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CHL Central Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
November 15, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)


BASEBALL

Golden Baseball League: The Victoria (British Columbia) Seals of the GBL have ceased operations after two seasons in the league. The Seals were not happy with its ballpark lease, the travel costs associated with teams based in Hawaii and Mexico, and the uncertainty about the GBL for the 2011 season. The league's Tucson Toros will not return in 2011 and the league is having trouble putting an ownership group together for the Yuma Scorpions. The four remaining teams from the Northern League-the Joliet JackHammers, Schaumburg Flyers, Lake County Fielders, and Rockford RiverHawks-are reported to be switching to the GBL, which now plans to expand to four divisions (West Coast, Canada, Midwest, and Texas) in 2011.

Northern League: The Joliet JackHammers and Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League are facing financial troubles that could jeopardize their proposed moves to either the Frontier League or the Golden Baseball League for the 2011 season. The JackHammers have been up for sale, but a potential bankruptcy filing by the club could tie up the lease for the 2011 season. The village of Schaumburg (IL) has filed suit against the Flyers for overdue ballpark rent payments. The team's owner, who also owns the league's Lake County Fielders franchise, is trying to find a new owner for the Flyers.

American Association: The owner of the Shreveport-Bossier Captains in the independent AA has been awarded the lease for the stadium in Amarillo and an AA team is expected to be based in the city for the 2011 season. The city's former team, the Amarillo Dillas of United League Baseball, was denied in its effort to file an injunction to prevent the deal. The Shreveport-Bossier Captains could move to Amarillo as part of the 2011 AA, while a team by the same could remain in Shreveport as a new summer-collegiate team in the Texas Collegiate League.

Pecos League: The new Pecos League plans to start a 74-game season in 2011 and has announced its eight teams based in West Texas and New Mexico. The first-year teams include two travel teams called the Odessa (TX) Dragons and Carlsbad (NM) Bats, along with the Alpine (TX) Cowboys, Clovis (NM) Pioneers, Del Rio (TX) Aviators, Las Cruces (NM) Vaqueros, Roswell (NM) Invaders, and the White Sands Pupfish (Alamogordo, NM).

New England Collegiate Baseball League: The NECBL has announced the new team based Old Orchard Beach (ME) will be called the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide when it starts play in 2011. The team played as the Lowell (MA) All-Americans in 2010.

New York Collegiate Baseball League: Seven NYCBL teams-the Albany Dutchmen, Amsterdam Mohawks, Cooperstown Hawkeyes, Elmira Pioneers, Glens Falls Golden Eagles, Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs, and Watertown Wizards-have left the league and will be part of a new league called the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League in 2011.

Texas Collegiate League: A new team called the Acadiana Cane Cutters based in Lafayette (LA) will start play in the 2011 season of the Texas Collegiate League.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The new ABA team based in Jacksonville (FL) will be called the Jacksonville Giants and will start play in the 2010-11 season. It was previously announced that the Jacksonville Bluewaves of the World Basketball Association had moved to the ABA and would not start play until the 2011-12 season. The ABA is planning expansion into Canada in 2011 with five Ontario-based teams in Oshawa, Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, and Northwest Ontario.

FOOTBALL

Southern Indoor Football League: The SIFL has announced that six teams associated with the American Indoor Football Association have joined the SIFL for its 2011 season as part of a merger. The six AIFA teams include the Carolina Speed (Charlotte, NC), Fayetteville (NC) Guard, Harrisburg (PA) Stampede, Richmond (VA) Raiders, Trenton (NJ) Steel, and a yet-to-be-named team in Erie (PA). Prior to this merger, the two owners of the AIFA had split the league into two entities called the AIFA East and the AIFA West. The AIFA East teams are part of the SIFL merger, while the AIFA West teams will operate as separate league in 2011. The SIFL plans to have a total of 16 teams for the 2011 season. The ten other teams include the Abilene (TX) Ruff Riders, Alabama Hammers (Huntsville), Albany (GA) Panthers, Columbus (GA) Lions, Corpus Christi (TX) Hammerheads, Houston Stallions, Lafayette (LA) Wildcatters, Louisiana Swashbucklers (Lake Charles), Mobile Bay (AL) Tarpons, and Rio Grande Valley Magic (Hidalgo, TX).

American Indoor Football Association: Six remaining eastern teams from the AIFA have joined the Southern Indoor Football League. Four of these teams-the Erie RiverRats, Fayetteville Guard, Harrisburg Stampede, and Richmond Raiders were part of the AIFA's 2010 Eastern Conference. Erie came under new ownership in the off-season announced a name change to the Erie Storm, but it is seeking a new nickname due to a conflict with a college team name. The two other teams joining the SIFL from the AIFA are the Charlotte-based Carolina Speed, which had been part of the AIFA for three seasons (2007-09) and sat out the 2010 season, and the Trenton Steel, which was a planned 2011 AIFA expansion team. Three other teams from the 2010 AIFA Eastern Conference are not part of the SIFL merger. The Baltimore Mariners and New Jersey Revolution are gone, while the Reading Express moved to the Indoor Football League.

