Central Hockey League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Central Hockey League | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1992 |
| No. of teams | 17 |
| Country(ies) |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Arizona Sundogs |
| Official website | www.centralhockeyleague.com |
The Central Hockey League (CHL) is a mid-level professional hockey league, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was revived in 1992 by Bill Levins and Ray Miron under the idea of central ownership of both the league and the teams. Both men were from hockey backgrounds—Miron had been general manager of the Colorado Rockies and had briefly been president of the previous Central Hockey League in 1976.
In the inaugural 1992-93 season the league had six teams, including the Oklahoma City Blazers, the Tulsa Oilers, the Wichita Thunder, the Memphis RiverKings, the Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire.
After Levins died, the championship trophy awarded to the winner of the CHL playoffs was renamed the Levins Cup. After running the league for eight years, Miron retired in 2000 and sold the league. The Levins Cup was renamed the Ray Miron President's Cup.
After several experiments in expansion and a long battle for players and markets with the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL), the CHL merged with the WPHL in 2001.
Brad Treliving, the current CHL Commissioner, has provided a stablizing influence on the league.
[edit] 2007-08 teams
The CHL is divided into four divisions. Teams compete annually for the Ray Miron President's Cup. Active teams, listed by 2006-07 division and with their 2006-07 affiliated teams include:
[edit] Suspended operations
- Lubbock Cotton Kings - arena problems forcing a hiatus for an unknown amount of time.[1]
[edit] Expected to begin play in 2008-09
- Rapid City Rush - pending completion of a new arena[2]
[edit] Expected to begin play in 2009-10
- Allen, Texas - pending completion of a new arena[3]
- Independence, Missouri - pending completion of a new arena
- Yuma, Arizona - pending completion of an arena[4]
[edit] Defunct teams
- Border City Bandits (Texarkana, TX) 2000-01 season only, suspended by league on 2/20/01
- Columbus Cottonmouths (Columbus, GA) 1996 to 2001, moved to ECHL from 2001-04 and SPHL from 2004 to date
- Dallas Freeze (1992 to 1995)
- El Paso Buzzards (WPHL 1996 to 2001, CHL 2001 to 2003)
- Fayetteville Force (1997 to 2001)
- Fort Worth Fire (1992 to 1999)
- Huntsville Channel Cats (began in Southern Hockey League 1995-96, moved to CHL from 1996 to 1999, changed name to Huntsville Tornado in 1999-2000)
- Indianapolis Ice (began play in IHL from 1988 to 1999, moved to CHL from 1999 to 2004. Franchise was sold and moved to Topeka, KS where they played as the Topeka Tarantulas for 2004-05)
- Macon Whoopee (1996 to 2001), moved to ECHL for 2001-02
- Nashville Nighthawks(1996-97, changed name to Nashville Ice Flyers for 1997-98. The Ice Flyers were supposed to have moved to Albany, Georgia following the announcement that the Nashville Predators were joining the NHL for the 1998-99 season, but that relocation never occurred)
- San Antonio Iguanas (1994 to 1997, 1998 to 2002)
- San Angelo Outlaws(WPHL 1997-2001, CHL 2001-02), changed name to San Angelo Saints from 2002-2005
- Topeka ScareCrows (1998 to 2001)
[edit] References
- ^ "Cotton Kings Serious About Leaving Lubbock", KCBD News Channel 11, 2007-06-06. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Welsh, Sean. "CHL officials ready to put team in Rapid City", Rapid City Journal, 2007-04-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Housewright, Ed. "Council approves plans for arena", Dallas Morning News, 2007-06-28. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Scaffer, Mark. "Phoenix-based hockey league to place team, arena in Yuma", The Arizona Republic, 2007-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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