Virginia

Virginia is a state in the southeastern United States.
Its population is more than 8,600,000.
The capital is Richmond and the largest city is Virginia Beach.
==History of hockey in Virginia==
Virginia was the birthplace of hockey in the south. The Norfolk Ice Palace opened in December 1905, and a series between the Quaker City Hockey Club of Philadelphia and Princeton University was played at the rink from the 28th-30th. The Norfolk Country Club, Washington Nationals, and the Portsmouth Hockey Club were all active during the 1905-06 season. The following year, the Norfolk and Jamestown Hockey Club's played a series of games against one another.
The rink closed in 1907, and it would be 60 years before hockey returned to the state. The Salem Rebels joined the Eastern Hockey League in 1967, becoming the Roanoke Valley Rebels in 1971. After the EHL folded in 1973, the Rebels played in the Southern Hockey League until 1976. The Richmond Robins played in the American Hockey League from 1971-1976 and the Southern Hockey League in 1976-77. The Virginia Wings, based in Norfolk, were members of the AHL from 1971-1975. The Hampton Gulls played in the SHL from 1974-1977 and the AHL in 1977-78. Later, the Norfolk Admirals played in the AHL from 2000-2015. A franchise by the same name has been a member of the ECHL since 2015. Roanoke and Richmond have both had ECHL franchises as well. The Blue Ridge Bobcats, based in Wytheville, joined the Federal Prospects Hockey League in 2023.
Roanoke was also a youth hockey hotbed in the 1970s and 1980s, and still has a program now. Ice Unlimited opened in Richmond in the fall of 1974, and amateur hockey was soon taken up there, the Old Dominion Ice Hockey Association being established. Amateur hockey was also played in Charlottesville in this era, with Charlottesville Ice Hockey Association youth teams facing Richmond, and the University of Virginia running a program from 1973-1978. The Richmond Vikings were an amateur team that played in 1976-77. They were set to face the US Naval Academy on November 6, 1976. On November 19, Caravan Sporting Goods from Washington, DC, edged the Vikings 5-4. They beat the Baltimore Brewers 5-3 on December 5 and tied the Washington Olympics 4-4 on the 19th. The Hampton Roads Youth Hockey Association was established in 1975, and later got their own facility, when the Iceland rink opened in Virginia Beach in 1983. 
;List of minor pro franchises
*Salem Rebels - (1967-1970) - (EHL)
*Roanoke Valley Rebels - (1971-1973) - (EHL)
*Richmond Robins - (1971-1976) - (AHL)
*Virginia Wings - (1971-1975) - (AHL)
*Roanoke Valley Rebels - (1973-1976) - (SHL)
*Hampton Gulls - (1974-1977) - (SHL)
*Tidewater Sharks - (1975-1977) - (SHL)
*Richmond Wildcats - (1976-1977) - (SHL)
*Hampton Gulls - (1977-1978) - (AHL)
*Richmond Rifles - (1979-1981) - (EHL)
*Hampton Aces - (1979-1981) - (EHL)
*Salem Raiders - (1980-1981) - (EHL)
*Salem Raiders - (1981-1983) - (ACHL) - rebranded as Virginia Raiders for 1982-83
*Hampton Roads Gulls - (1982-1983) - (ACHL)
*Virginia Lancers - (1983-1987) - (ACHL)
*Virginia Lancers - (1987-1988) - (AAHL)
*Virginia Lancers - (1988-1990) - (ECHL)
*Hampton Roads Admirals - (1989-2000) - (ECHL)
*Richmond Renegades - (1990-2003) - (ECHL)
*Roanoke Valley Rebels - (1990-1992) - (ECHL)
*Roanoke Valley Rampage - (1992-1993) - (ECHL) 
*Roanoke Express - (1993-2004) - (ECHL)
*Norfolk Admirals - (2000-2015) - (AHL)
*Richmond RiverDogs - (2003-2006) - (UHL)
*Roanoke Valley Vipers - (2005-2006) - (UHL)
*Richmond Renegades - (2006-2009) - (SPHL)
*Norfolk Admirals - (2015-present) - (ECHL)
*Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs - (2016-present) - (SPHL)
*Blue Ridge Bobcats - (2023-present) - (FHL)
Category:States