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North American Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
June 15, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)


BASEBALL

California League: With the high Class-A California League having difficulty building new stadiums for its Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks teams, there is again talk of shrinking the California League from ten to eight teams and expanding the high Class-A Carolina League from eight to ten teams. Discussion of moving two California League teams to the Carolina League first started back in 2001.

Mount Rainer Professional Baseball League: It appears as though the six-team MRPBL has folded and an attempt by the league organizer to restructure into a four-team league will not move forward. Teams in the under-funded league played less than 10 games of a planned 68-game schedule.

Heartland of America Baseball League: Nothing new has been heard from the proposed independent HABL, which planned to start play this month with ten teams playing out of Price Cutter Park in Ozark (MO), just south of Springfield. Another league called the Ozarks Professional Baseball League (OPBL) had hoped to purchase the ballpark in Ozark and operate a similar independent baseball league starting this summer. The operator of the HABL was formerly associated with the OPBL.

Michigan Baseball League: Groundbreaking is set for later this month on a new ballpark in Utica (MI) for a yet-to-be-named developmental independent baseball league. The proposed league plans to have three teams play all games at the ballpark starting in 2016.

BASKETBALL

North of the Border Basketball League: The Southern Ontario-based NBBL, which consists of professional, university and elite level college players, started its third spring-summer last month. The top Elite Division has 8 teams, down from the 14 teams of last season. New teams called the Forest City Panthers and Hamilton Hitmen were added, the Hamilton's Finest was renamed the Nine-O-Five, while the Loyola Hawks and Marauders merged to form one Marauders team. Also, a five-team Women's NBBL Elite Division started its inaugural season last week.

FOOTBALL

Legends Football League: The women's indoor LFL, formerly known as the Lingerie Football League, announced a new global strategy and will not have league play outside of the United States from 2015 to 2017. The LFL will concentrate on its flagship LFL-USA league that will include adding some expansion markets. In Mexico, Australia, Canada and Europe, the LFL will hold exhibition tours and create football academies for the development of coaches and talent. The LFL-Europa was to start play in 2015, while LFL-Australia stopped play after one 2013-14 season and LFL-Canada ended play after one 2012 season.

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: USA Hockey's Tier-II NAHL officially announced the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees will move from Hidalgo (TX) to the Philadelphia area and become the Ashton Rebels for the 2015-16 season. The Killer Bees joined the NAHL for the 2013-14 season after the first version of the league's Wenatchee (WA) Wild moved to Hidalgo.

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League: The Canadian Junior-A NOJHL officially announced the Soo Eagles (Sioux Ste Marie, Michigan), Espanola Express and French River Rapids (Noelville) have been accepted into the league for the 2015-16 season that will include 12 teams. The Soo Eagles team replaces a USA Hockey Tier-II North American Hockey League team by the same name that moved to New Jersey. The NOJHL returns to Espanola, which had the Espanola Rivermen in the league for the 2013-14 season.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: Current National Basketball Association player Carmelo Anthony will be part of an ownership group for a new Division-II NASL team called Puerto Rico FC. The expansion team is expected to start play in the 2016 Fall Season and will play in the Bayamon area of San Juan. A team called the Puerto Rico Islanders played in various league from 2003 to 2010 before joining the NASL for the team's final two seasons (2011-12). The NASL had been trying to establish a team called the Oklahoma City FC, but appears to be losing out to the Division-III United Soccer League's Oklahoma City Energy. The NASL is suing the Energy's part-owner, who was previously involved with the NASL franchise effort and controlled the lease at Taft Stadium before switching to the rival USL club.

Major Arena Soccer League: The ownership group that operates the Cedar Rapids (IA) Titans of the Indoor Football League has been granted an MASL expansion team for the Cedar Rapids market. The new team is expected to start play in the 2015-16 season and will hold a name-the-team contest.

Major League Soccer: After the D.C. United raised the possibility of considering a new soccer stadium site in Loudoun County (VA) last week, officials in the District of Columbia announced they have finalized a deal to build a new soccer stadium on Buzzard Point for the MLS team. Officials in St. Paul (MN) have identified a potential site for an MLS stadium, if a deal to build one in Minneapolis cannot be worked out.

Western Indoor Soccer League: The future of the Oly Town Artesians (Olympia, WA) team in the elite amateur-level men's WISL is uncertain as the building that served as its home has been sold and the team will have to find a new location. The WISL started play for the 2014-15 season with five teams based in Washington State.

OTHER

USA Rugby League: The USARL started its 2015 season late last month with 14 teams. The Bucks County Sharks, Connecticut Wildcats and New York Knights joined the USARL from the former American National Rugby League (AMRNL), along with the new Wilmington-based Delaware Black Foxes. The Baltimore Blues did not return in 2015, but the other ten USARL teams from 2014 did return. The USARL features a five-team Northeast Division, a five-team Mid-Atlantic Division and a four-team South Division.

The USARL is playing in its fifth season and was started when five former AMNRL teams left to start the league for the 2011 season.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2013-14: "The Leagueology Almanac" , which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.

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