United Football League: The UFL has announced its sixth team will be called the Virginia Destroyers after the type of warships based in the Norfolk area. The Destroyers will start play in the 2011 season with its home at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. Navigators and Tritons were the other nickname finalists.

Independent Indoor Football Association: The IIFA has announced that the Conroe (TX) Jaguars have joined the league for its 2011 season. The Jaguars played as part of the three-team Independent World Football Alliance during the 2010 season.

HOCKEY

Central Hockey League: The city of Evansville has selected the current Evansville IceMen franchise in the CHL to be the tenant for the city's new arena that is expected to open in November 2011. The IceMen franchise was selected over new teams proposed by the ECHL and the Junior-A United States Hockey League.

Major League Roller Hockey: The Pacific Pro Division of the MLRH started its 2010-11 season last weekend. The league's six-team western division includes teams called the AKS Empire, Hollywood Dream, LA Pama Cyclones, Mission Axiom, Nakhon Dragons, and 949 Anarchy. The MLRH also plans to have pro teams in Midwest and East divisions this season.

SOCCER

Major Indoor Soccer League: The five-team MISL has started its 2010-11 season with three new teams-the Chicago Riot, Missouri Comets (Independence), and Omaha Vipers. Of the five teams from last season, only the Baltimore Blast and Milwaukee Wave returned. The Philadelphia Kixx, Rockford Rampage, and Monterrey (Mexico) La RaZa did not return for 2010-11.

Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL Pro league has started its 2010-11 season with 12 teams in 3 divisions. Of the nine teams from last season, the St. Louis Illusion, Denver Dynamite, and Texas Outlaws did not return, but the league added six new teams. The Eastern Division includes the Detroit Wasa, Louisville Lightning, Ohio Vortex (Canton), and the Cincinnati Kings, which changed its name from 1790 Cincinnati Express. The Western Division has the returning California Cougars and San Diego Sockers, along with the new Revolucion Tijuana (Mexico) and Tacoma Stars. The league also added a new four-team Frontier Division with the Illinois Piasa (St. Louis area), Kitsap Pumas (Bremerton, WA), Springfield (MO) Demize, and Wenatchee (WA) Fire. PASL Pro league teams will again play an interlocking schedule with the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League, which consists of only the Calgary United, Edmonton Drillers, and Winnipeg Alliance. The CMISL operated with five teams in 2009-10, but lost the Saskatoon Accelerators and Prince George Fury (British Columbia) for 2010-11.

United Soccer Leagues PRO: The USL PRO league has announced that the Wilmington (NC) Hammerheads, which last played in the 2009 USL Second Division, will be part of the league's inaugural 2011 season. The USL currently lists 12 teams as members of its USL PRO league.

North American Soccer League: The NASL has finalized its application with the United States Soccer Federation to operate as a Division II league in 2011. In addition to its six previously announced teams-the Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay, Montreal Impact, Miami FC Blues, and Puerto Rico Islanders-the NASL has now added the NSC Minnesota Stars and the Atlanta Silverbacks to its membership. The National Sports Center Stars played in the USSF-operated pro league in 2010 with several other NASL teams. The Atlanta Silverbacks last played in the 2008 season of the United Soccer Leagues-First Division, but have been dormant since signing on to join the NASL when it was formed late in 2009. The NASL's AC St. Louis club could also play in 2011, if a sale is completed and approved. A new San Antonio-based team plans to join in 2012. A Baltimore-based club that would replace the NASL's Crystal Palace Baltimore club could also join in the future.

Women's Professional Soccer: After the announcement last week that the Bay Area-based FC Gold Pride and the Washington (DC) Freedom of the WPS are still seeking investors or new owners to save the clubs for the 2011 season, it has been reported that the league's Chicago Red Stars and Boston Breakers are also unable to meet a November 15th deadline to complete escrow payments for next season. A group in Los Angeles is reportedly interested in moving the FC Gold Pride to Orange County (CA), possibly in time for the 2011 season. This group had been trying to bring a new WPS franchise back to Los Angeles for the 2011 season. The WPS had a first-year team called the Los Angeles Sol that lasted only the 2009 season.

OTHER

World Series of Boxing: The team-based international boxing league called the World Series of Boxing plans to start its inaugural 12-week season on November 19, 2010. The Americas Conference includes the Los Angeles Matadors, Memphis Force, Mexico City Guerreros, and Miami Gallos; the Asia Conference includes the Astana Arlans (Kazakhstan), Baku Fires (Azerbaijan), Beijing Dragons (China), and Incheon Red Wings (Korea); and the Europe Conference has the Istanbulls (Turkey), Milano Thunder (Italy), Moscow Kremlin Bears (Russia), and Paris United (France).

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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Central Hockey League Stories from November 15, 2010


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