2010-2011 "Unofficial USHL Divisional Alignment"

With the United States Hockey League basically dragging their feet when it comes down to announceing the Divisional Alignment for the 2010-2011 season. A majority of reports and even a couple of the teams like the Des Moines Buccaneers have basically said that the Alignment will have a 3 division Format with the East & Central Division's having 5 teams, while the West will have 6 Teams.

Eventhough they are no teams in the Southwest USA, it's still importanat to follow the league as a growing number of players are getting chances to play in the USHL to eventually move on to the NCAA & The Professional Ranks in the future. They were several Texas Based Players that were chosen in the USHL Entry & Futures Draft.

Two of the most notables include G Christian Frey who was selected by the Des Moines Buccaneers and Michael Hill who played for the Topeka Roadrunners (NAHL) was selected in the 1st Round by the Waterloo Blackhawks. Also for the future, Cole Martin who currently plays for Team Illinois in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League was selected in the Futures Draft by the Lincoln Stars.

In the East, it will be the 2 Michigan Teams with the USNTDP & Muskegon Lumberjacks coming into the league as they will be joined by the Chicago Steel, Youngstown Phantoms and the Indiana Ice who were the 2009 USHL Clark Cup Champions.

The Central Division will intensive in the state of Iowa as 4 of the 5 Iowa teams are being bunched up as Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Des Moines and Waterloo will be bunched up along with the defending Champion Green Bay Gamblers in the Central Division.

Finally out West will have 6 teams as the 3 Nebraska Teams in Omaha, Lincoln and Tri-City will be joining the Sioux City Musketeers, Sioux Falls Stampede and the Fargo Force who have been the West Division Champions the last 2 years will be battaling out West.

Things like the Playoff Format and the schedule are still yet TBD. Look for those later in the summer with a 60 game schedule being intact.

My Playoff Format Idea: I would keep the 8 Team Format with an open ended Bracket as the teams would be ranked 1-8. The Division Champions would be ranked 1-3 with the other 5 teams being ranked 4-8. This is basically a 3 Round Playoff Format with the Playoff Series' being extended form Best-of-5 to a Best-of-7.

The USHL is getting to the point where they are getting a lot stronger from a high % of players going to the NCAA to more-and-more players getting noticed by the NHL. Like C.J. Ludwig who was invited to the Dallas Stars Prospects Camp as an undrafted Free Agent.

Here's the Division Alignment

East Division
Chicago Steel
Indiana Ice
Muskegon Lumberjacks
USNTDP
Youngstown Phantoms

Central Division
Cedar Rapids Roughriders
Des Moines Buccaneers
Dubuque Fighting Saints
Green Bay Gamblers
Waterloo Blackhawks

West Division
Fargo Force
Lincoln Stars
Omaha Lancers
Sioux City Musketeers
Sioux Falls Stampede
Tri-City Storm

NAHL officially announces the 2010-2011 Divisional Alignment

Like I reported here basically a month ago, the NAHL has officially announced the divisional alignment for the 2010-2011 season which will get underway in late September. With the expction of Port Huron who was just recently approved, the divisional alignment was pretty much correct.

The league will have 4 divisions with the Central, South and West each having 6 teams while the North has 8.

Central Division
Aberdeen Wings
Alexandria Blizzard
Austin Bruins
Bismarck Bobcats
Coulee Region Chill
Owatonna Express


North Division
Chicago Hitmen
Janesville Jets
Michigan Warriors
Motor City Metal Jackets
Port Huron (Team Name TBD)
St. Louis Bandits
Springfield Jr. Blues
Traverse City North Stars


South Division
Amarillo Bulls
Corpus Christi Icerays
New Mexico Mustangs
Texas Tornado
Topeka Roadrunners
Wichita Falls Wildcats


West Division
Alaska Avalanche
Dawson Creek Rage
Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Fresno Monsters
Kenai River Brown Bears
Wenatchee Wild


Here's the orginal post that I reported basically a month ago.
http://texasicehockeyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/06/ushl-nahl-divisional-alignements-for.html

Look for the Robertson Cup Playoff Format and the 2010-2011 Schedule Announcement to come in the next few weeks.

