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CHL 2011-12 Regular Season Schedule Unveiled

August 15, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


TEMPE, AZ (August 15, 2011) - The 2011-12 Central Hockey League (CHL) schedule has been officially released with the 462-game season beginning on Friday, October 21 in four locations and concluding on Sunday, March 25 with five contests. This year will be a historic one for the CHL marking its 20th-Anniversary Season.

Each of the CHL's 14 member clubs will play a 66-game schedule with 33 home games and 33 road games. Weekends comprise a large majority of the schedule as 76% of the games will be played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (352 of the 462 games will occur over the weekends).

Opening weekend will see eight teams open their home schedules with the Rapid City Rush and Wichita Thunder marking the first game of the new season in the Thunder's home opener on Friday, October 21. Also opening on the weekend of October 21 will be the Arizona Sundogs, Allen Americans, Bloomington Blaze, Fort Wayne Komets, Quad City Mallards, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Texas Brahmas. Three home openers will take place on October 28 (Laredo, Rapid City and Tulsa) and the remaining three home openers will all happen on Saturday, November 5 (Dayton, Evansville and Missouri).

The Evansville IceMen will play their first game in the new Evansville Arena on November 5 when they host the Fort Wayne Komets. The new state-of-the-art facility will hold 11,000 fans for hockey.

There will be several games on the Holidays as the Fort Wayne Komets will host a Thanksgiving Day game for the 50th straight season when they host the CHL's newest club, the Bloomington Blaze. The Tulsa Oilers will host the Laredo Bucks on Thanksgiving and will host the Wichita Thunder on Christmas Day in the lone match-up on December 25.

The 2011-12 campaign not only marks a historic milestone for the CHL but also for two of its original teams, the Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder, who both will be embarking on their 20th seasons in the league. The Fort Wayne Komets are also celebrating a milestone season playing in their 60th campaign and the Laredo Bucks will be participating in their 10th-Anniversary season.

2011-12 Central Hockey League Home Openers

Allen Americans - Friday, October 21 vs. Tulsa

Arizona Sundogs - Friday, October 21 vs. Laredo

Bloomington Blaze - Saturday, October 22 vs. Dayton

Dayton Gems - Saturday, November 5 vs. Quad City

Evansville IceMen - Saturday, November 5 vs. Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne Komets - Saturday, October 22 vs. Evansville

Laredo Bucks - Friday, October 28 vs. Rio Grande Valley

Missouri Mavericks - Saturday, November 5 vs. Wichita

Quad City Mallards - Saturday, October 22 vs. Rapid City

Rapid City Rush - Friday, October 28 vs. Dayton

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees - Friday, October 21 vs. Missouri

Texas Brahmas - Saturday, October 22 vs. Tulsa

Tulsa Oilers - Friday, October 28 vs. Wichita

Wichita Thunder - Friday, October 21 vs. Rapid City

2011-12 Central Hockey League Schedule Highlights

October 28

-After coaching the Laredo Bucks for the past nine season, Terry Ruskowski will lead his new team and top rival of the Bucks, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, into the Laredo Energy Arena for the first time.

-The Texas Brahmas and the Allen Americans play the first of 11 match-ups between the two teams that have the shortest distance between them (41 miles). The Americans won nine of the 11 games last season.

November 4

-In the first game of a home-and-home series, the Missouri Mavericks and Wichita Thunder battle for the first time in a re-match of last season's thrilling opening round playoff battle that saw Missouri win three games to two.

November 5

-The Evansville IceMen will be playing the first hockey game in the brand-new Evansville Arena when they host the Fort Wayne Komets in the first of 12 games between the two rivals.

November 11

-On 11/11/11, the CHL will see a full slate of action with seven games scheduled. The Veteran's Day line-up includes Evansville at Dayton, Allen at Laredo, Tulsa at Missouri, Fort Wayne at Rapid City, Arizona at Rio Grande Valley, Bloomington at Texas and Quad City at Wichita.

November 18

-The Allen Americans will host the Rapid City Rush in the first of back-to-back games in what will be a rematch of the 2010 CHL Finals. A series that saw the Rush defeat the Americans in double overtime of a thrilling six-game series to win the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup. The Rush and Americans will also meet on November 19 and March 13.

November 24

-The Fort Wayne Komets will host the Bloomington Blaze on Thanksgiving Day marking one of two ‚¬ËœTurkey Day' games, the Tulsa Oilers will host the Laredo Bucks also. For the Komets, it will mark the 50th straight season they will play host to a game on Thanksgiving Day (Fort Wayne is 31-14-4 on Thanksgiving Day).

December 25

-The Tulsa Oilers are scheduled to play at home for the third straight season on Christmas Day as they are tabbed to play the Wichita Thunder. The Oilers defeated the Thunder 6-5 last season and were snowed out during the 2009-10 season.

December 31

-In the final day for games in 2011, there are seven games on the calendar as Allen, Arizona, Dayton, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Missouri and Rapid City all host New Year's Eve games.

January 11

-The Arizona Sundogs will be the host for the 2012 CHL All-Star Game where the Sundogs will host a team of CHL All-Stars comprised of players from the other 13 CHL teams.

January 16

-The Allen Americans will host the Tulsa Oilers on Martin Luther King Day with a special 1:05 PM (CST) start time.

February 14

-Valentine's Day will serve host to six CHL games including a match-up with the Laredo Bucks playing at the Wichita Thunder in a battle between the two-time CHL Champion Bucks (2004 & 2006) and the two-time CHL Champion Thunder (1994 & 1995).

March 25

-The CHL's 20th-Anniversary season comes to an end with the close of the regular season and five games on the docket. The match-ups include Missouri at Tulsa, Laredo at Rio Grande Valley, Wichita at Allen, Dayton at Fort Wayne and Evansville at Texas.

The entire schedule is available on www.centralhockeyleague.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from August 15, 2011


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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