In 1994, the team moved to Saginaw, Michigan, and became the Saginaw Wheels. Playing around .500 hockey both seasons, Saginaw made the playoffs in both seasons but faced slumping attendance in year two, and so re-branded as the Saginaw Lumber Kings in 1996. After two poor seasons under the Lumber Kings moniker (the second in the renamed United Hockey League), however, the club was sold in 1998. New owner Khaled M. Shukairy decided to rename the club the Saginaw Gears after the former IHL team. However, attendances remained flat with small crowds (about 2,000 a game) coming to see the Gears at Wendler Arena in the Saginaw Civic Center in downtown Saginaw. Local fans were not encouraged by the Gears' poor play, as they finished with a 20–46–8 record in 1998–99.