My Scenario's for Central Hockey League Alignment

With now 18 teams joining the Central Hockey League for next season with the announcement of the Evansville Icemen. I have already mentioned what a North & Southern Conference Alignments. I will show you my first alignment idea, but I will also show you would a possible 2nd alignment if they decide with 3 divisions with an East/Central/West idea as well.

As for my playoff format in both possible scenarios, I would drop the number of playoff teams from 10 to 8 as the Play In Round for the most part have proved to be useless since it was introduced back in 2008.

Scenario #1: North/South

For my first idea, my 2 9 Team Conferences would have a North/South with the 4 Incoming IHL Teams along with Colorado, Missouri, Rapid City, Wichita along with the expansion Evansville Icemen. So this would cover the states of Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

My Southern Conference would have the 5 Texas teams in Allen & North Richland Hills in the D/FW Area. Odessa which is out west along with Laredo & Rio Grande City which are along the Texas/Mexico Border. Joining them would be the Arizona Sundogs, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Tulsa Oilers. And joining them from the North would be the Mississippi Riverkings who have been Northern Conference Regulars since they moved from Memphis. In all, the Southern Conference would cover the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Lousiana, Arizona and Mississippi.

Playoff Format: I would keep the 2 Conferences with the North/South format with the #1 VS. #4 & #2 VS. #3 as the Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, then the Presidents Cup Championship.


My Northern Conference:
Bloomington Prairie Thunder
Colorado Eagles
Dayton Gems
Evansville Icemen
Ft. Wayne Komets
Missouri Mavericks
Rapid City Rush
Wichita Thunder
Quad City Mallards

Southern Conference
Allen Americans
Arizona Sundogs
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Laredo Bucks
Mississippi Riverkings
Odessa Jackalopes
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
Texas Brahmas
Tulsa Oilers


Scenario #2: East/Central/West

A 2nd possible scenario could be going to an East/Central/West Division Format with 3 divisions 6 Teams in each Division as the league is starting to spread out a lot more with the addition of the IHL Teams. Prior to the merger, it would be very hard for me to see this happening. But with it now, I could definitely see something like this happening.

My East Division would be a majority of the IHL Teams as states like Indiana, Illinois and Ohio are starting join the league. I would put Mississippi in the East as they are one of the Eastern most teams in the Central Hockey League right now of the existing teams.

For the Central, the 2 North Texas Teams in the D/FW Area (Allen Americans & Texas Brahmas) along with the Tulsa Oilers, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs would make up a very interesting battle in the Southwest as those 4 teams are only about a 4 hour drive from Dallas. Joining them would be the Wichita Thunder and Missouri Mavericks would make the northern half of the Central.

The West would have the 3 Mountain Time Zone Teams (Arizona, Colorado, Rapid City) would be joining the other 3 Texas Teams (Odessa, Rio Grande Valley, Laredo). This would be an interesting division with several preannual title cotenders with Colorado, Odessa plus the defending Champion Rapid City Rush. It could make up some interesting battles.

Playoff Format: I would still keep the 8 teams. But I would have it open ended as we have 8 teams with no conference or divisional formats. The 3 division Champions would be ranked 1-2-3 overall. All 3 2nd Place Teams would also advance to the playoffs as well as the top 2 3rd Place Teams would round out the Playoff Format. It would go Quarterfinals, Semifinals then the Presidents Cup Championship

East Division
Bloomington Prairie Thunder
Dayton Gems
Evansville Icemen
Ft. Wayne Komets
Mississippi Riverkings
Quad City Mallards

Central Division
Allen Americans
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Missouri Mavericks
Texas Brahmas
Tulsa Oilers
Wichita Thunder

West Division
Arizona Sundogs
Colorado Eagles
Laredo Bucks
Odessa Jackalopes
Rapid City Rush
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees


So take a look at the scenario's and which one do you think would fit the Central Hockey League better for the 2010-2011 Season?

