I was looking for some information this week when I came across the logo on the left that stopped me in my tracks. If you know what “Zydeco” is, you are a much more cultivated person than me because I had no idea what this was or why this logo was taken on a photo of a hockey game. What was gained to me, however, is that if this was a hockey team name, this would be the surname in the team folder alphabetical thanks to the unique nomenclature. So who are the Baton Rouge Zydeco and how did they get their name? Let’s dig in that story today.
We start with the word because knowing its origin will help explain how it is attached to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to Encyclopedia BritannicaZydeco is a “[f]Orm of dance music from Southwestern Louisiana, US, with carrots in the French, African-American and Afro-Caribbean styles “. It was made popular by Creoles, and the music often has the sounds of accordi, sink, sink and Boozo Chavis”.
Explore Louisiana Go a little deeper by explaining that Zydeco “is the intersection of Creole, Cajun, Gospel and the Blues, but has since evolved into influences from various other genres” and it can be heard in locations “in just about every city in southwestern Louisiana, as well as the big cities of Baton Rouge,”
It is clear that the music is an important presence in Louisiana, so how did Baton Rouge get the name of the music at the front of a hockey sweater?
The Baton Rouge Kingfish once called Louisiana City’s house while playing in the Echl in the Riverside Centreclex from 1996-2003. They would miss the play -offs in four of the seven seasons they played in Baton Rouge, but the team saw players like Alex Burrows, Johan Hedberg and Shane Hnidy find their way to NHL jobs after they started in Baton Rouge. Their fall seemed to be predictable because the presence fell for all seven seasons every season and the franchise was eventually suspended, sold and moved to Victoria, BC for the 2004-05 season. Despite the fact that they had several rivals, professional hockey in Louisiana was not sustainable at the start of the Millennium.
With no hockey for two decades, the Riverside Centroplex underwent a few renovations before Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers purchased a ten-year naming rights deal for the complex in 2016. The newly-named Raising Cane’s River Center featured an exhibition hall, a multipurpose ballroom, a performing arts Theater that Houses The Opera Louisiane, The Baton Rouge Ballet Theater, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and an arena with 8900 fans for sporting events. The only thing needed was a permanent tenant.
That announcement came on 11 April 2023 after three exhibition matches with Federal Prospects Hockey League teams in which 20,580 people came through the doors. On March 1 it was reported that A Group known as Baton Rouge Pro Hockey Investigated the possibility of bringing professional hockey back to Baton Rouge, and that is exactly what happened a month later on a Tuesday.
“The new team will bring new entertainment options, create jobs and stimulate economic growth. We can expect tourism to increase as fans from the entire region come to see games and offering all Baton Rouge to offer” said during the announcement. “The benefits of having a hockey team in Baton Rouge go beyond the economic impact. It will also help to promote the community of the community and unity.”
It seems that Baton Rouge was confused by the name choice. Herman Fuselier, host of Krvs -Radioshow Zydeco Stomp, Jan Rishher told The lawyer“When people think of Zydeco, they never think of Baton Rouge. Why don’t you call it the Baton Rouge Blues? Baton Rouge has such a rich history of blues.”
It didn’t stop there. Scott Hodgin, owner of Baton Rouge-based Creative Studio Tilt, said to Rise: “They should have called it the Red Sticks”, while Tim Jensen, owner of Tim’s Garage Clothing Boutique, told Risher, “” It is a bit disappointing to hear people bummen about the new team name. These projects mean a lot. There is a lot of driving. I was greasy, they didn’t call it the red sticks. “
Despite the less than enthusiastic response from citizens to the team name, Zydeco owner Barry Soskin Rish said: “There is a whole story in the logo. I love the story that it tells. Maybe all logos, I love that logo more than my teams. It’s our first slogan.”
Given in the WABF article, the new team would participate in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and start in the hockey season of 2023-24, so they had some work to do between April and September. On May 27, the team announced three finalists for his new team name – Zydeco, Red sticksand Rougarou – but the team chose Zydeco with Soskin announcing the new name on July 13 To honor “the rich history and traditions that the community of Louisiana has formed” and to reflect “the unique culture and spirit of Baton Rouge”.
It was announced that the first game of the team would be played on October 26 against the Columbus River Dragons. That means they had to build a team and hire staff. It didn’t get off to a good start when the team called Matt Hamilton as their first head coach for him, has visa problems, The Zydeco force him to replace.
Hamilton would be replaced by Co coaches Paul Maclean (not the NHL-Man) and Matthew Fornari Two weeks before the team’s first match, and Maclean would be fired a month later when player-coach MJ Graham took over the coaching tasks. Four months later, Graham was also out, replaced by Everett Thompson, while the Zydeco went through five coaches in their inaugural season!
Player/coach MJ Graham led the team in their first season with 36 assists and 48 points, while Noah Robinson led the team with 22 goals. If you are looking for a little history, Brandon Beard, a player born in Orlando who has only registered three games with the Zydeco, scored the first goal in the franchise history! Beard scored without support at 3:54 of the second period to bring the score to 4-1 in a final loss of 6-3 for the Columbus River Dragons. And for fun, the first penalty in team history was a fighting major given to Adamo Asselin at 14:22 of the first period!
Goal tending and defense seemed to be a problem in the first season of Zydeco, because no goalkeeper who played more than ten games had a GAA under 3.40 and a savings percentage higher than .916, but it must be noted that the three goalkeepers who were in the blue paint most minutes were a combined 12-27-2. Expansion hockey never claimed to be beautiful, because the Zydeco was surpassed that season 154-248.
The team under Maclean-Cornari was 2-10-0 before Maclean was rejected, and it was not that better under the direction of Graham when he went 5-13-4 as head coach. Everett Thompson closed the season with a 9-13-0 record, but the Push In the late season the Zydeco actually saw in the fifth place of six teams, one point better than the Blue Ridge Bobcats! What about that?
Perhaps the greatest success that the Zydeco can claim that they were a success at the cash register as they saw “A stunning total seasonal visit of 110,816″Fans come through the gymnastics for their 28 home games and establish a new FPHL record in the trial! They also proved Baton Rouge-Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s prediction correctly as” an economic impact analysis performed by visit Baton Rouge “that” the Baton Rouge Zydeco in their Into-Into City has established a amazing one in their Into-Intecooo Condecooo “. Market!
Last season, the Zydeco finished in fifth place again, but went 31-19-6 to finish a point back from the Blue Ridge Bobcats. They would fall 5-2 in a play-off qualification match for those Bobcats, but the Zydeco saw real improvement across the board with almost a completely new schedule in 2024-25. Elia Wilson led the team with 29 goals and 56 points, Scott Shorrock was the playmaker of the team with 31 assists, and the tandem of Bailey Stevens and Branden Colgen supplied credible goal convening, which combined for a record of 27-15-6.
I will fully admit that I do not follow the FPHL, especially because it is my radar, but when you come across a team called the Zydeco, there must be an investigation. Yes, they have been in fifth place twice and they are certainly when it comes to the alphabetical sorting of team names, but it is quite cool to see that the Baton Rouge Zydeco is present in their short existence!
As long as fans keep coming to games, it seems that the sounds of Zydeco hockey fill the evening air, just like the sounds of Zydeco Music from locations while Hockey finds a foot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#place #alphabetical