The International Hockey League is a low-level [1][2][3][4] professional ice hockey league (self-described as "AA"), with teams in the United States. The league is headquartered in Rochester, Michigan, and consists of seven teams. [5]
[edit] History
The IHL was originally formed in 1991 as the Colonial Hockey League. It had teams in Brantford, Ontario; Detroit, Michigan; Flint, Michigan; St. Thomas, Ontario; and Thunder Bay, Ontario. As the ECHL moved westward (into Toledo, Dayton, and Peoria), the CoHL moved eastward, into places like the Adirondacks, Danbury, CT, Binghamton, NY, and Richmond, VA. During that expansion, the league was renamed the United Hockey League in 1997, before renaming itself the International Hockey League in 2007.
The name change was intended to evoke the original IHL (1945-2001), which had long-standing franchises in the Great Lakes region. The Fort Wayne Komets were a longstanding member of the original league. In addition, the Kalamazoo Wings and Flint Generals revived the names of the original Kalamazoo and Flint IHL teams.
Logo of the former UHL from 1997-2006.
On June 27, 2007, a dispersal draft was held among the six IHL teams, selecting players from the four 2006-2007 UHL franchises that are no longer part of the newly named league.
[edit] Governance
Dennis Hextall was named as the President and Commissioner of the International Hockey League on September 2, 2009.[6] Hextall was preceded by Paul Pickard, who served as Commissioner for the first two years of the renamed league (2007-2009).[7]
Several IHL teams have affiliations with the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, and/or the All American Hockey League.
[edit] Current Teams
| Team | Founded | Home Arena | Capacity | City | NHL affiliate (higher) | AHL affiliate (higher) | AAHL affiliate (lower) |
| Bloomington PrairieThunder | 2006 | U.S. Cellular Coliseum | 7,000 | Bloomington, Illinois | | | |
| Dayton Gems | 2009 | Hara Arena | 5,500 | Trotwood, Ohio | | | Chi-Town Shooters[8] |
| Flint Generals | 1993 | Perani Arena and Event Center | 4,021 | Flint, Michigan | | | Madison Ice Muskies[9] |
| Fort Wayne Komets | 1952 | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | 10,500 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | | | Evansville IceMen[10] |
| Muskegon Lumberjacks | 1992 | L. C. Walker Arena | 5,000 | Muskegon, Michigan | | Grand Rapids Griffins[citation needed] | Battle Creek Revolution[11] |
| Port Huron Icehawks | 2007 | McMorran Arena | 3,400 | Port Huron, Michigan | | | Detroit Hitmen[12] |
| Quad City Mallards | 2009 | i Wireless Center | 12,000 | Moline, Illinois | Philadelphia Flyers[13] | Adirondack Phantoms | |
[edit] Future Teams
[edit] Colonial/Turner Cup champions
The IHL's Colonial Cup, used through 2007.
The Turner Cup is awarded to annual playoff championship. The name Turner Cup has been restored as of September 24, 2007 as a tribute to the original IHL. Before this, the trophy given to the league playoff champions was known as the Colonial Cup. The past winners are:
[edit] Expansion
| Year | Teams | Expansion | Defunct | Suspended | Return from Hiatus | Relocated | Name Changes |
| 1991 | 5 | Brantford Smoke
Flint Bulldogs
Michigan Falcons
Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks
St. Thomas Wildcats | | | | | |
| 1992 | 7 | Chatham Wheels
Muskegon Fury | | | | | Detroit Falcons (Michigan)
Thunder Bay Thunder Cats (Thunder Hawks) |
| 1993 | 8 | Flint Generals | | | | Flint → Utica Bulldogs | Thunder Bay Senators (Thunder Cats) |
| 1994 | 8 | | | | | Chatham → Saginaw Wheels
St. Thomas → London Wildcats
| Flint Generals (Bulldogs)
Utica Blizzard (Bulldogs) |
| 1995 | 9 | Quad City Mallards
Madison Monsters | | London Wildcats | | | |
| 1996 | 10 | | | | London Wildcats | Detroit → Port Huron Border Cats
London → Dayton Ice Bandits | Saginaw Lumber Kings (Wheels)
Thunder Bay Thunder Cats (Senators) |
| 1997 | 10 | B.C. Icemen
Winston-Salem IceHawks | Utica Blizzard | Dayton Ice Bandits | | | |
| 1998 | 11 | | | | Dayton Ice Bandits | Brantford → Asheville Smoke
Dayton → Mohawk Valley Prowlers | Saginaw Gears (Lumber Kings) |
| 1999 | 14 | Fort Wayne Komets
Madison Kodiaks
Missouri River Otters | | | | Madison → Knoxville Speed
Saginaw → Ohio Gears
Thunder Bay → Rockford Icehogs
