History
C.H.L. History 1963-1984
I've had trouble trying to put the History of the "old" C.H.L. together. There are many opinions on how the league was effected throughout the years, i.e. new leagues forming, parent clubs changing, teams folding, etc. Following is what came out of the C.H.L. media guides and team programs. If you have any other information on why teams folded at the local level, please let me know.
Overview
The Central Hockey League had a 21 year history, playing in 25 cities in 17 different states. By the C.H.L.'s second year, all six National Hockey League teams were represented. Over the 21 years, the league was in a constant state of change. Not one year to the next would the teams be the same as the year before. The league would see a low of four teams during the 1972/73 season forcing the league to play an interlocking schedule with the "old" Western Hockey League. The C.H.L. saw its highest amount of ten teams during the 1979/80 season. Included in these ten teams was the U.S. Olympic Team who played 18 games in the C.H.L. that season. The C.H.L. ceased operations after the 1983/84 season.
The Beginning
The Central Hockey League was formed to provide a developmental league for young hockey players. Most of the young hockey players just needed more playing experience before they would have a full time career in the National Hockey League. These young players would find more skating time and better coaching to improve the playing skills needed to move up to the National Hockey League. The two major men behind the birth of the Central Hockey League were Jack Adams and Tommy Ivan. Jack Adams was both Coach and General Manager in the Detroit Red Wings organization for 35 years. Tommy Ivan was General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks at the time the C.H.L. was formed. With the final plan of operations for the Central Hockey League in place, Jack Adams was selected to serve as the first President of the new league.
The First Season 1963/1964
The cities that made up the first season in the C.H.L. were Minneapolis, St. Paul, Omaha, St. Louis, Cincinnati / Indianapolis. The Indianapolis franchise was moved to Cincinnati three weeks into the season due to a fire during an ice show that destroyed the arena. Five of the six N.H.L. teams were parent clubs in the C.H.L. Toronto was the only one that was not represented. During the leagues first year Alain Caron, of the St. Louis Braves, scored 77 goals and tallied 125 points. Caron set two scoring marks that were never broken over the 21 years of the C.H.L.. The Omaha Knights won the first Adams Cup.
1964/1965
In 1964/65 the league increased to six teams. The newest member was the Tulsa Ice Oilers. The Tulsa parent team was the Toronto Maple Leafs. Six N.H.L. teams were now reresented as parent clubs in the C.H.L.. In addition, the Cincinnati franchise was moved to Memphis. The St. Paul Rangers won the Adams Cup that year.
1965/1966
In the 1965/66 season two franchises shifted cities. Omaha moved its operation to Houston, while Minneapolis moved its operation to Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City Blazers made the move worth it, winning their first Adams Cup championship.
1966/1967
The 1966/67 season had only one franchise shift. The Minneapolis / St. Paul franchise was relocated to Omaha, after Omaha's one year absence in the league. The Oklahoma City Blazers would successfully defend the Adams Cup. The Blazers became the first C.H.L. team to win the Adams Cup in consecutive seasons.
1967/1968
The 1967/68 season included two franchise shifts and two new cities. This brought up the total number of teams in the league to eight. The St. Louis franchise was moved to Dallas, due to St. Louis being one of the new six expansion teams in the N.H.L.. The Memphis club relocated to Ft. Worth. Both Kansas City and Memphis were granted expansion franchises in the C.H.L.. The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars were the two newest parent teams in the C.H.L. The Tulsa Ice Oilers won their first Adams Cup championship that year.
1968/1969
The 1968/69 season began on a sad note. The Central Hockey League's President and founder Jack Adams passed away from a heart attack on May 2, 1968. Emory D. Jones was named Interim President until August 26, 1968 when Joseph C. Kane was named as league President. Amarillo entered the league as the ninth and newest member. Amarillo's parent club was the Pittsburgh Penguins bringing the total of N.H.L. parent clubs in the C.H.L. to nine. The Dallas Blackhawks won their first of four Adams Cups that year.
