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NAHL North American Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
September 14, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)


BASEBALL

Northern League: Now that the 2009 Frontier League season is over for the Rockford RiverHawks, the franchise has now become an official member of the Northern League. The RiverHawks wanted to move away from the Frontier League, which emphasizes player development and imposes certain age restrictions for its players.

Midwest League: In the past few years, the Beloit (WI) Snappers of the Low Class-A Midwest have been rumored to be on the move due to poor attendance and the condition of its ballpark. Although past ballpark proposals have failed, there are two new ballpark proposals again being considered for the franchise. At one time, the Snappers were rumored to be up for sale with a potential buyer interested in moving the team to Dubuque (IA).

New York-Penn League: The Burlington-based Vermont Lake Monsters of the Short Season Class-A New York-Penn League have one of the oldest ballparks. The team's ownership is trying to spur local interest in ballpark renovations and has mentioned that possibility of relocation as an alternative.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The ABA's eight-team Pacific Northwest division is planning tryouts for the upcoming 2009-10 season. The teams include the Everett (WA) Longshoremen, Portland (OR) Stumpers, Seattle Zhen Gen, Spokane Sunz, Vancouver (WA) Explorers, Walla Walla (WA) Aggies, Washington Raptors and Yakima (WA) Hoppers.

Global Professional Basketball League: The new GPBL plans to start its inaugural season with eight teams in early January 2010. The league currently has the Barberton (OH) Wizards, Canton (OH) Conquest, Lancaster (PA) Liberty, North Jersey Runnin" Regulators, and an unnamed team in Baton Rouge (LA). A proposed Pittsburgh Phantoms franchise has already been suspended by the GPBL. At one time, the league had interest in York (PA), Augusta (GA), Orlando, and Wilmington (NC) for possible teams.

FOOTBALL

Arenafootball2: The af2 appears to be dead, as none of its teams committed to the league by its recent deadline for playing in the 2010 season. The Mahoning Valley (OH) Thunder and the Peoria Pirates announced the franchises have folded. There is discussion of a new, two-tiered indoor league being formed for the 2010 season with 12 teams in each tier. The top tier would include some larger af2 markets and former Arena Football League markets, while the second tier would include smaller markets.

Indoor Football League: The proposed 2010 expansion team called the La Crosse (WI) Spartans has begun arena lease negotiations with the city. With the Peoria Pirates dropping out of arenafootball2, the IFL would like to add a team in Peoria and possibly the Quad Cities to go with its current Bloomington (IL) Extreme franchise.

American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA has granted permission for a businessman to place a franchise in the Albany (GA) area. The city's current arenafootball2 franchise, the South Georgia Wildcats, is still trying to negotiate an arena lease amid questions of ownership solvency.

United States Football League: The proposed USFL, which hopes to start its inaugural springtime schedule in 2010, plans to make an announcement about its launch by the end of this month.

Lingerie Football League: The 2009-10 season of the women's indoor LFL has started with ten teams. The Eastern Conference features the Chicago Bliss, Miami Caliente, New York Majesty, Philadelphia Passion and Tampa Breeze. The Western Conference includes the Dallas Desire, Denver Dream, Los Angeles Temptation, San Diego Seduction and Seattle Mist. An expansion team called the Charlotte Crush is expected to start play for the 2010-11 season.

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: The Tier-2 junior-level NAHL has started its 2009-10 season with 19 teams split into 5-team Central, North and South divisions, along with a 4-team West Division. The Mahoning Valley Phantoms and the U.S. National Team Development Program have moved up to the Tier-1 United States Hockey League for 2009-10. The NAHL added the new Janesville (WI) Jets franchise, while the Texas Tornado franchise returns after sitting out last season. Last year's Motor City Machine franchise has been renamed the Motor City Metal Jackets.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: The QMJHL has started its 2009-10 season with the same 18 teams and the same league alignment as last season. After considering relocation, the league's Lewiston Maineiacs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan franchises decided to remain in their respective cities for 2009-10. Lewiston first considered a move to the Montreal area and then Fredericton (New Brunswick), while Bathurst considered a move to St. John's (Newfoundland). The QMJHL, along with the 20-team Ontario Hockey League and the 22-team Western Hockey League, are part of Canada's major-junior organization called the Canadian Hockey League.

Global Canadian Hockey League: The proposed GCHL, which originally planned to start play with four teams in December 2009, will now begin in December 2010. The centrally owned and operated league will have four teams in Atlantic Canada-New Brunswick Schooners (Fredericton), Prince Edward Island Islanders (Summerside), Nova Scotia Keltics (Halifax), and Newfoundland Republic (St. John's).

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The Kansas City Wizards franchise, which has been part of the MLS since the 1996 inaugural season when the team was called the Wiz, has been trying to get a soccer-specific stadium built for the past several years. The Wyandotte County (KS) government recently endorsed a proposed 18,500-seat soccer stadium project for the Wizards near the Kansas Speedway. There was a competing proposed stadium site on the Missouri side of the Kansas City market that appears to have stalled.

Canadian Soccer League: After the ownership of the Ottawa Fury in the United Soccer Leagues announced plans to operate an Ottawa-based USL First Division club in the future, another Ottawa-based soccer club plans to join the CSL for its 2010 season. A team called the Ottawa Wizards played three seasons (2001-03) in the league when it was known as the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

National Indoor Soccer League: The NISL is interested in Dallas, Hampton Roads (VA), Harrisburg (PA), and either McAllen (TX) or Hidalgo (TX) for future expansion teams. The league also has had discussions with groups in Hartford (CT), Providence (RI), Albany (NY) and Burlington (VT). The Milwaukee Wave of last year's Xtreme Soccer League (XLS) is almost certain to begin play in the 2009-10 NISL season. The NISL is also considering future teams for the former XSL markets of Newark and Chicago, with the league's current Rockford Rampage franchise developing the Chicago franchise.

Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro): The PASL-Pro league has confirmed the new Louisville Lightning franchise will play in the upcoming 2009-10 season. The Lightning will be part of an Eastern Division that includes teams in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit and another expansion city. Some reports have this other expansion team listed as the Columbus (OH) Kickers.

OTHER

National Pro Fastpitch: The owner of the Rockford Thunder has placed the NPF franchise up for sale. The Thunder was one of the original teams when the NPF restarted league-play in 2004. The team played its first three seasons (2004-06) in Houston as the Texas Thunder. The team was sold prior to the 2006 season and then moved to Rockford for the 2007 season. The five-team NPF recently completed its 2009 season.

Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2008-09 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/6218580. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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North American Hockey League Stories from September 14, 2009


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