BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The newest hockey team in central Illinois has a name and a mascot.
The city of Bloomington and the ECHL announced on Wednesday that the previously announced 30th franchise to enter the league next season will join as the Bloomington Bison.
The new logo features a bison in a red hockey jersey, holding a hockey stick, and wearing an Abraham Lincoln-style top hat, with a road sign emblem in the background.
The city also says this team will be competing at the highest level of hockey played in Bloomington’s history. The highest level of hockey played in Peoria was the American Hockey League, a league one step below the National Hockey League, from 2005-2013.
“I’m thrilled to welcome professional hockey back to town,” said Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe. “We can’t wait to feel the energy on the ice and in the stands. Let the good times roll with the Bloomington Bison.”
The city also announced the approval by city council of a 20-year lease for the team at Grossinger Motors Arena.
An affiliation agreement with the Bison has yet to be announced.
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