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NAHL North American Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
April 11, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)


BASEBALL

Frontier League: The owner of the Kalamazoo Kings in the Frontier League has announced the team will not play in the 2011 season. The league has given the Kings a one-year release and an option to return in 2012. The Rockford Riverhawks, which were part of the 2010 Northern League and supposed to be part of the new North American League for 2011, have come under new ownership and have switched to the Frontier League for 2011. The Riverhawks will take over Kalamazoo's schedule and have been given rights to Kalamazoo's roster. The Riverhawks were part of the Frontier League from 2002 to 2009 before moving to the Northern League in 2010.

North American League: The new NAL has announced its 2011 season schedule that will include five teams-the Calgary Vipers, Chico Outlaws, Edmonton Capitals, Lake County Fielders, and Maui Na Koa Ikaika-in a North Division and five teams-the Edinburg Roadrunners, McAllen Thunder, Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, San Angelo Colts, and Yuma Scorpions-in a South Division. The new McAllen Thunder replaces the Rockford Riverhawks, which recently announced a move to the Frontier League for 2011. The league's proposed new Henderson (NV) Roadrunners team has postponed its inaugural season until 2012 because upgrades to its home ballpark would not be completed in time for the 2011 season.

Pecos League: The Abilene BlueSox team, which was at one time part of the proposed Southwestern States League, will start play in 2012 as part of the new Pecos League. Abilene will serve as a neutral site for two Pecos League series in 2011. The league's Carlsbad (NM) Bats team will be a travel team in the 2011 season and will be operated by the developmental New York State League, which is also operating a travel team in the 2011 Can-Am League.

Texas Collegiate Baseball League: The Weimar-based Texas Tomcats have suspended operations for the 2011 TCBL season. The TCBL will have six teams in 2011-the Alexandria (LA) Aces, Brazos Valley Bombers, Coppell Copperheads, East Texas Pump Jacks, Victoria Generals, and the new Acadiana Cane Cutters based in Lafayette (LA).

BASKETBALL

Continental Basketball League: The CBL now has a team called the Gainesville (FL) Galaxy listed as a possible 2011 team.

World Basketball Association Exposure League: The WBA has updated its list of 2011teams that now includes new teams called the Columbus (GA) Stars, Easley (SC) Heat, Rome (GA) Gladiators, and Tennessee Tornadoes (Fayetteville). The teams returning from last season include the Gwinnett Magic, Jacksonville Bluewaves, Marietta Storm, and the Conyers (GA) Court Kings, which were the Decatur (GA) Court Kings last season. The WBA had a team called the Rome Gladiators that played four seasons (2004-07) in the league and a team called the Rome Rage in the 2009 season.

National Basketball Association: The new home of the New Jersey Nets in Brooklyn (NY) is set to open in time for the 2012-13 NBA season. The team had announced plans to take the Brooklyn Nets name when it moves into its new arena.

FOOTBALL

Southern Indoor Football League: The SIFL's Houston Stallions team, which had been without a home arena, will now play three of its 2011 home games in Katy (TX).

Lingerie Football League: The women's indoor LFL has announced that its new Minneapolis-St. Paul franchise will be called the Minnesota Valkyrie when it starts play in the 2011-12 season. The team will be part of the league's Western Conference. The LFL will reportedly add an expansion team based in Canada as its sixth team in the 2011 Eastern Conference.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The IIFA now has the Conroe (TX) Jaguars listed as a 2012 team, along with the San Antonio Lobos. This leaves the league with seven participating teams in the 2011 season: the Dallas Americans, East Texas Wranglers (Longview), North Texas Broncos (Allen), North Texas Crunch (North Richland Hills), Southlake (TX) Pirates, Texas Krush (Frisco), and Texas Pirates (Houston).

Independent Women's Football League: The IWFL has 28 teams in 8 regional divisions for its recently started 2011 season. The Atlanta Xplosion has moved to Jonesboro (GA) and the team has been renamed the Atlanta Ravens. The IWFL also has five teams listed as part of a Six-Man division.

Women's Football Alliance: The WFA has started its third season in 2011 and has 59 teams listed in 18 regional divisions. The league recently announced new teams called the Tulsa (OK) Eagles and the Louisiana Gators, based in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: The Tier II Junior-A NAHL has three new teams listed for the 2011-12 season-the Odessa (TX) Jackalopes, Minotauros (Minot, ND), and the Kalamazoo Junior K-Wings. A previous Kalamazoo-based team called the Western Michigan Wolves joined the NAHL for the 1988-89 season and played the next six season (1989-94) in the league as the Kalamazoo Junior K-Wings. The president of the Kalamazoo Wings professional team in the ECHL will be involved in operating the NAHL team. The NAHL was apparently close to approving another new team called the Pikes Peak Miners, based in Colorado Springs, but this application was then rejected.

Western Hockey League: The Chilliwack (British Columbia) Bruins of the major-junior WHL are reportedly in the process of being sold to the owner of the Victoria (British Columbia) Salmon Kings of the ECHL. The WHL team could displace the ECHL team for the 2011-12 season. The Bruins started as a WHL expansion team in the 2006-07 season. Victoria tried to obtain a WHL team for its new arena when it was built in 2003, but settled for an ECHL team that started play for the 2004-05 season.

Central Hockey League: The CHL's Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs team is considering a move to the Southern Professional Hockey League next season. The Laredo Bucks franchise has not yet committed to the CHL for next season and could also move to the SPHL.

Metropolitan Junior Hockey League: The Metro Fighting Moose, which played in the Junior-B level Continental Hockey Association in 2010-11, has announced plans to move to the Junior-B Met League for next season. The team will be an affiliated of the New York Bobcats in the Tier III Junior-A Atlantic Junior Hockey League.

SOCCER

Southern Premier Soccer League: The SPSL has announced the schedule for its 2011 Summer Cup season that will run from late April to late August. Four of the summer teams-the Tulsa Lobos FC, Regals FC, Corpus Christi Fuel, and Club America Academy-were part of the league's inaugural 2010-11 winter season. Three other new teams called the Rio Grande Valley Ocelots (Brownsville, TX), Houston Hurricane, and Fort Worth will also be part of the Summer Cup. After the Summer Cup schedule, the SPSL plans to concentrate on operating as a fall-winter league with teams playing a 40-game season in 2011-12.

Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS has started its third season with six teams-the Atlanta Beat, Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence, Sky Blue FC (New Jersey), the expansion team called the Western New York Flash, and the majicJack team, which was last season's Washington (DC) Freedom team that moved to Boca Raton (FL) under new ownership. Of the seven teams that finished the 2010 season, the Chicago Red Stars and the FC Gold Pride (San Jose area) did not return for 2011.

North American Soccer League: The NASL has started its inaugural 2011 season with eight teams-the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks (Cary, NC), Fort Lauderdale Strikers, FC Edmonton, Montreal Impact, FC Tampa Bay, NSC Minnesota Stars, and the Puerto Rico Islanders. Atlanta and Edmonton are new for the 2011 season. Carolina came under new ownership, but decided to keep the same name. The 2010 Miami FC Blues changed its name to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for 2011. The Puerto Rico Islanders had been affiliated with the United Soccer Leagues, but switched to the NASL for 2011.

Professional Arena Soccer League: The owner of a new Topeka-based indoor soccer team called the Kansas Magic is exploring the possibility of becoming a franchise in the PASL-Pro league for next season. The Magic is scheduled to play an exhibition game against the league's Illinois Piasa team in Topeka on April 30, 2011. As of now, there are no long-term commitments beyond this exhibition game.

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 2010-11 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-the-leagueology-almanac-2010-11/15228513. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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