1969/1970
With the begining of the 1969/70 season, League President Joseph C. Kane resigned after one season. He was replaced by Emory D. Jones on July 1, 1969. Emory D. Jones was the leagues third President. Two teams, Amarillo and Houston suspended operations bringing the league down to seven teams. Memphis also shifted its franchise to Waterloo, Iowa. The Omaha Knights won their second Adams Cup championship.
1970/1971
Amarillo rejoined the league but the Iowa Stars suspended operation. This kept the leagues total at seven teams. The Omaha Knights went on to defend the Adams Cup championship. The Omaha Knights became the first team to capture three league championships and only the second team to win back to back titles.
1971/1972
The league returned to a six team operation for the 1971/72 season due to Amarillo leaving for the second time. The Dallas Blackhawks dominated the league on their way to a second Adams Cup Championship.
1972/1973
The 1972/73 season was a low point in the C.H.L.. Both Kansas City and Oklahoma City ceased operations bringing the league to an all time low of four teams. The C.H.L. was forced to find another league to interlock their schedule with. That league was the Western Hockey League. Cities that made up the W.H.L. were Seattle, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, and Portland. The interlocking play counted in the regular season standings. But the playoffs in each league were not run on an interlocking basis. The Omaha Knights went on to capture their forth Adams Cup championship. Omaha's parent team this year was the Atlanta Flames, one of the N.H.L's newest expansion teams.
1973/1974
The C.H.L. returned to the six team level for the 1973/74 season. Oklahoma City rejoined the league while Alburquerque became the newest member. Two new parent clubs became part of the league, the New York Islanders for Fort Worth and Kansas City Scouts for Alburquerque. Tulsa would be independent that year with no parent club to supply players. The Dallas Blackhawks went on to win the Adams Cup championship, their third overall.
1974/1975
Before the start of the 1974/75 season, Emory Jones retired as League President. He was replaced by Max McNab who became the leagues fourth President. Alburquerque ceased operations but three new franchises would join the league. Denver, Salt Lake City, and Seattle were forced to find another league to play in due to the Western Hockey League folding. With the addition of these three teams, the league increased to eight teams. The Salt Lake City Golden Eagles made their debut in the C.H.L. winning their first Adams Cup championship.
1975/1976
The 1975/76 season saw Seattle and Denver leave the league which reduced the teams in the C.H.L. to six. President Max McNab resigned midway in the season to accept the position as GM of the Washington Capitals. This left the league without a President for the balance of the season. The Tulsa Ice Oilers went on that season to win their second Adams Cup championship.
1976/1977
In August of 1976 the C.H.L. elected Ray Miron as the fifth President of the league. Ray Miron resigned as league President three weeks later to take the GM postion for the newly formed Colorado Rockies of the N.H.L.. In late August, N.R. (Bud) Poile was elected as the leagues sixth President. Kansas City rejoined the league after a four year absence, two years were spent as the N.H.L.'s Kansas City Scouts. With the Scouts departure to Denver, the St. Louis Blues reactivated their C.H.L. farm club in Kansas City. The Kansas City Blues made their return a successful one, they won the regular season title and then went on to win their first and only Adams Cup championship.
1977/78
In the 1977/78 season Oklahoma City suspended operations. Phoenix joined the league keeping the C.H.L. at the six team level. Following two unsuccessful months in Phoenix, the local owners removed their support for the team forcing the league to cease operations on Dec. 12th 1979. This was the first time in fifteen years that a team folded during the season. The league continued the season with five teams. C.H.L. history was also made when Doug Palazzari, Center for the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles, became the first player in the C.H.L. to win all three major scoring titles. Palazzari became only the fourth player in fifteen years to surpass the 100 point mark in a season. Palazzari also was the first American born player to win the Tommy Ivan Trophy, symbolic of the league's Most Valuable Player. The Fort Worth Texans won the regular season title and their first and only Adams Cup championship.
1978/1979
The 1978/79 season saw the league back at the six team level with the Oklahoma City franchise rejoining following a one year absence. The Salt Lake City Golden Eagles set a new league record with 47 wins in a season. But that was not enough to stop the red hot Dallas Blackhawks. Dallas closed their regular season winning 16 of their final 18 games. Dallas continued this pace in the playoffs, winning 8 of 9 playoffs games. Dallas went on to win their forth Adams Cup championship.
