CHL announces new conference alignment

Brahmas remain in the South

At long last, the Central Hockey League announced the conference alignment for the upcoming 2010-11 season today. They also announced the dates for the home openers for the 18 teams participating in the league this year.

The new alignment will split the teams into two conferences of nine teams as follows:

North

Bloomington PrairieThunder
Colorado Eagles
Dayton Gems
Evansville IceMen
Fort Wayne Komets
Missouri Mavericks
Quad City Mallards
Rapid City Rush
Wichita Thunder

South

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

In the new future, the two conferences will be given names reflective of the histories of both the CHL and IHL and new trophies will be introduced for the conference champions, the regular season champions and the league champions.

Opening night for the 19th CHL season will be Friday, October 15th when 12 teams will take the ice marking six home opening games. Opening night hosts will be the Allen Americans, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Colorado Eagles, Missouri Mavericks, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Tulsa Oilers.

The Brahmas will have their home opener on Friday, October 22nd, indicating they will begin the season on the road. The length and dates of the 2010-11 regular season along with the league’s playoff format will be announced later this week.

The addition of the Mudbugs, the RiverKings as well as the Oilers to the South will create a bigger challenge for the Brahmas while Rio, Arizona and even Laredo will have a considerable battle on their hands for a playoff spot.

The North should be dominated by the Eagles, Rush and the Komets. I'm interested to see how the Komets will fare now that they won't be in their own made up little world battling the same teams over and over.

I'll have more once the schedule is released in a couple of days.