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CHL Spring Conference concludes

June 7, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Corpus Christi, TX - The Corpus Christi Rayz in conjunction with the Central Hockey League recently completed the 2006 Spring Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. As part of the Conference, the Rayz were recognized as finalists for two different 2005-2006 season awards. The CHL also announced several operational changes that will be implemented for the coming season of play, all ratified by the CHL Board of Governors.

Rayz General Manager, Larry Linde was named a finalist for the CHL Soul of Service Award which is presented annually to the Central Hockey League executive who has best demonstrated the qualities of excellence and dedication to providing outstanding customer service. Linde has been the Rayz General Manager for the past two seasons, and has overseen consecutive record setting attendance increases.

The Rayz were also named a finalist for the Marketing Franchise of the Year, which is presented annually to the Central Hockey League franchise which has best exemplified the qualities of excellence, creativity and imagination in the areas of promotion and marketing. This season the Rayz welcomed numerous celebrities to their games including WWE Hall of Famers Sgt. Slaughter and Jerry 'The King' Lawler, singer/song writer and Texas Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman as well as the Stanley Cup. The Rayz also implemented several successful themed promotions including, "Guaranteed Fight Night", Pack the House for Charity Night, the FJO Great Diamond Giveaway as well as the Second Annual Cool School Day Game for local area students.

The CHL operational changes gave the league an off-season facelift that should provide fans with an exciting, balanced upcoming season of hockey. The CHL will maintain its two conference, four division alignment for the sixth consecutive season, and the Rayz Southeast Division remains the same as it has the last two seasons. The Rayz will once again be battling the Austin Ice Bats, Laredo Bucks and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in the closest proximity division in the league. The expansion Arizona Sundogs and New Mexico Scorpions, the latter returning from a one year hiatus, will join the Amarillo Gorillas, Lubbock Cotton Kings and Odessa Jackalopes in the five-team Southwest Division. In the Northern Conference, the expansion Rocky Mountain Rage joins the Colorado Eagles, Oklahoma City Blazers and Wichita Thunder in the Northwest Division, while the Tulsa Oilers shift to the Northeast Division alongside the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Memphis RiverKings and Youngstown SteelHounds.

An increase to 17 teams for the 2006-2007 season comes with a change in the playoff format. The post-season field in the CHL was expanded from eight to 12 teams for the coming season, with the top six clubs in each conference participating in the playoffs. Each of the four regular season division champions will be seeded either first or second in their conference, with the four teams with the next highest point totals in each conference also participating and seeded third through sixth. In the opening round, Seed 1 will play Seed 6, Seed 2 will play Seed 5 and Seed 3 will play Seed 4 in each conference. The highest seeded team who loses in the opening round will still advance to the Conference Semi-Finals and automatically be seeded fourth for the remainder of the Conference playoffs. Following both the Conference Semi-Finals and Conference Finals, the remaining representatives from each conference will play in the Ray Miron President's Cup Finals, with home ice advantage awarded to the club with the best regular season record, regardless of any earlier seeding. All four playoff rounds will feature best-of-seven game formats.

The CHL's roster regulations have also been modified for 2006-2007. Teams are still required to maintain a minimum of five 'developmental' players (128 or fewer professional games played) and can have a maximum of four 'veteran' players. Veteran classification has been altered to include all players with more than 280 games of professional experience, up from the 260 total used in 2005-2006. Additionally, player compensation has been raised to $10,000.00 per week for an 18 man roster.

"We thank our entire Board of Governors for their diligence and efforts in finalizing these operational issues," said CHL President Brad Treliving. "We anticipate another successful year in 2006-2007 as we celebrate our 15th anniversary season."

The CHL will begin celebration of its 15th season of play on October 20th, 2006 and the Rayz are set to being their ninth season of hockey in Corpus Christi. Season ticket packages and corporate sponsorship opportunities are currently available. For more information, please call the Rayz at (361) 814-PUCK or log on to www.ccrayz.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from June 7, 2006


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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