BATTLE CREEK, MI (WTVB/WNWN) – The Battle Creek Rumble Bees have quietly folded operations after just one miserable season in the Federal Prospects Hockey League.
Unlike last summer when plans for the expansion team were announced, the Bees did not hold a news conference or issue a press release to announce that they no longer exist.
ESPN.com reported on Wednesday that Bees General Manager Adam Stio found out about end of the franchise when he got a call from another FPHL team official earlier this month about who on the Battle Creek roster was worth taking in a dispersal draft involving the league’s other nine teams.
The dispersal draft was held this past Monday. Any Battle Creek players who were not selected became free agents.
The Bees had the worst record of any professional hockey team in the country during the 2019-2020 season. They only won one game out of the 48 they played before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season in March.
They also had numerous off the ice issues which included players having to drive to a game when the team bus broke down. The Rumble Bees were dead last in league attendance as they averaged just 353 fans during 20 games at The Rink.
