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 |  United States |
| Current champions | Laredo Bucks |
| Official website | www.centralhockeyleague.com |
- For other leagues with the same name, see Central Hockey League (disambiguation).
The Central Hockey League (CHL) is a mid-level professional hockey league.
The Central Hockey league is owned by Global Entertainment Corporation.
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was revived in 1992 by William "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 was the general manager of the Colorado Rockies for a time - and they possessed the skills to make the league work.
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 successfully running the league for 8 years, Miron retired in 2000 and sold the league. The Levins Cup was renamed to the Ray Miron President's Cup. In 2004, Miron received the Lester Patrick Award for services to hockey from the NHL, along with broadcasters Mike Emrick and John Davidson.
Today, Miron resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma, down the street from his son Monty (who served as league commissioner for a time) and his family. His daughter Cindy and her family live in Oklahoma City. Levin's widow Gloria lives in Oklahoma City. Miron was inducted into the Cornwall, Ontario, Sports Hall of Fame on August 21, 2006. A mural there depicts, "his trademark grin, with the Lester Patrick Trophy next to him." Also on the mural are the logos of all the teams Miron has been affiliated with, from local Cornwall teams to NHL teams such as the Colorado Rockies and Toronto Maple Leafs.
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.
Some teams are affiliated with the American Hockey League and National Hockey League teams for player development.
There were two previous leagues with the CHL name; one existing between 1931-35 and almost exclusively comprised of Minnesota teams, and one existing between 1963-84 (until 1968 it was known as the Central Professional Hockey League), roughly coterminous with the area of operations of the current league and including previous incarnations of the Oklahoma City Blazers and the Tulsa Oilers.
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[edit] Current 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 2005-06 affiliated teams include:
[edit] Northern Conference
[edit] Northeast Division
- Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (Bossier City, LA) (Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans)
- Memphis RiverKings (Southaven, MS) (New York Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack)
- Tulsa Oilers
- Youngstown SteelHounds (Columbus Blue Jackets, Syracuse Crunch)
[edit] Northwest Division
- Colorado Eagles (Loveland, CO)
- Oklahoma City Blazers
- Rocky Mountain Rage (Broomfield, CO)
- Wichita Thunder
[edit] Southern Conference
[edit] Southeast Division
- Austin Ice Bats (Minnesota Wild, Houston Aeros)
- Corpus Christi Rayz
- Laredo Bucks (Phoenix Coyotes, San Antonio Rampage)
- Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
[edit] Southwest Division
- Amarillo Gorillas
- Arizona Sundogs (Prescott Valley, AZ) (Colorado Avalanche)
- Lubbock Cotton Kings
- New Mexico Scorpions (Rio Rancho, NM) (Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals)
- Odessa Jackalopes (Edmonton Oilers)
[edit] Suspending Operations for 2006-07
- Fort Worth Brahmas - arena problems forcing a one-year suspension
[edit] Defunct teams
- Abilene Aviators
- Border City Bandits (Texarkana, TX)
- Central Texas Stampede (Belton, TX)
- Columbus Cottonmouths (Columbus, GA)
- Dallas Black Hawks
- Dallas Freeze
- El Paso Buzzards
- Fayetteville Force
- Fort Worth Fire
- Fort Worth Texans
- Huntsville Channel Cats/Tornado
- Indianapolis Ice
- Macon Whoopee
- Nashville Ice Flyers/Nighthawks
- San Antonio Iguanas
- San Angelo Outlaws
- San Angelo Saints
- Topeka ScareCrows
- Topeka Tarantulas
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Central Hockey League | |
| 2006-07 teams: Amarillo Gorillas | Arizona Sundogs | Austin Ice Bats | Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs | Colorado Eagles | Corpus Christi Rayz | Laredo Bucks | Lubbock Cotton Kings | Memphis RiverKings | New Mexico Scorpions | Odessa Jackalopes | Oklahoma City Blazers | Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees | Rocky Mountain Rage | Tulsa Oilers | Wichita Thunder | Youngstown Steelhounds | |
| Suspending operations for 2006-07 season: Fort Worth Brahmas | |
| Trophies and Awards: Ray Miron President's Cup | |
| Related Articles: NHL | AHL | ECHL | SPHL | UHL | World Cup | |
| Current arenas in the Central Hockey League | ||||||
| Northeast Division | Northwest Division | Southeast Division | Southwest Division | |||
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| CenturyTel Center | DeSoto Civic Center | Chevrolet Centre | Tulsa Convention Center | Britt Brown Arena | Budweiser Events Center | Ford Center | Broomfield Events Center | American Bank Center | Dodge Arena |Laredo Entertainment Center | Chaparral Ice | Amarillo Civic Center | Ector County Coliseum | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum | Prescott Valley Convention & Events Center | Santa Ana Star Center | |||
| North American Professional Hockey | |
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| National Hockey League | |
| Minor League Hockey | |
| High Level: American Hockey League Mid Level: Central Hockey League | ECHL |
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