CHL Central Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on October 29, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)


BASEBALL

• Can-Am League: After a relatively successful season-ticket drive, the Nashua Pride has decided to return to the Can-Am League for the 2008 season. The team's owner had considered shutting down the franchise after the 2007 season. The team will be entering its 11th season of operation, with the last two seasons as part of the Can-Am League.

• Frontier League: The proposed Crystal Lake (IL) ballpark deal at McHenry County College is not completely dead, but the nearby city of Huntley (IL) is ready to step in and make a ballpark proposal to the Frontier League.

• Golden Baseball League: The GBL officially announced the addition of the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats from the Northern League for its 2008 season. The league has been realigned with a North Division to include Edmonton, Calgary, Chico and Reno and a South Division with Long Beach, Orange County, St. George and Yuma. The GBL would like to eventually have six-team Canadian and U.S. divisions. The league could still add other Canadian teams for 2008 and was reportedly in discussions with Kamloops (British Columbia) and Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), among others. The GBL's Reno Silver Sox will be facing competition from a Triple-A Pacific Coast League team in 2009, when the Tucson Sidewinders move to Reno.

• American Association: The AA has targeted the cities of Brighton and Castle Rock in the Denver area. Brighton has placed a tax proposal for construction of a minor league ballpark on its upcoming ballot. Commerce City, also in the Denver area, plans to propose a similar bond issue if the Brighton vote does not pass.

• Northern League: After the loss of Calgary and Edmonton franchises, the Northern League announced that its 2008 season will feature its remaining six teams listed in one table with no divisional alignment.

• Atlantic Coast League: A proposed independent Atlantic Coast League wants to start play in 2009 and has approached the former Frontier League city of Johnstown (PA). The league is looking at potential markets in eastern states and possible other locations in Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. An independent league by the same name started with four teams in 1995-Florence (SC) Flame, Gaston King Cougars (Gastonia, NC), Greenwood (SC) Grizzlies and Spartanburg (SC) Alley Cats. That league disbanded in June 1995 after about 15 games into the schedule.

BASKETBALL

• American Basketball Association: The recently announced Pasadena Push franchise has moved to Los Angeles and will be called the Los Angeles Push for its first season of 2007-08. The Minnesota Ripknees franchise has returned to the ABA for the 2007-08 season. The franchise had left the ABA after one season to join the Premier Basketball League, but recently announced the team would not play in the inaugural 2008 PBL season. The team was then sold to an owner involved with three other ABA franchises.

• International Basketball League: The PBL has added a new franchise called the Edmonton Chill for its 2008 season. Last year, a different ownership group had planned to operate IBL franchises called the Edmonton Sled Dawgz and Saskatoon Prairie Wolves, but that deal fell through.

• Circuito Mexicano de Basquetbol (CIMEBA): Due to the loss of four of its eight teams, the CIMEBA has switched to a round-robin tournament format to determine 2007 playoff positions. The remaining teams are the Caudillos de Morelos, Guerreros de Morelos-Chilpancingo, Chamanes de Estado de Mexico-Tultitlan and Titanes de Querataro. • Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP): The relocated Correcaminos UAT Matamoros team is now the Venados de Nuevo Laredo and the relocated Correcaminos UAT Reynosa team is now the Bravos Piedras Negras - Eagle Pass. The Barreteros de Zacatecas team is now listed as the Union de Zacatecas. The LNBP announced the new Premier Basketball League will serve as a developmental league of the LNBP.

• Texas Professional Basketball League: The TPBL has added two more teams for its upcoming 2008 season, one in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and another in Lake Jackson (TX). The league's Houston team has come under new ownership and will change its name for the 2008 season. A team from Crocket (TX) also plans to join in 2009.