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/tanman9

Amarillo NAHL Team to be called the Bulls!

After a contest and a search among Amarillo residents over the last couple of months. The team Owner and coaching staff lead by new coach Dennis Williams was on hand to announce the name of the team which will be called the Amarillo Bulls.

The colors will be red, yellow and blue that will start their first season in Mid-September and this should complete the full divisional alignment if the NAHL would ever make it official as the league will have 25 teams with 3 divisions of 6 and 1 of 7.

Also expect the Schedule to be coming out soon as the OHL & QMJHL as well as several of the Canadian Jr. A Leagues including the BCHL have done so.

Look for more info on things like the league schedule and possible tryouts and prospect camps as the off-season goes by as the team looks ahead to their first season in the NAHL.


Here's the current look at the NAHL Divisional Alignment.

North Division
Bismarck Bobcats
Aberdeen Wings
Alexandria Blizzard
Austin Bruins
Coulee Region Chill
Owatonna Express

East Division
Michigan Warriors
Motor City Metal Jackets
Traverse City North Stars
Chicago Hitmen
Janesville Jets
St. Louis Bandits
Springfield Jr. Blues


South Division
Topeka Roadrunners
Texas Tornado
Amarillo Bulls
New Mexico Mustangs
Corpus Christi Icerays
Wichita Falls Wildcats

West Division
Alaska Avalanche
Dawson Creek Revenge
Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Kenai River Brown Bears
Fresno Monsters
Wenatchee Wild


From the North American Hockey League Website: www.nahl.com

The Amarillo, Texas Team that will begin play in the North American Hockey League this fall has announced its name and the unveiling of its logo.

After the completion of the team's name the team contest, the team will be named the Amarillo Bulls.

"The number of entries for the "Name the Team" Contest was trendmous given the short time frame we had to put it together," said Gary Gelinas, executive VP of Consolidated Sports Owners of the Bulls. "The top three choices were popular among the voters and we're thrilled with the name, logo and colors."

"Bulls are a part of the makeup of Amarillo and the region, are strong and powerful animals, and represent the strength, aggression and meanness we hope our team will display."

The color scheme focused on Amarillo is that our part of the state of Texas. The primary color is scarlet red - a color affiliated with Bulls and one that represents a strong base. Navy Blue is the secondary color and represents the Texas' State Flag. The color represents the history and heritage of the name Amarillo, which means yellow in Spanish.

"We fell the logo is strong and powerful by creating a bull that's staring in the opponent and is in motion," Gelinas added. "We wanted a powerful look and we believe the name and logo will catch on with our merchandise sales and with the crowd as they chant, "Go Bulls Go"! in the Civic Center.

"We want to think our media partners for their support of the contests, Kris Miller for taking the lead for us locally," the Civic Center and all the fans who voted for their favorite name and had a say in naming the NAHL Team."

Keith Flynn, of Flynnagain Productions, who has produced many team and league logos, designed the Bulls logo.

Fore more info on the Amarillo Bulls Team, log on to www.amarillonahl.com

Central Hockey League announcing 17 teams for 2010-2011

The Central Hockey League just after the merger announcement with the Central Hockey League & the International Hockey League. It was made official that the league will have 17 teams playing in the 2010-2011 CHL Season which will get underway on October 15, 2010.

Now they're some details to work out between things like Conference Alignment, Playoff Format and the schedule that will be worked out and should be released sometime in July. All 13 returning CHL Teams from this past season will return with Corpus Christi & Amarillo leaving the CHL for the Junior A Tier 2 NAHL over the last few weeks.


The 13 teams will be the 5 Texas Teams in North Richland Hills, Allen, Odessa, Laredo & Rio Grande City. Also Arizona, Bossier-Shreveport, Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, Rapid City, Tulsa & Wichita are all returning to the new look Central Hockey League.


Joining them will be the 4 remaining IHL Teams will be the Quad City Mallards, Dayton Gems, Ft. Wayne Komets and Bloomington Prairie Thunder will be joining the league as well.


