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The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which operated the league from 2000 to 2013, at which point it was purchased by the individual franchise owners. As of the end of its final season in 2014, three of the 30 National Hockey League teams had affiliations with the CHL: the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the United States and Canada. The league was headquartered in Rochester, Michigan, and, in its last year, consisted of seven teams. It folded in 2010, with most of its teams joining the Central Hockey League. The Central Hockey League teams still operating in 2014 were then added to ECHL. The only former CoHL/UHL/IHL teams still active as of 2020 are the Fort Wayne Komets and Kalamazoo Wings.
The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original International Hockey League, and the second International Hockey League. They have won four post-season championship titles in the original IHL in 1963, 1965, 1973 and 1993, four in the UHL/second IHL in 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and one in the CHL in 2012. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Original Six teams of the NHL and the Hershey Bears of the AHL have played continuously in the same city with the same name longer than the Komets.
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Robert Richard Irons is a former National Hockey League and International Hockey League goaltender. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He played in three minutes and one second of one game in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues during the 1968–69 season. This occurred only because the Blues' starting goaltender, Glenn Hall, was ejected from a game before his replacement, Jacques Plante, was prepared to enter. Irons tended the net until Plante was able to take over.
The Bloomington PrairieThunder were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Bloomington, Illinois. They were a member of the Central Hockey League in the Turner Conference. The team was originally a member of the United Hockey League prior to its merger into the CHL in 2010. They played their home games at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
Ronald Kenneth Zanussi is a Canadian former professional Hockey right winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Len Thornson is a Canadian retired ice hockey centre.
Paul Adey is a former ice hockey player and coach. Adey enjoyed a notable playing career in British ice hockey, playing 11 seasons for the Nottingham Panthers between 1988 and 1999 and 29 games for the Sheffield Steelers during the 2000–01 season. His number 22 jersey is retired by the Panthers and he is a member of the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.
Steven Craig Fletcher is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Fletcher was originally drafted 202nd overall by the Calgary Flames in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He played in four NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets over parts of two seasons. He also played six seasons with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL, and finished his career with the Atlanta Knights. Six years later, Fletcher played a single game out of retirement for the Komets in the 2002–03 season. He was later inducted to the Komets Hall of Fame and had his jersey number #77 retired on November 17, 2007.
Kevin Reiter is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He last played in the Central Hockey League with the Fort Wayne Komets and retired from playing after the 2010–11 season. He recently worked as goaltender coach for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
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Konstantin Vitalievich Shafranov is a retired professional Kazakhstani ice hockey player who played five games in the National Hockey League. He played for the St. Louis Blues. In 1996, he won the Gary F. Longman Memorial Trophy as the best rookie in the International Hockey League (IHL). Two years later he was named to the IHL's end of season all-star team, as the second best right-wing in the league.
Floyd Harvey Thomson is a Canadian former ice hockey player for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). An undrafted player, Thomson began his professional career with the International Hockey League's Fort Wayne Komets before signing with the Blues as a free agent in 1970. He played 411 NHL games, all with St. Louis, scoring 56 goals and 97 assists. He spent the majority of his last five seasons in the Central Hockey League with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles where he was a Second and First Team All-Star in 1978 and 1979, respectively. Thomson retired in 1982.
Nick Boucher is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Fort Wayne Komets of the CHL.
Guy Dupuis is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenseman. He is known for playing fourteen seasons with the Fort Wayne Komets of the CHL. Dupuis was the last active member of the Komets' 1993 Turner Cup-winning team.
Lee A. Davidson is a Canadian-American former minor professional hockey player and college coach.
Edwin "Eddie'" John Long is a Canadian retired professional hockey player who played 801 games in the International Hockey League with the Fort Wayne Komets from 1952 to 1966. He was a first team all-star in the 1961–62 and 1962–63 seasons.
Bob Chase was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play for the Fort Wayne Komets hockey games. For 63 seasons, Chase called the action on radio and/or television. Only Vin Scully, who called play-by-play for 67 seasons with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, had a longer broadcasting tenure with a single franchise.
Morris G. "Moose" Lallo, was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and general manager. He played in over 1000 professional games during 19 seasons in the minor leagues. He played on five championship teams, and was named a first-team all-star in both the International Hockey League and the Eastern Hockey League. He was considered a rugged player and a colourful spirit, who was known for delivering hard body checks, and playing old-time hockey while losing teeth.
References
- ↑ "Komets Hall of Fame". Fort Wayne Komets. November 17, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Komets' jersey retirement means different things to honorees". News-Sentinel. October 22, 2013. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- ↑ Sebring, Blake (2007). Tales of the Komets. AuthorHouse. p. 224. ISBN 9781434301871.
