Buffalo Blizzard

:"You may be looking for Lake Storm "Aphid" or the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977."The Buffalo Blizzard was an indoor soccer team based in Buffalo, New York. The team was a member of the now defunct NPSL from 1992 to 2001. From 1992-1996, the team played at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, and they moved to HSBC Arena in 1996 where they played until 2001.

The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time and the Riches who owned the minor league baseball Buffalo Bisons. During their last five years of existence, the team was owned by John Bellanti who had owned the Buffalo Stallions of the original MISL.

The team's attendance was always in the top five of the league until its last season, and they had their record high attendance year in 1993-1994 season with an average attendance of 8,435 fans. The major stars of the team were the Pikuzinski brothers, Rudy and Randy, who rank sixth and ninth on the all time points list. The team colors were blue, purple, black, and white, and the team mascot was a dog Spyke who rode a four-wheeler. The team never won a playoff series.

The NPSL ceased operation in 2001 and several of its remaining teams formed the Major Indoor Soccer League, but the Blizzard declined to participate and folded at that time.

Year-By-Year Record

Coaches

1999-2001: Paul Kitson

Notable players

* David Banks
* Mauro Biello
* Ralph Black
* Steve Butcher
* Michael Collins
*Andrew Crawford
* Gino DiFlorio
* Bobby DiNunzio
* Michael DiNunzio
* Paul Dougherty
* Bryan Finnerty
* Chris Handsor
* flagicon|Nigeria Jean Harbor
* Pat Harrington
* Jim Hesch
* Kris Kelderman
* Dean Kelly
* Tony Meola
* Doug Miller
* Randy Pikuzinski
* Rudy Pikuzinski
* Jamie Swanner
* Marco Rizi

Year by year attendance

*1992/93: 7,068
*1993/94: 8,435
*1994/95: 7,283
*1995/96: 6,364
*1996/97: 7,974
*1997/98: 7,834
*1998/99: 7,068
*1999/00: 6,587
*2000/01: 4,635