BATON ROUGE — The Kingfish are back in downtown Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge's new Federal Prospects Hockey League minor league hockey club is adopting the name of the capital city's late 1990s and early 2000s team, ownership announced at the Raising Cane's River Center on Wednesday.

"We are excited and honored to carry that Kingfish name. We understand what it means to this town," Matt Pace, a member of the ownership team of the new hockey club, said. "We understand that we have a history and a legacy to live up to. And we promise that we will provide you with a great experience in the arena."

The team, previously known as the Baton Rouge Hockey Club before Wednesday’s rebrand, replaces the Baton Rouge Zydeco, the most recent attempt at bringing minor league hockey to Louisiana. The Zydeco folded earlier this year after three seasons.

The new team's name is an homage to former Gov. Huey P. Long's nickname.

The newly rebranded Kingfish were formally announced in June and are owned by Andreas Johansson, who also owns the FPHL team Binghamton Black Bear.

Even before their rebrand, the Kingfish have slowly been signing staff and team members ahead of their formal unveiling, with former Knoxville Ice Bears captain Jimmy Soper set to coach the team when it hits the ice in October at the start of the FPHL’s 2026-27 season.

"Culture isn't something you talk about: it's something you live," Soper said after the new name was unveiled. "It will define how we practice, how we prepare, how we respond to adversity and how we celebrate success."

Before Wednesday's announcement, WBRZ's news and sports staff found a trademark application from April for the Baton Rouge Kingfish as an ice hockey organization. A website domain for "BRKingfish.com" was also registered in May.

"We saw some of the speculation going on," Pace said. "But when we saw the cavalcade of the people saying 'Wow, I hope they go with the Kingfish,' we were just so excited that the market is so ready for this team, so ready for this name."

Season tickets are on sale now, with Zydeco season ticket holders having a two-week timeframe to renew their tickets for the Kingfish.

The team's schedule will be released Friday ahead of the home opener on Oct. 16 against the Monroe Moccasins.

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