Toledo Hornets

The Toledo Blades re-branded into the Toledo Hornets for the 1970-71 IHL season. While the team won two titles as the Blades, they would struggle after becoming the Hornets. In their first two seasons, they won only 43 of 144 games. After hiring Fred "Skippy" Burchell as their coach, the team won a respectable 36 games and made the playoffs for the first time since the rebrand. They would be bounced in the first round by Port Huron. After a mediocre 1973-74 season, the team was put up for sale by owner Paul Bright. He didn't find any buyers, and decided to move the team to Lansing, MI, where they became the Lansing Lancers. The Lancers flopped horribly and didn't even complete their first season in Michigan. Meanwhile, the city of Toledo would be awarded an expansion franchise that became the Goaldiggers, who won the IHL in their first season.