FOOTBALL

• All American Football League: The inaugural season of the AAFL will feature each of the six teams playing a ten-game schedule from April 12 to June 14, 2008. The teams currently listed include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas. • Arenafootball2 (af2): The Birmingham-based Alabama Steeldogs will not field a team in the 2008 af2 season because new majority ownership was not found. The team could return in 2009. Known as the Birmingham Steeldogs until the 2007 season, the franchise was one of the original af2 franchises when the league started play in 2000.

• Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL has officially announced a franchise for Fort Wayne in 2008. The team will be called the Fort Wayne Freedom, the name of the city's team in the National Indoor Football League (2003-04) and United Indoor Football (2005-06). Last season, the Fort Wayne Fusion lasted only one season in the arenafootball2.

• United Indoor Football: The UIF will operate with eight franchises in its upcoming 2008 season. The Eastern Conference will include the Bloomington Extreme, RiverCity Rage, Omaha Beef and the new Wichita Wild. The Western Conference will include the Billings Outlaws, Colorado Ice, Sioux City Bandits and Sioux Falls Storm. From its 11 teams in 2007, the Evansville Bluecats and Ohio Valley Greyhounds folded, the Lexington Horsemen switched to the arenafootball2, and the Rock River Raptors switched to the Continental Indoor Football League.

• American Indoor Football Association: It may have been premature to count the Lakeland Thunderbolts out for the 2008 season. The franchise owners want to sell the team or get more investors and once the ownership issue is resolved, Lakeland would be able to play in 2008.

• Intense Football League: The IFL has announced its 2008 schedule and will operate with nine teams, the eight returning teams from 2007, plus the new franchise in Fairbanks (AK).

HOCKEY

• Central Hockey League: A group in Henry County, just south of Atlanta, is planning construction of a new arena that could become home to a CHL franchise. The owners of the dormant Lubbock Cotton Kings were still considering a move to San Angelo (TX), a former CHL market, but also considered selling the franchise back to the CHL. If the move of the Cotton Kings falls through, San Angelo could pursue a CHL expansion franchise or an expansion team in the junior-level North American Hockey League. The NAHL's Santa Fe Roadrunners had considered a move to San Angelo after the 2004-05 season.

• North Eastern Hockey League: A team called the Detroit Pounders will apparently become the NEHL's fourth team for the upcoming 2007-08 season and replace the Findlay (OH) Freedom. The NEHL had a franchise called the Danville (IL) Pounders in the 2006-07 season.

• Canadian Women's Hockey League: After the National Women's Hockey League shut down this past summer, a new group stepped in and formed the CWHL, which is a centrally operated league with no owners. The league has two Montreal-based teams, the Montreal Stars and Quebec Phoenix, along with the Ottawa Capital Canucks in an Eastern Division. The Central Division is comprised of teams from the Greater Toronto Area called the Brampton Canadettes Thunder, Burlington Barracudas, Mississauga Chiefs and Vaughn Flames.

• Western Women's Hockey League: The WWHL operated as the western division of the National Women's Hockey League last season and planned a 2007-08 season after the NWHL disbanded. The WWHL's Saskatchewan Prairie Ice team has decided to sit out the 2007-08 season. The WWHL has five remaining teams called the B.C. Breakers, Calgary Oval X-treme, , Edmonton Chimos, Minnesota Whitecaps and Strathmore Rockies. The top teams in the WWHL and the new Canadian Women's Hockey League will meet in a championship tournament at the end of the season.

SOCCER

• Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL has signed a multi-year agreement with the amateur Premier Arena Soccer League to use the PASL as its affiliate for developing MISL players. The PASL has been around since 1997 and includes numerous indoor teams playing in regional divisions across the United States.

OTHER

• National Lacrosse League: After announcing last week that it was cancelling its upcoming 2008 season, the NLL has now signed a seven-year collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association and plans to play a 2008 season. Some teams had given up certain arena dates due to the cancellation of the season, so it is uncertain when the 2008 schedule will run and whether all teams will be able to play.

Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/774026. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from October 29, 2007


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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