Winston-Salem → Adirondack IceHawks | |
| 2000 | 15 | Elmira Jackals
New Haven Knights | Mohawk Valley Prowlers (mid-season)
Ohio Gears | | | Madison → Kalamazoo Wings | |
| 2001 | 14 | | | | | | |
| 2002 | 10 | Port Huron Beacons | Asheville Smoke
B.C. Icemen
Knoxville Speed
New Haven Knights
Port Huron Border Cats | | | | |
| 2003 | 12 | Columbus Stars
Richmond RiverDogs | Columbus Stars (mid-season) | | | | |
| 2004 | 14 | Danbury Thrashers
Kansas City Outlaws
Motor City Mechanics | | | | | Adirondack Frostbite (IceHawks) |
| 2005 | 14 | Port Huron Flags | Kansas City Outlaws | | | Port Huron → Roanoke Valley Vipers | |
| 2006 | 10 | Bloomington PrairieThunder | Adirondack Frostbite
Danbury Trashers
Missouri River Otters
Motor City Mechanics
Roanoke Valley Vipers | | | Richmond → Chicago Hounds | |
| 2007 | 6 | Port Huron Icehawks | Chicago Hounds
Elmira Jackals (moved to ECHL)
Port Huron Flags
Quad City Mallards
Rockford IceHogs | | | | |
| 2008 | 6 | | | | | | Muskegon Lumberjacks (Fury) |
| 2009 | 7 | Dayton Gems
Quad City Mallards | Kalamazoo Wings (moved to ECHL) | | | | |
[edit] Former teams
- Adirondack Frostbite 2004–2006
- Adirondack IceHawks 1999–2004, later Adirondack Frostbite
- Asheville Smoke 1998–2002
- Arctic Xpress 2000–2001 (did not play), later Canton Xpress
- B.C. Icemen 1997–2002
- Brantford Smoke 1991–1998, later Asheville Smoke
- Canton Ice Patrol 2002 (did not play)
- Canton Xpress 2001–January 28, 2002 (did not play), later Canton Ice Patrol
- Chatham Wheels 1992–1994, later Saginaw Wheels
- Chicago Hounds 2006–2007
- Columbus Stars 2003–January 9, 2004
- Danbury Trashers 2004–2006
- Dayton Ice Bandits 1996–1997, later Mohawk Valley Prowlers
- Detroit Falcons 1992–1996
- Elmira Jackals 2000–2007 [15]
- Flint Bulldogs 1991–1993, later Utica Bulldogs
- Kalamazoo Wings 2000-2009 [16]
- Kansas City Outlaws 2004–2005
- Knoxville Speed 1999–2002
- Lehigh Valley Xtreme 2000(did not play)
- London Wildcats 1994–1995, later Dayton Ice Bandits
- Madison Kodiaks 1999–2000, later Kalamazoo Wings
- Madison Monsters 1996–1999, later Knoxville Speed
- Michigan Falcons 1991–1992, later Detroit Falcons
| - Missouri River Otters 1999–2006
- Mohawk Valley Prowlers 1998– January, 2001
- Motor City Mechanics 2004–2006
- New Haven Knights 2000–2002
- Ohio Gears December 20, 1999–2000, later Arctic Xpress
- Port Huron Beacons 2002–2005, later Roanoke Valley Vipers
- Port Huron Border Cats 1996–2002
- Port Huron Flags 2005–2007
- Quad City Mallards 1995–2007
- Richmond RiverDogs 2003–2006, later Chicago Hounds
- Roanoke Valley Vipers 2005–2006
- Rockford IceHogs 1999–2007 [17]
- Saginaw Gears 1998–December 19, 1999, later Ohio Gears
- Saginaw LumberKings 1996–1998, later Saginaw Gears
- Saginaw Wheels 1994–1996, later Saginaw LumberKings
- St. Thomas Wildcats 1991–1994, later London Wildcats
- Thunder Bay Senators 1993–1996, later Thunder Bay Thunder Cats
- Thunder Bay Thunder Cats 1996–1999, later Rockford IceHogs
- Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks 1991–1993, later Thunder Bay Senators
- Utica Bulldogs 1993–1994
- Utica Blizzard 1994–1997
- Winston-Salem IceHawks 1997–1999, later Adirondack IceHawks
|
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "AHL hockey team moving from Omaha to the Quad-Cities," 'Quad City Times,' May 15, 2007
- ^ "Put The UHL On A Dead Pool List," 'Chi-Town Daily News,' January 4, 2007
- ^ [http://www.nhl.com/ice/newsprint.htm?id=415627 "McIlhargey went from the low minors to the NHL," 'NHL.com'
- ^ "Where hockey dreams live on," 'Minneapolis Star-Tribune,' January 3, 2007
- ^ Official Website of the IHL
- ^ "IHL Honored to Announce Hextall as New Leader" - IHL-Hockey.com
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Fort Wayne Affiliation
- ^ BC Announces Affiliation Agreement with Muskegon
- ^ Hitmen Team Up with Port Huron Icehawks
- ^ Mallards announce affiliation with Philadelphia Flyers
- ^ Tuesday 9PM Sports 6/16/09 : TriStateHomepage.com
- ^ Jackals moved to ECHL - http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news&cat=1&id=10749
- ^ Wings moved to ECHL - http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news2&id=19007
- ^ Had assets bought out by Rockford IceHogs of American Hockey League - http://www.theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=7559
[edit] External links