1979/1980
The 1979/80 season saw the merger of the W.H.A. and the N.H.L.. This benifited the C.H.L. with four of the former W.H.A. cities joining the league. Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Birmingham, and Houston joined the league as Kansas City suspended operations. Bringing the league's team total to nine, the largest number of teams in the past 11 years. But the Cincinnati franchise did not last long, folding in the first week in December. Along with the new franchises, another addition to the C.H.L. was a series of 18 home and home games with the United States Olympic Team. The US Olympic Team played well against the C.H.L. teams only losing 3 games. The only team to beat the US Olympic squad twice was the Fort Worth Texans. The US Olympic Team was the same team that went on to win the Gold Medal in Lake Placid later that year. Salt Lake went on to win the regular season title again breaking their own record, of 47 wins, with 49 wins. For the second time in three years, Doug Palazzari won the Tommy Ivan Trophy as well as the three major scoring titles. Palazarri was the only player to claim such a feat in the leagues 17 year history. The Salt Lake City Golden Eagles won their second Adams Cup championship.
1980/1981
The 1980/81 season Wichita joined the league. This kept the league at the nine team level. This level would last until January 8, 1981 when Houston suspended its operations. Then on Febuary 24, 1981, Birmingham ceased operations bringing the league back down to seven teams. The Dallas Blackhawks set a C.H.L. record of 56 wins, a record that was never broken. But this was not enough to stop the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles, the defending Adams Cup champs, from winning back to back championships. This was Salt Lake's third Adams Cup Championship.
1981/1982
The 1981/82 season saw Cincinnati return to the league after a one year absence. Nashville also joined the league. With these two teams joining the league, it brought the level back up to nine teams.
This was the first time in 13 years that the C.H.L. finished the season with nine teams. The Indianapolis Checkers won their first Adams Cup Championship.
1982/1983
The 1982/83 season was not a good year for the C.H.L.. Cincinnati, Nashville, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City all suspended operations. Two cities did return to the league, Birmingham and Colorado (Denver). The league was now down to six teams. The Indianapolis Checkers went on to repeat as Adams Cup Champions.
The Last Season 1983/1984
The 1983/84 season welcomed its newest and last city, Montana (Billings),
to join the C.H.L.. Wichita and Birmingham both ceased operations in the league. This brought the league down to five teams. The United States Olympic Team and the Canadian Olympic Team both played ten games in the league that year. Tulsa ceased operations on Febuary 16, 1984, but the C.H.L. took over the operations of the team. The C.H.L. Oilers played the final six weeks of the season and playoffs as a road team. Scott MacLeod, of the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles, set a league record that year with 75 assists. On April 27, 1984, The C.H.L. Oilers (Tulsa) went on to win their third Adams Cup Championship. This was the last game ever played in the "old" C.H.L.
The End
The C.H.L. as a league ceased operations on May 21, 1984. Salt Lake City and Indianapolis went on to join the I.H.L., while Montana and Colorado ceased operations.
Following are some of my thoughts on the league. Remember these are only my opinions, yours may be different. If you would like to add your opinions, let me know. I could add your statement along with mine.
My .02 cents
I believe three things caused the C.H.L. to fold. Number one being that from year to year the league was never the same. Teams were either coming, going, or changing parent clubs. Some years the league went as high as nine teams and as low as four teams. In the later seasons some teams didn't even finish a season. Number two being the N.H.L. expansion and the W.H.A. forming. This would take players away from C.H.L. teams. This was great for those players that had the chance to move up to a N.H.L. expansion team or a W.H.A. team. But if you lived in a C.H.L. city, you most likely didn't enjoy seeing players leaving. But that's what the C.H.L. was founded for. I have also heard that some fans didn't like to see their star players get called up to their parent clubs during the season, but again that is why the league was formed. The last and third reason was the loss of Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Fort Worth franchises in 1982. These cities each played in the C.H.L. for 15 years and with the loss of these teams you took the "Central" out of the Central Hockey League. The league became to spread out. No longer would it be a bus ride to another city. Many teams had to fly to other cities which I'm sure ate up their budgets quickly. I believe this is the main reason why the league folded.
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