Last year, 7 teams were in the IHL as the Muskegon Lumberjacks have announced that they will be joining the United States Hockey League which is the nations best Junior League. Finally the other 2 teams have decided to fold as the Flint Generals and the Port Huron Icehawks will no longer exists.


Look for more details like the Conference Alignment, the league schedule and any changes to the playoff format to come out most likely in early July sometime. In the meantime, here's a look at the teams and where they are from and what I think the Conference's will look like if they keep the North & South set up.

Make it 18 Teams: The city of Evansville, Indiana was officially welcomed to the Central Hockey League back on the 22nd that the Evansville Icemen will begin play in the 2010-2011 season when the regular season begins on October 15. The Icemen will be owned by Ron Geary who officially finalized the purchase and transfer of the Muskegon Lumberjacks who officially left for the United States Hockey League (USHL) as the team will go from Minor League to Junior's.

"The chance to bring a storied team like Muskegon with its 50 year history pro hockey history to Evansville was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up," said Mr. Geary.

"We are very excited to welcome the Icemen into the IHL/CHL Collaboration," said Lewis. "Evansville is a great pro sports town with passionate fans and I know they will be a great fit in the league. We are thrilled to have Mr. Geary as a new owner and governor in our league as we know he will provide great insight and strenthen our already strong base of leadership."

With the addition of Evansville, this will make up 2 Conferences of 9. So with that being said, here's what I would consider.

I think the North would have all 5 of the incoming IHL Teams along with Colorado, Missouri, Rapid City & Wichita.

My Southern Conference would have the 5 Texas Teams along with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Tulsa Oilers, Arizona Sundogs and the Mississippi Riverkings.

This is what I would consider for the new setup with the IHL Teams coming into the league.

My Predictions for Conference Set up if it stays straight North & Southern Conference.

Northern Conference:
Bloomington Paririe Thunder
Colorado Eagles,
Dayton Gems
Evansville Icemen
Ft. Wayne Komets
Missouri Mavericks
Rapid City Rush
Wichita Thunder
Quad City Mallards

Southern Conference:

Allen Americans

Arizona Sundogs

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

Laredo Bucks

Mississippi Riverkings

Odessa Jackalopes

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

Texas Brahmas

Tulsa Oilers

Teams and cities


Allen Americans (Allen, Texas)

Arizona Sundogs (Prescott Valley, Arizona)

Bloomington Paririe Thunder (Bloomington, Illinois)

Bossier-Shreveport Mubdugs (Bossier City, Louisiana)

Colorado Eagles (Loveland, Colorado)

Dayton Gems (Dayton, Ohio)

Evansville Icemen (Evansville, Indiana)

Ft. Wayne Koments (Ft. Wayne, Indiana)

Laredo Bucks (Laredo, Texas)

Mississippi Riverkings (Southaven, Mississippi)

Missouri Mavericks (Independence, Missouri)

Odessa Jackalopes (Odessa, Texas)

Rapid City Rush (Rapid City, South Dakota)

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (Rio Grande City, Texas)

Texas Brahmas (North Richland Hills, Texas)

Tulsa Oilers (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

Wichita Thunder (Wichita, Kansas)

Quad City Mallards (Moliena, Illinois)

USHL & NAHL Divisional Alignements for 2010-2011

Their have been several reports over the last couple of weeks that both of the top 2 Junior Leagues in the United States, the United States Hockey League (USHL) & the North American Hockey League (NAHL) are close to coming out with their divisional alignment. This should be remembered when we start the season this fall.

I will provide these divisions again when they are confirmed to make sure that any changes will be reported and expected changes to the playoff format in both leagues.

United States Hockey League

The United States Hockey League (USHL) & the North American Hockey League (NAHL) have both had expansion and a little bit of moving around the last few months as the USHL will be adding two new teams in both Muskegon, Michigan and Dubuque, Iowa as the league will be going from 14 to 16 teams.

It's also all be confirmed in an email I sent to the league office that the league will go to 3 divisions as they will be divided into East, Central & West Divisions with 2 5 team divisions and 1 6 team division.

