Print, Photographic

Name/Title

Print, Photographic

Entry/Object ID

1432

Description

Tuomas Gronman played for the Tacoma Rockets during the club’s inaugural 1991-92 Western Hockey League season. Gronman, a native of Finland, was the first Rockets player selected in the National Hockey League draft. The Rockets played from 1991-95 and started well, averaging the highest per-game attendance for a first-year expansion franchise in the league and then followed with a 24-game home winning streak in the second season. But it didn’t last as the Dome’s cavernous feeling and bad sightlines made it difficult for fans to see the game. The Rockets made the playoffs all four years with its best finish coming in the 1993-94 season, losing in the West Division semi finals. After being eliminated in the first round in the 1994-95 seasons, the Rockets’ low attendance forced the franchise to relocate to Kelowna, B.C., where they currently play.

Lexicon

Search Terms

Hockey, Professional/Semi-Pro

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

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Gronman, Tuomas

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Tacoma Rockets

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Western Hockey League

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National Hockey League

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Tacoma Dome