14 CHL Teams for '11-12; IceMen in Turner Conference
Published on June 15, 2011 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Evansville IceMen News Release
EVANSVILLE, IN.--- With the Central Hockey League's annual Summer Conference meetings officially concluded, the league has broached the process of preparing for its 20th Anniversary Season under the CHL banner.
In the 2011-12 CHL pro hockey season, the league membership will be comprised of 14-clubs divided into two conferences as last season in 2010-11. The hometown Evansville IceMen will remain a member of the CHL Turner Conference alignment which will also include the IceMen strongest archrivalries in the form of the Fort Wayne Komets, Dayton Gems and Bloomington. Each conference will consist of seven teams with the Missouri Mavericks, Quad City Mallards and Rapid City Rush also a part of the IceMen's Turner Conference division.
The Berry Conference membership will include the Allen Americans, Arizona Sundogs, Laredo Bucks, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, Texas Brahmas, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder. The lone change from last season's conference alignments is the move of Wichita from the Turner Conference to the Berry Conference. In their initial AA CHL season in 2010-11, although the IceMen were in the same conference as the Wichita club, they did not meet the Thunder in on ice warfare.
There are four teams from the 2010-11 campaign that will not be in operation in the CHL for the upcoming season. Those four clubs are: the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs; Colorado Eagles, who have joined the ECHL; Mississippi RiverKings, now a member of the SPHL and the Odessa Jackalopes, now part of the junior league NAHL. Players from the latter four squads have been deemed unrestricted free agents within the league.
Concerning the CHL playoff format for the upcoming campaign, the top 4-teams within each conference will qualify for a coveted post-season berth with all playoff series being of a best 4-of-7 format. It will take three series triumphs totaling 12-victories to capture the CHL's Ray Miron President's Cup.
In conjunction with the Central Hockey League, the IceMen will be announcing their 2011-12 regular season schedule later this summer. The official opening night for the CHL's 20th Anniversary Season will be Friday, October 21st. The Evansville franchise will also be setting dates for its pre-season games' slate as well as the IceMen prepare to move into their new home of the brand-new state-of-the-art Downtown Evansville Arena this fall.
2011-12 CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE ALIGNMENT
TURNER CONFERENCE
EVANSVILLE ICEMEN
BLOOMINGTON (team name TBD)
DAYTON GEMS
FORT WAYNE KOMETS
MISSOURI MAVERICKS
QUAD CITY MALLARDS
RAPID CITY RUSH
BERRY CONFERENCE
ALLEN AMERICANS
ARIZONA SUNDOGS
LAREDO BUCKS
RIO GRANDE VALLEY KILLER BEES
TEXAS BRAHMAS
TULSA OILERS
WICHITA THUNDER
Central Hockey League Stories from June 15, 2011
- New Bloomington CHL Team to Hold "Meet & Greet" this Coming Friday Afternoon - Bloomington Blaze
- Rush General Manager Tim Hill Earns Brad Treliving CHL Executive of the Year Award - Rapid City Rush
- Assistant Coach and Player Returning to Gems - Dayton Gems
- 14 CHL Teams for '11-12; IceMen in Turner Conference - Evansville IceMen
- Record Number of Call-Ups for CHL in 2010-11 - CHL
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