CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

The 'Central Hockey League' (CHL) is a mid-level professional hockey league, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation.

Contents

History

2007-08 teams

Suspended operations

Expected to begin play in 2008-09

Expected to Begin Play in 2009-10

Defunct teams

See also

External links

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.

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:

'Northern Conference'
Division	Team	Arena	City/Area	Affiliate Team(s)
Northeast	'Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs'	CenturyTel Center	Bossier City, LA	Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans
	'Mississippi RiverKings'	DeSoto Civic Center	Southaven, MS	New York Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack
	'Texas Brahmas'	NYTEX Sports Centre	North Richland Hills, TX
	'Youngstown SteelHounds'	Chevrolet Centre	Youngstown, OH	Columbus Blue Jackets, Syracuse Crunch
Northwest	'Colorado Eagles'	Budweiser Events Center	Loveland, CO
	'Oklahoma City Blazers'	Ford Center	Oklahoma City, OK
	'Rocky Mountain Rage'	Broomfield Event Center	Broomfield, CO
	'Tulsa Oilers'	Tulsa Convention Center	Tulsa, OK
	'Wichita Thunder'	Britt Brown Arena	Wichita, KS
'Southern Conference'
Division	Team	Arena	City/Area	Affiliate Team(s)
Southeast	'Austin Ice Bats'	Chaparral Ice	Austin, TX
	'Corpus Christi Rayz'	American Bank Center	Corpus Christi, TX
	'Laredo Bucks'	Laredo Entertainment Center	Laredo, TX
	'Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees'	Dodge Arena	Hidalgo, TX
Southwest	'Amarillo Gorillas'	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, TX
	'Arizona Sundogs'	Tim's Toyota Center	Prescott Valley, AZ	Phoenix Coyotes, San Antonio Rampage
	'New Mexico Scorpions'	Santa Ana Star Center	Rio Rancho, NM	Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals
	'Odessa Jackalopes'	Ector County Coliseum	Odessa, TX	Edmonton Oilers

Suspended operations

★ Lubbock Cotton Kings - arena problems forcing a one-year hiatus

Expected to begin play in 2008-09

★ Yuma, Arizona - pending completion of an arena [1]

★ Rapid City, South Dakota - pending completion of a new arena [2]

Expected to Begin Play in 2009-10

★ Allen, Texas - pending completion of a new arena [3]

★ Kansas City, Missouri - pending completion of a new arena [4]

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, GA 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

See also

★ List of ice hockey leagues

★ Sports league attendances

External links

★ Central Hockey League website

★ intotheboards.net - CHL

★ ITB Forums - CHL