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 |
- This article is about the current CHL; for earlier leagues also called the Central Hockey League, see Central Hockey League (disambiguation)
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.
[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] Expected to Begin Play in 2008-09
- Yuma, Arizona - pending completion of arena [1]
[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 Event Center | American Bank Center | Dodge Arena |Laredo Entertainment Center | Chaparral Ice | Amarillo Civic Center | CityBank Coliseum | Ector County Coliseum | Santa Ana Star Center | Tim's Toyota 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 | United Hockey League |
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