Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on June 21, 2021 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
BASEBALL
American Association: A part of a promotion, the Milwaukee Milkmen of the independent American Association played a game this weekend with the Milwaukee Sweet Teats as its temporary nickname.
Double-A South League: As part of a Korean Heritage Night promotion on July 16, 2021, the Montgomery Biscuits will be renamed the Montgomery Kimchi for one game.
Southern Shores Professional League: The independent developmental SSPL plans to play its inaugural professional season with four teams playing a 40-game schedule from July 5 to August 15, 2021. Teams will be based in four hub cities in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The league will operate a taxi squad to replace injured players or those called up to other independent or affiliated teams. The SSPL also conducts month-long spring, summer and fall showcase leagues and is planning a collegiate league.
Northwoods League: The summer-collegiate Northwoods League started its 2021 season late last month with 22 teams aligned in 4 regional divisions. Since the league's only Canadian team called the Thunder Bay Border Cats (Ontario) was unable to play this season due to travel restrictions from the coronavirus (COVID-19), the league formed a new team called the Minnesota Mud Puppies, which will be based in the Twin Cities and play the 36-game road schedule that was assigned to the Border Cats. The Northwoods League held regional ¬Åpods ¬Â for games in its 2020 season, but not all teams participated.
Triple-A East League: The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Allentown, PA) of the Triple-A East League will play one game next month as the Lehigh Valley Jimmies as part of a Salute to Philadelphia Day. Jimmies won out over ¬ÅSprinkles ¬Â, the other local name for candies used as an ice cream topping.
West Coast League: After cancelling its 2020 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the summer-collegiate WCL started its 2021 season earlier this month with only the ten teams based in the United States participating in the season. The league's five Canadians teams are sitting out the 2021 season due to international travel restrictions.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced a team called the Clarksville (TN) Phoenix will be added to a new Midwest Region for the 2021-22 season.
BIG3 League: The 3-on-3 touring professional BIG3 League held its player draft this week to stock its 12 teams that will participate in the 2021 season, which will start on July 10 and feature all games played in either New Orleans or Las Vegas. The BIG3 League cancelled its 2020 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The league's version of 3-on-3 basketball is known as Fireball.
Women's Basketball Development Association: After sitting out the 2020 spring-summer season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the semi-pro WBDA has posted the 2021 schedule that will run from July 10 to September 18, 2021. The league currently lists a 14-team Eastern Conference and 14-team Western Conference, along with one team each in a Pacific Conference (Honolulu), Canada Conference (Toronto) and Mexico Conference (San Luis Potosi).
The Basketball League: The minor professional TBL announced two more teams called the Tallahassee Southern Kings and Atlantic City (NJ) Gambits will be added for the 2022 season. The league is playing with 29 teams during its current 2021 season and plans to add 16 teams to grow to 45 teams in 2022.
FOOTBALL
Indoor Football League: The IFL announced it has terminated the membership of the Louisville Xtreme for failing to maintain league obligations and the team has been removed from the remainder of the 2021 schedule. The Xtreme was a 2021 IFL expansion team and had played five games with an 0-5 record. The team stated it has no intention of folding and plans to return in 2022.
Canadian Football League: The nine-team CFL, which cancelled its entire 2020 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, announced it will play a 2021 season from August 5 through November 20. Each team will play a 14-game schedule instead of the traditional 20-game schedule. It is uncertain if fans will be allowed in all CFL venues.
Elite Indoor Football: The semi-pro EIF will be finishing up its 2021 season schedule over the next two weeks with six participating teams called the Southern Steam, Reading Raptors, Florida Generals, Florida Rampage, Florida Bulldogs and Palm Beach Phantoms.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: The new Abbotsford (British Columbia) AHL team that will start play in the 2021-22 season as the affiliate of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks announced ten potential team names for fans to select and rank to be the top three choices. The nickname options include Aces, Aeros, Avengers, Aviators, Canucks, Falcons, Golden Eagles, Millionaires, Pilots and Sockeyes. The team is also asking fans to pick either Abbotsford or Fraser Valley in its name for the team's location.
ECHL: The ECHL's new Coralville-based Iowa Heartlanders expansion team has entered into a multi-year affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Des Moines-based Iowa Wild starting with the 2021-22 season. In the 2021-22 ECHL alignment, the Iowa Heartlanders have been added to the Western Conference Central Division and the expansion Trois-Rivieres Lions (Quebec) have been added to the Eastern Conference North Division.
Federal Prospects Hockey League: The FPHL recently held a dispersal draft for the Danville (IL) Dashers team, which lost its lease and was replaced in the city by the Vermilion County Bobcats of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Danville Dashers joined the FPHL for the 2011-12 season. The FPHL operated with only four teams last season as Danville and three other FPHL teams sat out due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The league had eight teams participating in the 2021-22 draft-the three other 2020-21 dormant teams, the four teams from last season, plus the Binghamton (NY) Black Bears expansion team. Nothing has been heard about the Motor City Rockers (Fraser, MI) team, which was supposed to be a 2020-21 expansion team but also decided to go dormant for last season.
National Women's Hockey League: The NWHL announced its player draft for the 2021-22 season will be held on June 29, 2021 for the same six teams that participated in the 2020-21 season. The league plans to add a seventh team in Montreal for the 2022-23 season.
Western Hockey League: The 22-team major-junior WHL announced its 2021-22 season schedule will feature all teams playing a 68-game schedule and a return to the normal divisional alignment. The Eastern Conference teams consisting of the six-team Central Division and the six-team East Division will not play an interlocking schedule with the Western Conference teams that are aligned in a five-team U.S. (United States) Division and a five-team B.C (British Columbia) Division.
SOCCER
National Independent Soccer Association: The Division-III professional NISA announced the schedule for its 2021 Fall Season will run from August 6 through November 20 and feature ten teams in a single-table format with each team playing nine home and nine away games. The league's current 2021 Spring Season runs through June 26, 2021 and features nine teams, which will also be part of the Fall Season and joined by the new Chicago House AC expansion team.
National Women's Soccer League: A group called ¬ÅNWSL 2 Austin ¬Â is trying to stir up interest for an Austin-based NWSL franchise. The ownership of the men's Major League Soccer team called Austin FC, which is a 2021 expansion team that started its inaugural season in a new soccer-specific stadium, previously stated it was considering the addition of a women's team in the NWSL.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: The professional NLL announced the player draft to stock the Fort Worth-based Panther City Lacrosse Club expansion team will be held on June 29, 2021. The team will start play in the 2021-22 season and it will select players from the league's 13 other teams.
Premier Lacrosse League: The organizers of the eight-team tour-based outdoor PLL stated the league could become a city-based league in the future.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report, which has been tracking changes in the sports world's leagues, teams and nicknames since April 2007.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
