FRESNO, Calif. – The sound of hockey is back at Selland Arena.
On a recent day, two dozen players tore across the ice, their skates scraping against the surface as pucks flew from one end of the rink to the other.
Just days before the Fresno Falcons’ first game, the team was taking the ice for one of its first practices together. For head coach Iain Duncan, there’s no question about what the team is working toward.
“We’re getting ready to win a championship,” Duncan said. “We are here at the training camp of the Fresno Falcons professional hockey team, and we’re bringing Selland back to life.”
Duncan has spent decades around hockey, first as a player and now as a coach. But for him, bringing hockey back to Fresno is about more than putting a new team on the ice. It’s about reconnecting with the people who supported the Falcons before.
“You never want to forget where you came from because that’s the people that laid the groundwork for us,” Duncan said. “All the people in this community that have a passion for hockey – it’s because of them, not because of us.”
A familiar name, but a new team
Professional hockey hasn’t been played in Fresno for more than 17 years.
But the Falcons have a long history in the city. Starting in the 1940s, the team played in Fresno for about 60 years. Then, in 2008, they abruptly folded midseason because of financial hardships. Attendance was low, which the team attributed to poor economic conditions due to the Great Recession.
Even while Fresno was left in a hockey vacuum, the sport did continue to draw fans in other areas of the San Joaquin Valley. Bakersfield has the Condors and the Stockton Thunder are also making their return this year.
The Falcons announced their return this summer – bringing back the same name and mascot, along with a fan base that had been waiting for hockey to come home.
Duncan said plenty about the Falcons has changed even though the name is familiar to many.
“Seventeen years is a long time: new technology, new players, new salary cap, new league,” Duncan said. “It’s going to be high action, fast-paced, hard-hitting. We’re going to have a lot of fun on and off the ice.”
The team has also changed leagues. Initially a part of the East Coast Hockey League, the Falcons are now a part of the Federal Prospects Hockey League – an independent league that will play 16 other teams around the country until the end of the season in April.
The business side of the team is different, too, with new sponsorships, partnerships, and efforts to connect the Falcons team with the Fresno community.
Jimmy Fries, president of the Fresno Falcons, said he plans to keep the team afloat this time by building new corporate relationships and expanding community outreach.
“The corporate sponsorship helps us pave the way in order for our capital that we've got to be able to field this team and put this in this arena and to put on the show that we want,” Fries said. “But also, it's that fan base, it's that passionate, engaging fan base that's going to come out and support this team, and then also hopefully pick up some merchandise.”
The Falcons are also partnering with the Selland Arena and with the City of Fresno, Fries notes. The team hopes the partnerships will help the team financially in the coming years.
When sport first left, Fresno fans felt ‘downgraded’
Fresno resident Shelby Baird remembers going to Falcons games with her family when she was a kid.
“One of the best memories I have is going out, and we got to greet the players and be out on the ice…I thought that was a really cool experience,” Baird said.
She still has two pucks from those games. So when the Falcons left Fresno, Baird says it felt like the city lost something.
“When they kind of took hockey away...it was kind of like, wow, it felt like we were getting downgraded, almost, as a city,” Baird said.
Now, Baird has children of her own. She signed them up for the team’s kids club, called Freddie’s Flock, hoping they can create some of the same memories she did.
“I've lived in Fresno my whole life. I love Fresno, and so anytime we can bring something good and positive to the community, I think that's exceptional, and that's what we need to do,” Baird said.
Another Fresno resident, Brittany Lawrence, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony in September, and said her family has been tied to the Falcons for decades.
“To have hockey back at Selland Arena is absolutely amazing,” Lawrence said at the event. “When they did the unveiling, I was crying. It's a very emotional come-about moment.”
Team attracts players from around the world
Although several of the 24 players on this new team hail from California, most come from outside the area.
Forward Hugo Koch was recruited from Europe.
“I'm from a big town back home in Sweden…but this is like a perfect city,” Koch said. “Like they've been telling me, it's a pretty small town, but a big city. I love it so far.”
Koch has played professionally for four years. But joining the Falcons gives him a chance to be part of something that doesn’t often take place in professional sports.
“When you start playing for an inaugural team, you're making history with that. Your whole team does. So being part of that is just really incredible,” Koch said.
The Falcons’ roster also includes players from across the U.S., Canada and even Belarus.
Houston Wilson, another Falcons forward, is from Pennsylvania. This is his sixth year playing professionally.
“I never imagined playing hockey on the West Coast in California, and I’m grateful to be a part of this, and I’m excited for what it could become,” Wilson said.
For Wilson and his teammates, becoming a part of the hockey community in the city is just as important as winning games.
“There’s already a huge following for the team. The team is garnering a lot of support, a lot of following already,” Wilson said. “We haven’t even dropped the puck yet, so hopefully we’ll have a lot of success that’ll just keep building, and it’ll show with our attendance.”
