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NAHL North American Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
September 20, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)


BASEBALL

Atlantic Baseball League: The proposed new ABL franchise planned for Loudoun County (VA) plans to unveil its team nickname next week. The Loudoun Hounds, Virginia Silver Stars, and Dulles Blue Heron were the nickname finalists announced earlier in the year.

United League Baseball: The ULB reportedly owes unpaid rent for the ballpark in Amarillo, home to the league's Amarillo Dillas baseball team. This has led to speculation the Dillas franchise might be in doubt for a return in 2011.

Pacific Coast League: The Omaha Royals of the Triple-A PCL have narrowed the fans' nickname suggestions down to 24 possible names. The PCL will release the nine finalists for voting on October 4. The team will keep Omaha in its name as it moves to a new ballpark in Sarpy County (NE) for the 2011 season. The owner of the San Diego Padres is still working to build a new ballpark in Escondido (CA) for the PCL's Portland Beavers. A proposed ballpark would not be ready until 2012 and the PCL team could end up playing the 2011 season at the home of the Padres' Class-A affiliate, the Lake Elsinore (CA) Storm.

Pecos League: The new Alpine (TX) 06 Cowboys team plans to be part of the proposed Pecos League in 2011. This team replaces the Big Bend Cowboys team that played in the city in 2010 as part of the now-defunct Continental Baseball League. The Pecos League has five other "accepted" teams: the Del Rio (TX) Gunslingers, El Paso Dragons, Las Cruces (NM) Vaqueros, Roswell (NM) Invaders, and the White Sands Pupfish (Alamogordo, NM). The league will have at least six teams in 2011 and could have more as finalization of all cities is set for September 26.

Texas Collegiate League: The TCL plans to expand to Lafayette (LA) for the 2011 season with a new team called the Acadiana Cane Cutters.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: A Japanese traveling basketball team called the Shizuoka Gymrats plans to be part of the 2010-11 ABA season. The traveling team will be operated by the owner of the league's San Francisco Rumble. The Gymrats will play teams in the two California divisions and travel to several other states.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL has announced that its eighth team for the upcoming 2011 season will be an expansion team called the Dayton (OH) Air Strikers. The league also plans to have additional expansion announcements for the 2012 season..

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The owner of the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings has shut down that AFL franchise and will start up a new version of the New Orleans Voodoo franchise for the 2011 season. The Battle Wings were part of the arenafootball2 for nine seasons (2001-09) before switching to the new AFL in 2010 after the af2 folded. A New Orleans Voodoo franchise had played four seasons (2004-05, 2007-08) as part of the original AFL, which folded in 2009. The Kansas City Brigade, which played three seasons (2006-08) as part of the original AFL, might change its name before it returns to play in the 2011 AFL. The Kansas City Bombers has been mentioned as a possible new team name.

American Indoor Football Association: The Tucson Thunder Kats, a proposed 2011 franchise in the Indoor Football League, has switched leagues and will be part of the AIFA in 2011.

Indoor Football League: The IFL has confirmed that the Wenatchee Valley Venom, formerly of the American Indoor Football Association, will be part of the IFL in 2011. The proposed IFL expansion franchise called the Tucson Thunder Kats has decided to switch to the AIFA for the team's inaugural season in 2011. The Little Rock-based Arkansas Diamonds franchise is not expected to return in 2011 and some of the team's ownership have started a new IFL franchise in Allen (TX), just north of Dallas, that will be part of the 2011 season. New IFL teams in Prescott Valley (AZ) and Grand Island (NE) are expected to join for 2011, while the Maryland Maniacs are not expected to return.

Southern Indoor Football League: The SIFL plans to add a team in Mobile (AL) for the 2011 season. Mobile was previously home to the Mobile Wizards in the 2002 arenafootball2 and the Mobile Seagulls in the 2000 Indoor Professional Football League and the 2001 National Indoor Football League. Five possible nicknames have been submitted for the team: Mobile Bay Revelers, the Bay Rays, the Mobile Bay Cannons, the Mobile Bay Tarpon, and the Mobile Maniax. The league also announced a new Houston-based franchise will be part of the 2011 season. This franchise is not connected to the Houston Lightning team that failed to start as planned for the 2010 season.

