.
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Final records.Hockeydb.com, Phoenix Mustangs Statistics and History Season GP W L SOL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Coach Playoffs 1997–98 64 36 25 3 75 267 235 1656 2nd, South Brad McCaughey Lost in round 2, 0-4 (San Diego) 1998–99 71 32 33 6 70 260 284 1932 3rd, South Brad McCaughey Lost in round 1, 1-2 (Fresno) 1999–00 72 31 35 6 68 264 284 2085 3rd, South Marty Raymond Won Taylor Cup, 4-0 (Tacoma) 2000–01 72 21 48 3 45 213 333 2174 5th, South Marty Raymond Missed playoffs
All-Time Roster # Player Pos Height Weight (lbs.) Birthdate Birthplace 16 Tobias Ablad D 5'11" 207 February 4, 1971 Stockholm, Sweden 32 Steve Adams D 6'1" 225 April 11, 1975 Edmonton, Alberta 12 Alex Alepin D 5'11" 200 September 18, 1975 Montreal, Quebec 91 Jamie Allan RW 6'0" 190 March 18, 1970 Ottawa, Ontario Darcy Anderson RW 6'0" 194 July 23, 1974 North Bay, Ontario 8 John Badduke RW 6'2" 212 June 21, 1972 Calgary, Alberta Darren Banks LW 6'2" 228 March 19, 1966 Toronto, Ontario 16/17 Ralph Barahona C 5'10" 185 November 16, 1965 Lakewood, California 11 Hugo Belanger LW 6'0" 190 May 28, 1970 Saint-Hubert, Quebec Éric Bellerose LW 6'1" 200 February 7, 1972 Montreal, Quebec Jonas Bergdahl D 6'0" 218 February 5, 1976 Sweden David Bilik D 6'0" 200 December 13, 1979 Tábor, Czechoslovakia 35 Gene Bono G 6'2" 196 October 15, 1974 Sandwich, Massachusetts 28 E.J. Bradley C 5'11" 185 January 1, 1975 New Hyde Park, New York 55 Kevin Brown RW 6'1" 212 May 11, 1974 Birmingham, England 30 Mike Buzak G 6'3" 210 February 10, 1973 Edson, Alberta Steve Caley C 5'9" 175 August 13, 1978 Toronto, Ontario Denis Chalifoux C 5'8" 165 February 21, 1971 Laval, Quebec 10 Clint Collins RW 6'0" 192 August 2, 1974 Vancouver, British Columbia 2 Mark Costea D 5'10" 200 January 26, 1974 Welland, Ontario 39 Patrick Couture G 5'11" 180 May 28, 1978 Quebec City, Quebec 15/16 Michel Couvrette C 5'10 193 November 11, 1965 Verdun, France 7 Mike DeAngelis D 5'11" 190 January 27, 1966 Kamloops, British Columbia Frank DeFrenza RW 6'3" 198 September 26, 1974 Burnaby, British Columbia 24 Dave Doucet D 5'10" 200 May 29, 1973 Quebec City, Quebec 10 Jon Dunmar D 6'1" 220 April 24, 1973 Buenos Aires, Argentina Miroslav Dvorak D 5'10" 195 April 4, 1975 České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia 22 Kevin Epp D 6'0" 189 August 27, 1974 Cranbrook, British Columbia 28 Kristoffer Eriksson D 5'11" 194 June 4, 1975 Stockholm, Sweden 10 Robert Fail D 6'0" 190 September 16, 1978 Martin, Czechoslovakia Sam Fields D 6'3" 215 August 31, 1976 Chicago, Illinois Dereck Gosselin D 6'1" 175 February 20, 1975 Asbestos, Quebec 30 David Goverde G 6'1" 200 April 9, 1970 Toronto, Ontario 3 Jessy Grenier LW 6'2" 215 