Thanks to two local men, hockey will return to the Quad Cities this fall. Wednesday John Dawson of East Moline and Ryan Mosley of Coal Valley were introduced as co-owners of the new team.
And it will belong to the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Dawson says he and Mosley play in an adult league and are both very passionate about hockey.
"As season ticket holders our perspective is we see things we think would be great, things that we'd like to see a new team do. And in our conversations, it was like, well maybe we should see if we can do that."
So they started talking about the possibility of owning a team, looking at different leagues and whether it would be financially feasible.

Mosley says it took a lot of time and hard work.
"It's fantastic to have the opportunity to bring professional hockey back into our area. Hopefully we're going to have a team that wants to be supported by our community, and that we would like to support the community as well with charitable operations and things like that. And hopefully our fans want to support all of us. "
A name the team contest is underway, and can be found on the league's website.
The Southern Professional Hockey League now has 11 members. They include the Peoria Rivermen, plus teams in Huntsville, Pensacola, Birmingham, and Roanoke.