Central Hockey League

Current season or competition: 2012–13 CHL season
Central Hockey League logo
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1992
No. of teams	11
Country(ies)	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Allen Americans
Most titles	(tie) Wichita Thunder, Oklahoma City Blazers, Memphis RiverKings, Laredo Bucks, & Colorado Eagles (2)
Official website	www.centralhockeyleague.com

The Central Hockey League (CHL) is one of only two mid-level (AA) professional hockey leagues, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation. The other is the ECHL. Its current champions are the Allen Americans, which defeated the Wichita Thunder four games to three in the 2013 playoffs.

The current Central Hockey League was created in 1992 as a centrally owned league, owned by Ray Miron and Bill Levins. The league was operated by Ray and Monte Miron and funded by Chicago businessman and minor league sports entrepreneur Horn Chen.

History [edit]

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 what is now the New Jersey Devils 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. The Thunder and the Oilers are the last of the league's original teams extant.

In 1996–97 the Huntsville Channel Cats, along with the planned 1996–97 Southern Hockey League expansion teams Columbus Cottonmouths, Macon Whoopee, and Nashville Nighthawks, joined the Central Hockey League following the SHL's demise.

After Levins died, the league's 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. Of the ten WPHL teams that joined the CHL, only the Fort Worth Brahmas – operating in a traditional CHL market – still survive.

The CHL commissioner is currently Duane Lewis, who succeeded Brad Treliving on an interim basis after Treliving took a position with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes following the 2006–2007 season. Treliving co-founded the WPHL in 1996, and after the 2001 merger, served with the CHL for seven years.^[1] Lewis was named the permanent commissioner in June 2008.^[2]

On June 1, 2010 the league announced that it would merge with the International Hockey League.^[3] Originally touted as a "merger," the effect was for the IHL's Bloomington, Dayton, Fort Wayne and Quad City franchises to join the CHL; the IHL quietly folded thereafter.

On March 8, 2013, the Central Hockey League Announced an Expansion team in Brampton, Ontario. The Brampton Beast will be the first Canadian team in the CHL's history.

Teams [edit]

Current [edit]

Teams compete annually for the Ray Miron President's Cup.

Defunct [edit]

Brampton

Missouri

St. Charles

Quad City

Rapid City

Fort Worth

Arizona

Allen

Tulsa

Wichita

Denver

Teams currently in the CHL.

• Amarillo Gorillas (WPHL 1996–2001, CHL 2001–2010; team known as Amarillo Rattlers 1996–2002)
• Austin Ice Bats (1996–2008, began play in WPHL before moving to CHL in 2001)
• Border City Bandits (Texarkana, TX; 2000–01 season only, suspended by league on 2/20/01)
• Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (Bossier City–Shreveport, Louisiana; WPHL 1997–2001, CHL 2001–2011; folded on June 10, 2011)
• Bloomington PrairieThunder (Bloomington, IL; 2006–2007 UHL, 2007–2010 IHL, 2010–2011 CHL. team failed to contact U.S Cellular coliseum for an Extended lease. in result, a new hockey franchise named the Bloomington Blaze replaced them. officially ceased operation on July 3, 2011)
• Bloomington Blaze (Bloomington, IL; 2011-2013 CHL, moved to SPHL)
• Colorado Eagles (Loveland, CO; 2003–2011, moved to ECHL)
• Columbus Cottonmouths (Columbus, GA; 1996–2001, moved to ECHL from 2001–04 and SPHL from 2004)
• Corpus Christi IceRays (2001–2010, replaced by NAHL franchise of same name)
• Dallas Freeze (1992–1995)
• Dayton Gems (Dayton, OH; 2009–2010 IHL, 2010–2012 CHL)
• El Paso Buzzards (WPHL 1996–2001, CHL 2001–2003)
• Evansville IceMen (Evansville, IN; 2010–2012, moved to ECHL)
• Fayetteville Force (1997–2001)
• Fort Wayne Komets (Fort Wayne, IN; 1952–1999 IHL, 1999–2007 UHL, 2007–2010 IHL, 2010–2012 CHL, moved to ECHL)
• Fort Worth Fire (1992–1999)
• Huntsville Channel Cats (began in Southern Hockey League 1995–96, moved to CHL from 1996–1999, changed name to Huntsville Tornado in 1999–2000)
• Indianapolis Ice (began play in IHL from 1988–1999, moved to CHL from 1999–2004. Franchise was sold and moved to Topeka, Kansas where they played as the Topeka Tarantulas for 2004–05)
• Laredo Bucks (2002–2012, franchise sold and moved to St. Charles, Missouri, will begin play as St. Charles Chill in 2013–14)
• Lubbock Cotton Kings (1999–2007)
• Macon Whoopee (1996–2001, moved to ECHL for 2001–02)
• Mississippi RiverKings (1992–2011, known as Memphis RiverKings from 1992–2007, moved to SPHL for 2011–12.)
• Nashville Nighthawks (1996–97, changed name to Nashville Ice Flyers for 1997–98. The Ice Flyers looked into the possibility of relocating to Albany, Georgia, after the 1997–98 season following the announcement that the Nashville Predators were joining the NHL for the 1998–99 season. For whatever reason that relocation never occurred)
• New Mexico Scorpions (Rio Rancho, NM; WPHL 1996–2001, CHL 2001–2009)
• Odessa Jackalopes (1997–2010, replaced by NAHL franchise of the same name. Another source says the same team switched leagues^[4])
• Oklahoma City Blazers (1992–2009, folded on July 2, 2009)
• Rocky Mountain Rage (Broomfield, CO; 2006–2009)
• Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (Hidalgo, TX; 2003–2012) due to declining Attendance and community support, the Killer Bees will not play in the CHL after the 2011–2012 season. A team from the NAHL will replace them.
• San Antonio Iguanas (1994–1997, 1998–2002)
• San Angelo Outlaws (WPHL 1997–2001, CHL 2001–02, changed name to San Angelo Saints from 2002–2005)
• Topeka ScareCrows (1998–2001)
• Youngstown SteelHounds (2005–2008, CHL suddenly announced they would no longer be playing in that league, team looked to join IHL or ECHL, but the market was replaced by the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League.)

Timeline [edit]

Expansion [edit]

League champions [edit]

• 1993 – Tulsa Oilers
• 1994 – Wichita Thunder
• 1995 – Wichita Thunder
• 1996 – Oklahoma City Blazers
• 1997 – Fort Worth Fire
• 1998 – Columbus Cottonmouths
• 1999 – Huntsville Channel Cats
• 2000 – Indianapolis Ice
• 2001 – Oklahoma City Blazers
• 2002 – Memphis RiverKings
• 2003 – Memphis RiverKings
• 2004 – Laredo Bucks
• 2005 – Colorado Eagles
• 2006 – Laredo Bucks
• 2007 – Colorado Eagles
• 2008 – Arizona Sundogs
• 2009 – Texas Brahmas
• 2010 – Rapid City Rush
• 2011 – Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
• 2012 – Fort Wayne Komets
• 2013 – Allen Americans

See also [edit]

• List of ice hockey leagues
• Sports league attendances

References [edit]

• Stott, Jon C. (2006). Hockey Night in Dixie: Minor Pro Hockey in the American South. Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd. pp. 16–201. ISBN 1-894974-21-2. 

External links [edit]

• Central Hockey League website