July 21, 1976 Chandler, Quebec Jason Gudmundson RW 5'9" 170 April 9, 1974 Arborg, Manitoba Ben Gustavson LW 5'11" 190 April 23, 1978 Provo, Utah 10 Len Hachborn C 5'10" 180 September 4, 1961 Brantford, Ontario 12 David Haynes RW 6'1" 210 August 20, 1975 Kitchener, Ontario 55 Steve Herniman D 6'4" 215 June 9, 1968 Windsor, Ontario Rod Hinks C 5'11" 185 April 11, 1973 Toronto, Ontario 17 Juri Holik LW 6'0" 179 September 13, 1976 Jihlava, Czechoslovakia 18 Tony Iob LW 5'11" 202 January 2, 1971 Renfrew, Ontario 28 Denis Ivanov RW 6'4" 208 April 21, 1978 Elektrostal, USSR Jason Johnson D 5'11" 196 September 4, 1975 Unionville, Ontario 20 Kevin Kerr RW 6'0" 190 September 18, 1967 North Bay, Ontario 15 John Kosobud LW 6'0" 205 August 26, 1972 Fargo, North Dakota 24 Arturs Kupaks D 6'0" 190 July 14, 1973 Riga, Latvia Brian Lachance D 6'1" 169 December 31, 1979 Vanier, Quebec 25 Martin Lacroix RW 5'11" 180 January 4, 1970 Montreal, Quebec 22/32 Corey Laniuk D 6'2" 220 January 30, 1977 Vancouver, British Columbia Daniel Larin RW 5'11" 205 November 20, 1967 Laval, Quebec 7 Don Lester D 5'11" 180 April 29, 1970 Forest, Ontario Tim Lozinik D 6'1" 200 January 28, 1977 St. Albert, Alberta Patrick Lundback D 6'2" 205 March 12, 1968 Karlstad, Sweden 23 Dave Lylyk LW 6'2" 190 December 22, 1975 Guelph, Ontario Rick MacDonald D 5'11" 200 January 24, 1976 Evergreen Park, Illinois 4 Jason MacIntyre D 5'10" 190 July 14, 1972 Halifax, Nova Scotia Kevin Mackie D 6'2" 200 February 9, 1979 Victoria, British Columbia 17 Craig Martin RW 6'2" 215 January 21, 1971 Amherst, Nova Scotia 19 Michel Massie LW 6'0" 192 July 2, 1977 Montreal, Quebec 52 Doug McCarthy C 5'10" 180 November 4, 1962 Edmonton, Alberta Jim McGroarty C 5'8" 180 April 24, 1972 Toronto, Ontario 10 Rusty McKie RW 6'1" 190 October 5, 1974 Toledo, Ohio 18 Bobby McKillop RW 5'11" 185 March 19, 1970 Kitchener, Ontario 5 Darren Meek D 5'10" 190 September 25, 1971 Williams Lake, British Columbia 21 Tom Menicci D 6'0" 205 July 23, 1971 Westford, Massachusetts 22 Curtis Menzul D 6'4" 220 April 6, 1976 Winnipeg, Manitoba 32 Dan Milicevic D 6'2" 215 March 7, 1968 Toronto, Ontario 26 Savo Mitrovic C 5'11" 200 February 4, 1969 Belgrade, Yugoslavia 19 Claude Morin C 5'10" 172 September 29, 1971 Sainte-Foy, Quebec Zbynek Neckar D 6'2" 210 September 22, 1978 Písek, Czechoslovakia 33 Carlin Nordstrom LW 6'2" 213 February 20, 1973 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 20 Matt Oliver LW 6'1" 210 March 16, 1974 Euclid, Ohio 6 Darryl Olsen D 6'0" 180 October 7, 1966 Calgary, Alberta 35 Eric Patry G 6'3" 185 March 5, 1977 Gatineau, Quebec 17 Richard Peacock RW 5'10" 215 June 15, 1978 Salmon Arm, British Columbia 26 Eric Perricone LW 5'11" 186 November 21, 1978 St. Jean, Quebec 2 Jean-Francois