Central Hockey League Summer Conference concludes

Brahmas come away with 0 awards, still possess the Ray Miron's Championship Cup

Well, another CHL summer conference is over and once again, no mention of the Texas Brahmas, who just happen to be the league champions.

Snubbed again at the awards banquet? Maybe so. I expect the league will never give an award to Mike Barack. Probably asks too many questions the league doesn't want to hear. I don't think they like him. One can make the argument that at least the Trazzera's or Fonger deserved an award. But hey, and I love to keep saying this - who has the Cup?

So here's who won the CHLoe (heh heh) Awards:

Ralph Backstrom Soul of Service Award – which went to Cassidy Lange, son of the Corpus Christi IceRays majority owner, Tim Lange. No problem here. Any fan who can get their daddy to buy a team that would otherwise go dark obviously deserves this award. Lange's a good kid though...good for him.

CHL Game Operations Franchise of the Year – which went to Mississippi RiverKings. Don't know who works game operations for the 'Kings or what they do to entertain the fans outside of what they show on Nifty-TV. I'm sure the best team won?

CHL Merchandising Franchise of the Year – which went to the Rapid City Rush. What? Did they sell a lot of those sweaters to new fans? A couple of Rush players sold theirs on eBay after the season ended - did that help?

CHL Community Relations Franchise of the Year – which went Odessa Jackalopes. The Odessa Sheriff's Department will take you down if you cheer too loud or complain about their drunken fans abusing your players. I guess the owners do a lot for the community, though.

CHL Broadcaster of the Year – which went to Jim Byers of the Oklahoma City Blazers. Who? Seriously, who? My vote would have gone to Brian Benway - does a great job for the Bucks. Oh yeah, we don't have a broadcaster. We almost had Cody Eastwood, but he's the new voice of the Amarillo Gorillas. Keep that one on the "to-do" list, Mike!

CHL Communications Executive of the Year – which went to Rich Bocchini of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. OK, Rich is a good guy. Besides, we don't have a communications exec.

CHL Corporate Partnership Executive of the Year – which went to Gavin Riches of the Colorado Eagles. Can't argue this one. The Eagles are the corporate partnership kings.

CHL Group Sales Franchise of the Year – which went to the Wichita Thunder. Are they really selling to that many groups in Wichita, Kansas? Emphasis on the word "selling". They were number two in attendance last season.

CHL Ticketing Executive of the Year – Justin Lund, Tulsa Oilers. Well, Jeff Lund got an award last year. The Oilers were third in attendance last season. Good job, Justin.

CHL Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year – which went to Colorado Eagles. Can't argue this. The Eagles are booked solid through the next millennium, aren't they?

CHL Most Improved Franchise which goes to the Odessa Jackalopes. Wow, they must have really sucked last year. I guess going dark for a season and winning the Cup two seasons later doesn't qualify you. Maybe if the Brahmas repeat next season, they'll have to give us this one (don't count on it).

CHL Leadership Award – which goes to Scott Mueller. A Rapid City Rush owner. I guess the Allen Americans and the Independence what's their name's can look forward to some awards after their inaugural season, too.

CHL Executive of the Year – which went to Ray Delia of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Well, he did manage to keep his job when all others around him were shown the door.

CHL Franchise of the Year – which went to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. I like the Killer Bees, I really do. Congratulations!

I guess magician and motivational speaker David Hira was unable to make the Brahmas disappear. I wonder if Barack and Fonger wowed the crowd with their rendition of Queen's "We are the Champions" at the Global Idol event? We're not bitter though. We did get the "Black Helicopter Award" from Greg Rajan.

Congratulations to the Texas Brahmas, who come away with nothing more than bragging rights this year. One more time - who has the Cup?

Stay tuned - more transpired at these meetings than the CHLoe awards. Among the topics under discussion were possible realignment of the league’s divisions to accommodate the two new teams coming into the league as well as a potential expansion draft to provide players for the new teams. It doesn't appear that these issues were resolved at the meetings. Then there's the rumor that the vet rule is going to change. We should hear more soon.

There's also word that the New Mexico Scorpions may still go dark next season. According to the Albuquerque Journal's James Yodice, Dave Ellett, the team's co-owner told the journal that the team needs to be sold by June 15th or they may go dormant.

"The league is pressuring me, because the schedule has to be done. And June 15 is the date that has been bantered about."

As of this morning, there's no further word on the Mudbugs or the Rocky Mountain Rage. I expect the next two weeks will be very interesting...