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The proposed UIFL has announced that the sixth team for its inaugural 2011 season will be called the Saginaw (MI) Sting. A team called the Saginaw Sting started play in the 2008 Continental Indoor Football League before switching to the Indoor Football League for 2009. The Sting suspended operations after the 2009 IFL season and apparently is under new ownership.

Professional Indoor Football League: The proposed PIFL plans to have 23 teams in its inaugural 2011 season. A proposed American Conference would have 14 teams spread among South, East, and North divisions, while a National Conference would have 9 teams split between Central and West divisions.

United Football League: The UFL has started its second season that will feature five teams: the returning Florida (Orlando) Tuskers and Las Vegas Locomotives (Locos); the Sacramento Mountain Lions, which are the relocated California (San Francisco) Redwoods; the Hartford Colonials, which are the relocated New York Sentinels; and the expansion Omaha Nighthawks. Each team will play one home and one away game against the other four teams.

HOCKEY

All American Hockey League: The AAHL announced that the Muskegon-based West Michigan Blizzard franchise will be relocated to Dyer (IN) for the 2010-11 season as the Indiana Blizzard. Dyer had been home to the league's Chi-Town Shooters franchise, which recently left the AAHL after two seasons to pursue a junior-level league. The West Michigan Blizzard had joined the AAHL about midway through the 2009-10 season. The Indiana Blizzard has signed an affiliation agreement with the Evansville IceMen of the Central Hockey League.

North American Hockey League: The Tier II Junior-A NAHL has started its 2010-11 season with 26 teams, up from the 19 teams in 2009-10. New teams include the Aberdeen (SD) Wings, Austin (MN) Bruins, Chicago Hitmen, Port Huron (MI) Fighting Falcons, New Mexico Mustangs (Rio Rancho), Dawson Creek (British Columbia) Rage, and Fresno (CA) Monsters. There was also some movement of teams from last season. The owner of the North Iowa Outlaws moved the club to Onalaska (WI) as the Coulee Region Chill; the Marquette (MI) Rangers moved to Flint (MI) as the Michigan Warriors; the Alpena (MI) IceDiggers relocated to become the Corpus Christi (TX) IceRays; and the new Amarillo (TX) Bulls purchased the roster of the Albert Lea (MN) Thunder, which had been taken over by the league last season.

National Hockey League: After announcing a commitment of federal funding for a proposed new arena in Quebec City last week, the Canadian government has backed down on its commitment due to tight budgets and the prospect of other cities seeking similar arena funding deals.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The Fredericksburg (VA) Area Soccer Association will be fielding a men's PDL team called Fredericksburg Hotspur in 2011.

United Soccer Leagues - W-League: The Fredericksburg (VA) Area Soccer Association will be fielding a women's soccer team called the Fredericksburg Impact in the 2011 W-League.

United Soccer Leagues - USL PRO: The USL announced it would not be making a bid for a 2011 Division II soccer league with the United States Soccer Federation. The new USL PRO league, which is a merger of the USL's Division II and Division III leagues, is expected to operate as a USSF-sanctioned Division III pro league in 2011. The USL's Division III league in 2010 was called the USL Second Division and operated with six eastern teams. The USL's Division II league, known as the USL First Division, did not operate in 2010 but several USL member clubs played as part of a USSF-sponsored Division II pro league in 2010.

Women's Professional Soccer: The Buffalo Flash of the United Soccer Leagues W-League has reportedly agreed on an expansion fee to become the eighth team in the 2011 WPS season. The Buffalo franchise has not yet been officially accepted by the WPS.

OTHER

Arena Lacrosse League: The proposed ALL has announced it will start its inaugural season in January 2012 instead of February 2011 as originally announced. The indoor lacrosse league hopes to have seven to eight teams for its season that will run from January through May.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagueology™ almanac known as "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2009-10 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-2009-10/6534940. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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