Right now, the league is currently discussing how to alter the playoff format to meet the new divisional alignment. I have faith in the league that they will not fall under the pressure of nearly every other Junior League In North America to extend the playoffs more then what they have as they seem to be the one league in North America that gets it right nearly every single time to keep the number of playoff teams low when the post season gets going in the spring next season.

According to the reports, the East & Central Divisions will have 5 teams while the West would have 6.

2010-2011 Projected USHL Divisional Alignment

East Division
USNTDP
Youngstown Phantoms
Muskegon Lumberjacks (Expansion)
Chicago Steel
Indiana Ice


Central Division
Cedar Rapids Roughriders
Waterloo Blackhawks
Des Moines Buccaneers
Dubuque Fighting Saints (Expansion)
Green Bay Gamblers (Defending USHL Champions)


West Division
Sioux Falls Stampede
Sioux City Musketeers
Lincoln Stars
Fargo Force
Tri-City Storm
Omaha Lancers


North American Hockey League

What a crazy few months it's been for the North American Hockey League. First 6 new teams are expected to start playing including 3 Southwest Based Teams. Be sure to write something down because there has been a lot of moving and shaking recently as we have 6 new teams and 4 that are moving to new cities.

All 3 newly created Southwest Teams will be replacing teams in the Central Hockey League over the last couple of years that. First in New Mexico, it's the New Mexico Mustangs as the NAHL returns to the Land of Enchantment for the first time since 2007 when the Santa Fe Roadrunners left the state in 2007.

2 new Texas teams are coming to Amarillo & Corpus Christi. The Amarillo team hasn't been named yet, but it came from the Amarillo Gorillas ceasing operations a few weeks ago and the Albert Lea Thunder who had nothing but problems because of their corrupt owner who was running a "Pay-to-Play" Scandal that came out back in November.

He was later forced to give up control and the league took it over for the rest of the season. As for the team name, they currently holding a contest for fans to name the team.

As for Corpus Christi, they are simply switching leagues as this was a big secret for several weeks before that team GM Pat Dunn announced that they were switching leagues after being in the Central Hockey League just before Memorial Day. The Corpus Christi Icerays will be keeping their name and logo.

As for the rest of the league, 3 new teams in Fresno, California called the Fresno Monsters, the Dawson Creek Rage in Dawson Creek B.C. and the Aberdeen Wings in South Dakota are all going to make their junior hockey debuts in 2010-2011. As for teams moving, the North Iowa Outlaws are now the Coulee Region Chill in Onalaska, Wisconsin and the Marquette Rangers are moving in-state to Flint to become the Michigan Warriors.

The league is reportly going to keep it's 4 division structure with the elimination of the Central Division and the creation of the East Division.

For fans in the Southwest, the biggest changes you will want to keep track of are the St. Louis Bandits & Springfield Jr. Blues who have been South Division Regulars in recent years are moving East.

Just like the USHL, I will report the Confirmed Divisions in case theirs any changes and look for a possible new playoff format as well.

North American Hockey League

North Division
Bismarck Bobcats (Defending NAHL Champions)
Aberdeen Wings (Expansion)
Alexandria Blizzard
Austin Bruins (Expansion)
Owatonna Express
Coulee Region Chill (Moved from the North Iowa Outlaws)

East Division
Michigan Warriors (Moved from the Marquette Rangers)
Motor City Metal Jackets
Traverse City North Stars
Chicago Hitmen (Expansion)
Janesville Jets
St. Louis Bandits
Springfield Jr. Blues

South Divisions
Topeka Roadrunners
Texas Tornado
Amarillo (Team name TBD) (Moved from the Albert Lea Thunder)
New Mexico Mustangs (Expansion)
Wichita Falls Wildcats
Corpus Christi Icerays (Moved from the Central Hockey League & the Alpena Ice Diggers)

West Division
Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Alaska Avalanche
Kenai River Brown Bears
Dawson Creek Rage (Expansion)
Wenatchee Wild
Fresno Monsters (Expansion)