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Central Hockey League Welcomes Team in Independence, Missouri

April 16, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


The Central Hockey League (CHL) is pleased to announce the addition of an Independence, Missouri franchise for the 2009-10 season, following approval from the Independence City Council on the team's lease with the new Independence Events Center. Ownership of the CHL team has been awarded to Independence Professional Hockey LLC who is comprised of Mark & Matt Adams, and Mike Carper of Lubbock, Texas; and team president Brad Lund.

"We are very happy to have the Independence Professional Hockey group join the CHL family and are pleased to welcome the City of Independence," said CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis. "The hockey history in the area and the demographics of Independence and the surrounding areas make this an attractive market for the league and one that will be a premier organization in the CHL."

The owners and operators are no strangers to the CHL with Matt and Mark Adams previously owning the CHL's Lubbock Cotton Kings. Matt still resides in Lubbock and is the owner and operator of a large farming conglomerate in Brownfield, Texas. The 18,000 acres of land includes cotton, wheat, peanuts and corn.

Mark has been active in the sporting world his entire professional life, including an eight-year stint as general manager and part-owner of the CHL's Lubbock Cotton Kings. The franchise received numerous accolades during Adam's tenure, including being named CHL Franchise of the Year, Marketing Franchise of the Year and Ticketing Franchise of the Year. He spent 21 years as a head basketball coach on the collegiate level, recently completing his fifth season as the head coach of Howard College, where they have been a perennial junior college power. He has been named Coach of the Year seven times. Ten of Adams' teams have captured conference and/or regional titles, including reaching the 1985 NAIA National Finals in Kansas City.

Mike graduated from William and Mary with a BA degree in 1976. He has resided in Lubbock since 1977, and attended Texas Tech School of Law, graduating in 1980. Since that time he has been the principal of the Law Office of Michael H. Carper P.C., which focuses on business development and litigation. Active in community affairs, Carper has been a member and multiple past president of the Downtown Chapter of AMBUCS, the Southwest Rotary Club, and the Sales Executive Association. In additional to representation of many prominent businesses in West Texas, the firm represents numerous charitable and governmental organizations. Carper served as the General Counsel and as an owner for the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL, and currently is the General Counsel for the Texas Tech Hockey Club.

"We are honored to join rich sporting history of the Kansas City area," said Lund. "Our marketing philosophy starts with the fans. This will be their team beginning day one."

Lund will serve as the team's president joining the new team after spending the past 16 seasons with the Oklahoma City Blazers serving most recently as the team's Chief Executive Officer. While with the Blazers, Lund made the organization one of the top in all of minor pro sports while leading the entire CHL in attendance in each of his 16 seasons.

The team will become the first franchise in the state of Missouri and will sit just over 200 miles from Wichita, Kansas (the home of the CHL's Thunder). The new Independence hockey team will play in the new state-of-the-art Independence Events Center. The new building will seat 5,800 fans for hockey and is currently under construction with opening weekend for hockey planned for Nov. 13-14.

Season tickets go on sale Monday at the front office headquarters (107 S. Main Street, Downtown Independence). For ticket information call (816)252-PUCK, or log onto the team's website - independenceprohockey.com.

Additional information about the progress of the new Independence Events Center can be found at www.independenceeventscenter.com.

About the CHL The CHL is currently playing its 17th season, with 18 member teams across 10 states. The CHL saw close to two million fans attend games during the 2008-09 season and has led North American professional ‘AA' hockey leagues in average attendance in six of the past eight seasons. The CHL is administered by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Entertainment Corporation (NYSE Amex: GEE), a company engaged in sports management, multi-purpose events and entertainment center and related real estate development, facility and venue management and marketing, and venue ticketing. For more information about the CHL visit the league's website at www.centralhockeyleague.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from April 16, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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