TEMPE, Ariz. – The Central Hockey League’s 16th annual Summer Conference concluded on Saturday night with the league’s awards banquet honoring the top front office executives and team achievements from the 2010-11 season. 
The team recognized as the CHL Franchise of the Year was the Missouri Mavericks, playing in their second season as a franchise. On the ice, the Mavs went 37-23-6 (80 points) finishing fourth in the Turner Conference and off the ice, the team finished second in the CHL averaging 5,406 fans per game and was among the top teams in ticket, corporate and merchandise sales. Missouri led the way capturing six awards. Along with winning the top franchise honor, the Mavs were named the CHL’s Group Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year, Merchandising Franchise of the Year, New Media Franchise of the Year and individually, Ben Gaul was named the Ticketing Executive of the Year and Patrick Armstrong was named the Communications Executive of the Year. The top individual award, the Brad Treliving CHL Executive of the Year, was presented to Rapid City Rush General Manager Tim Hill. The Rush also won the award for the Corporate Partnership Franchise of the Year. Other award winners include veteran broadcaster and media relations worker Steve McCall (Tulsa Oilers) who was given the Soul of Service Award for his outstanding customer service and Travis Huntington (Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs) who was named the Broadcaster of the Year for the second consecutive season. Texas Brahmas owner Stuart Fraser was presented the CHL Leadership Award, accepted by Brahmas General Manager Mike Barack. Fraser has been the owner of the Brahmas for 14 seasons and continues to be a positive leader and influence in the CHL. The league’s Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year was presented to the Fort Wayne Komets who led the league in attendance, averaging 7,415 fans. The Game Operations Franchise of the Year went to the Wichita Thunder and the team recognized for their outstanding community achievement was the Dayton Gems who were named the Community Relations Franchise of the Year. The 2010-11 Central Hockey League Rick Kozuback Award, named for the former President of the Western Professional Hockey League and current President/CEO of Global Entertainment Corporation (the CHL’s parent company), was presented to Jeff Christian, who finished the 2010-11 season with the Evansville IceMen. The award is ‘presented annually to the Central Hockey League owner, front office staff member, coach or player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and commitment to the game, sport and business of hockey.’ Christian and his family have fought a year-long battle against cancer, diagnosed in his young daughter (nine-year-old Ryan) and on the ice, Jeff has been an ambassador for the game for more than 20 season. Christian was joined by his family, wife Dorie and Ryan, in accepting the award. The entire list of award winners is below: Rick Kozuback Award – Jeff Christian, Evansville IceMen Ralph Backstrom Soul of Service Award – Steve McCall, Tulsa Oilers CHL Game Operations Franchise of the Year – Wichita Thunder CHL Merchandising Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Community Relations Franchise of the Year – Dayton Gems CHL New Media Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Broadcaster of the Year – Travis Huntington, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs CHL Communications Executive of the Year – Patrick Armstrong, Missouri Mavericks CHL Corporate Partnership Team of the Year – Rapid City Rush CHL Group Sales Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Ticketing Executive of the Year – Ben Gaul, Missouri Mavericks CHL Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year – Fort Wayne Komets CHL Leadership Award – Stuart Fraser, Texas Brahmas Brad Treliving CHL Executive of the Year – Tim Hill, Rapid City Rush CHL Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks Contact comments@prohockeynews.com
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