Picard D 6'0" 205 April 12, 1979 Montreal, Quebec 3 David Piirto D 6'3" 230 August 26, 1971 Richmond Hill, Ontario Simon Poirer D 6'1" 215 November 20, 1979 Montreal, Quebec Ryan Poulton D 5'11" 180 January 4, 1976 Toronto, Ontario Gert Prohaska G 6'2" 200 March 31, 1976 Klagenfurt, Austria 7 Bobby Rapoza D 6'2" 225 September 29, 1974 Fall River, Massachusetts 23 Iannique Renaud RW 6'3" 215 September 19, 1975 Winnipeg, Manitoba 17 Serge Roberge RW 6'1" 195 March 31, 1965 Quebec City, Quebec 18 Patrice Robitaille RW 6'0" 190 December 4, 1970 Sainte-Catherine, Quebec 55 Jacque Rodrigue D 6'0" 190 May 7, 1971 Nashua, New Hampshire 8 Jason Rose D 6'0" 180 January 12, 1975 Martensville, Saskatchewan 26 Peter Rozic RW 6'0" 202 February 17, 1974 Jesenice, Slovenia 44 Ken Ruddick D 6'1" 205 August 15, 1972 Hamilton, Ontario Jason Rushton RW 5'11" 205 December 12, 1974 Victoria, British Columbia 27 Thierry Ryckman LW 6'0" 190 April 21, 1975 Rimouski, Quebec 33 Steve Sabo D 6'1" 195 January 7, 1973 Thief River Falls, Minnesota 6 Warren Sachs C 5'8" 180 February 18, 1977 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 23 Rusty Saglo LW 6'1" 190 May 8, 1978 Kyiv, USSR Francois Sasseville C 5'11" 195 February 7, 1977 Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec Ryan Schmidt D 6'2" 205 May 23, 1973 Des Moines, Iowa Daniel Schwarz D 6'2" 202 February 27, 1978 Augsburg, Germany 16/2/34 Daniel Shank RW 5'11" 200 May 12, 1967 Montreal, Quebec 19 Jeff Shevalier LW 5'11" 180 March 14, 1974 Erin, Ontario 55 Jonathon Shockey D 6'2" 190 June 8, 1976 Lethbridge, Alberta Eric Silverman RW 6'3" 190 May 23, 1975 West Nyack, New York 35 Eddy Skazyk G 5'11" 170 September 4, 1974 Lockport, Manitoba 16 Mark Spence LW 6'1" 190 April 21, 1975 Montreal, Quebec 16 Kevin St. Jacques C 5'11 190 February 25, 1971 Edmonton, Alberta 32 Mario Therrien LW 6'3" 225 May 18, 1972 Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec 33 Mike Thomas G 5'10" 200 April 6, 1971 Thompson, Manitoba 77 Mike Tobin D 5'11" 217 April 25, 1971 Jarvis, Ontario 20 Lorne Toews LW 6'0" 200 June 17, 1973 Winnipeg, Manitoba Janis Tomans RW 6'1" 200 February 5, 1975 Riga, Latvia Eric Tuott RW 5'7" 165 July 22, 1975 Anchorage, Alaska 5 Darren Veitch D 6'0" 200 April 24, 1960 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Joe Wassilyn C 5'11" 203 January 20, 1974 Toronto, Ontario 9 Sean Whyte D 6'0" 198 May 4, 1970 Sudbury, Ontario 7 Steve Woodburn D 6'1" 194 October 24, 1963 Montreal, Quebec 23 Jeremy Yablonski RW 5'11" 239 March 21, 1980 Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan 19 C.J. Yoder C 6'2" 190 July 17, 1975 Hershey, Pennsylvania
References
External links Phoenix Mustangs Mustangs historical site game photos by Jennifer Rosevear