NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas — Those who have followed the Central Hockey League since it was revived in 1992 remember the rise and fall of teams such as the San Antonio Iguanas, Dallas Freeze, El Paso Buzzards, Fort Worth Fire, Lubbock Cotton Kings, San Angelo Saints and the Border City Bandits. Disputes with the league, poor management, lack of attendance and other factors have caused over a dozen CHL teams to cease operations in the past 16 years, half of them in
Now, two more
The Austin Ice Bats announced that they are looking for a new venue and will not play at the Chaparral Ice Arena next season. Owner Randy Sanders, who also owns the Amarillo Gorillas, is trying to find new home for the Ice Bats in the
“There are several very interesting venues that are being explored but there is just not enough time to put together the resources to be able to play in 2008-09,” Sanders said.
The Corpus Christi Rayz have also announced that they would suspend operations and will not participate in the 2008-09 season. Owner Doug Frank has seen at least two prospective sales fall through since March.
“We had hoped that we could secure a buyer or new partner for the franchise, but as of this point, we have been unable to do so,” Frank said.
“We don’t want to lose a team anywhere, and to lose two in the same area is not an ideal situation,” the league’s Senior Vice-President of Operations Duane Lewis told the Corpus Christi Caller-Time’s Greg Rajan. “But we understand when owners can’t make it work for various reasons.”
Fans are hopeful for both teams to return to play but as history has shown, that is not always possible. When the league decided that the Lubbock Cotton Kings would need to suspend operations for the 2007-08 season after failing to reach an agreement with the City of
Off-season changes can sometimes bring very positive results. An excellent example is the Fort Worth Brahmas. The team suspended operations in May 2006 after failing to achieve a reasonable lease agreement with the City of
The organization re-emerged for the 2007-08 season as the Texas Brahmas, who now play at the newly renovated NYTEX Sports Centre in nearby
The Southeast Division may see new members this season in a possible realignment, which the league has indicated will be reviewed at the CHL’s Summer Conference in
“We’re looking at all scenarios here this week,” Duane Lewis told The Monitor’s Brian Sandalow. “We would like to get that figured out in the very near future in regards to realignment for the divisions or conferences. Our schedules are not based solely off alignment, but off of geographical rivalries.”
Looking to the near future, this summer the city of
Contact the author at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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