PrairieThunder Make History
June 1, 2010 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Bloomington PrairieThunder was part of a historic day for minor professional hockey Tuesday when it was announced that the Central Hockey League and International Hockey League have entered into a letter of intent to form a "AA" level super league beginning in the 2010-11 season.
Other IHL teams joining the PrairieThunder in the new league include Dayton, Fort Wayne and Quad Cities. The CHL is currently comprised of 15 teams in nine states.
Seven of the teams are based in Texas - Allen, Austin, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Midland Hills, Odessa and Rio Grande. Other teams are located in Arizona (Prescott Valley), Louisiana (Shreveport), Colorado (Loveland), Mississippi (Southaven), Kansas (Wichita), Oklahoma (Tulsa), South Dakota (Rapid City) and Missouri (Independence).
"The PrairieThunder ownership group was, and remains, determined to preserve and grow professional hockey in Bloomington-Normal and felt it important to become part of the dynamic and larger league," said team president Tim Leighton following the announcement.
"We owe it to our loyal fans, sponsors and the Bloomington-Normal communities to create a great sense of cooperation among the member teams. This new relationship will allow all of us to work together, sharing, to better our practices and operations on and off the ice. While there were other options, the Central Hockey League was the best fit for us."
John Butler, the president of Central Illinois Arena Management which runs U.S. Cellular Coliseum where the PrairieThunder plays, echoed Leighton's comments.
"The Management Company has been for some time watching the development with respect to the IHL becoming part of another professional hockey league," said Butler. "Central Illinois Arena Management will continue to monitor the change and hope that it will be viewed as an enhancement for all of the hockey fans in Bloomington-Normal and Central Illinois and as a benefit to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum."
Leighton added that "the CHL will afford the fans the opportunity to see our old rivals in Fort Wayne and Quad City as well as Dayton. It also will offer a better, more competitive brand of professional hockey and a variety of new teams and players for the fans to watch."
CHL commissioner Duane Lewis termed the news as "an exciting day for our teams and markets."
"Both leagues have worked hard to establish tremendous entertainment at a great value for their fans, and by combining our resources we believe we can strengthen those efforts providing greater fan interest as well as a stronger brand," he added.
IHL commissioner Dennis Hextall believes the unification of the two leagues should create an innovative and exciting "AA" level professional hockey league.
"The two leagues each have long-standing histories and share the common goal of solidifying minor professional hockey for our players, our passionate fans and their communities," said Hextall. "I believe this arrangement will enable our teams to recruit the best young talent to join our league, with the potential of improving their game and moving up to the higher leagues."
The new "AA" league plans to play under the CHL, moniker, with the identity of the IHL being maintained through various aspects that will be announced in the near future. Leaders of the CHL and IHL will meet during the week ahead to work out the remaining material terms.
Operating guidelines, including the teams competing in the CHL, divisional alignment, the 2010-11 regular season schedule and various hockey operations issues will be discussed at the CHL league meetings later this week and will continue at the IHL meetings in June 21-23.
The CHL is beginning its 19th season and has drawn close to 2 million fans in each of the last two seasons. It has regularly been the North American professional "AA" hockey league leader in average attendance. This season, the CHL was the top "AA" hockey league in playoff attendance. In the league's history, a total of 88 players have played in both the National Hockey League and the CHL.
The upcoming season will mark the 60th year of professional hockey for the International Hockey League. More than 900,000 fans attended IHL hockey games last season. Nine players who played on IHL teams this past season had prior NHL experience, while many more have played for their respective national teams and professionally abroad.
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International Hockey League 2 Stories from June 1, 2010
- PrairieThunder Make History - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Central Hockey League And International Hockey League Make Major Announcement - IHL 2
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