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The Central Professional Hockey League was a minor professional
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
league that operated in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
from 1963 to 1984. Named the Central Hockey League for the 1968–69 season and forward, it was owned and operated by the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
and served as a successor to the Eastern Professional Hockey League, which had folded after the 1962–63 season. Four of the CHL's initial franchises were, in fact, relocations of the previous year's EPHL teams, while the fifth came from the International Hockey League. Its founding president was
Jack Adams John James Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouver Millionair ...
, who served in the role until his death in 1968. The CHL's championship trophy was called the Adams Cup in his honor.


History

In the league's first season, all five teams were affiliated with an NHL club. The CHL initially consisted of the
Indianapolis Capitals The Indianapolis Capitals were an American Hockey League professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1939 to 1952. The Capitals were a farm team for the Detroit Red Wings. Indianapolis won the Calder Cup in 1942 and 1950. T ...
( Detroit Red Wings),
Minneapolis Bruins The Minneapolis Bruins were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL) from 1963 to 1965. The Bruins were one of the original five teams to enter the newly formed CPHL. Minneapolis operated as a ...
(
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
),
Omaha Knights The Omaha Knights was the name of three minor league professional ice hockey teams from 1959 to 1965 and from 1966 to 1975, based in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Ak-Sar-Ben Arena. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the International Hoc ...
(
Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
), St. Louis Braves (
Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
) and the St. Paul Rangers (
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
). The only NHL team without a CHL affiliate that year, the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
, joined the league through its affiliation with the
Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...
in the CHL's second season. After Adams's death, Emory Jones served as interim president until the appointment of lawyer Joe Kane in August 1968. Kane announced the league was changing its name on September 26, 1968, dropping ''Professional'' from the title. He served one year as president, retiring in June 1969. Kane was succeeded by Jones, who held the job until retiring in 1974.
Max McNab Maxwell Douglas McNab (June 21, 1924 – September 2, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and National Hockey League (NHL) general manager. He played in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings between 1947 and 1951, winning the ...
served as league president from 1974 until becoming general manager of the
Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...
during his second season.
Ray Miron Joseph Rodolph "Ray" Miron (March 20, 1923 – August 28, 2015) was an owner of the new Central Hockey League (CHL), as well as a National Hockey League (NHL) executive, serving in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and as general manager of th ...
was hired as president in August 1976, but resigned less than three weeks later to accept the job as general manager of the Colorado Rockies. Before the end of the month,
Bud Poile Norman Robert "Bud" Poile (February 10, 1924 – January 4, 2005) was a professional ice hockey player, coach, general manager, and league executive. Bud is the brother of Don Poile, and the father of David Poile. Overview Poile was born in Fo ...
became league president and would hold the job until the CHL folded in 1984. For the 1974–75 season, the CHL absorbed three teams, the
Denver Spurs The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a champions ...
,
Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...
, and
Seattle Totems The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...
, from the folding
Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
. Salt Lake would stay in the league until the end and would continue in the International Hockey League for the 1984–85 season, after the CHL ceased operations. Denver and Seattle were admitted to the CHL as a stepping stone for their eventual admission to the NHL in 1976; however, the league never followed through on the expansion, and both teams folded after 1975. For 1979–80, the CHL added the
Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are t ...
and Birmingham Bulls, the two teams from the
World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
that were not admitted to the NHL that year. Also during the 1979–80 season, the United States Olympic hockey team played games against each team in the CHL that counted in the standings. The team went on to win the gold medal at the
1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...
. In the 1983–84 season, both the U.S. and Canadian Olympic hockey teams played games in the CHL. The CHL's final champions, the Tulsa Oilers, were left without a home during their championship 1983–84 season when the team owners went into receivership. The league stepped in to keep the team operating, and the Oilers played all their games on the road from mid-February through the end of the playoffs. Their Cup-winning game on April 27, 1984, was the last game played in the CHL. The league folded the following month.


Teams


Adams Cup champions

‡ Oilers team was left without a home after its owners in Tulsa went into receivership; played the last two months of the season and all playoff games as a road team, with salaries and expenses paid by the league.


Annual awards

* Adams Cup – Awarded to the CHL Championship team * Tommy Ivan Trophy – Most Valuable Player * Phil Esposito Trophy – Leading Scorer during the Regular Season *
Bobby Orr Trophy The Bobby Orr Trophy is awarded annually to the champion of the Eastern conference playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League. It was first awarded in 1999. The winning team competes for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the OHL finals versus the Wayne Gret ...
– Most Valuable Defenseman * Bob Gassoff Trophy – Most Improved Defenseman * Terry Sawchuk Trophy – Top Goaltender(s) on the Best Defensive Team (lowest GAA) *
Ken McKenzie Trophy The Ken McKenzie Trophy was awarded annually to the Central Hockey League's leading points scorer in the regular season. The award was named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder and longtime president and publisher of ''The Hockey News''. Previously ...
– Rookie of the Year *
Don Ashby Donald Allan Ashby (March 8, 1955 – May 30, 1981) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1975–76 until 1980–81. Early life and career Ashby was born in Kamloops, British Co ...
Memorial Trophy – Iron Man Award * Max McNab Trophy – Most Valuable Player in the Adams Cup playoffs * Jake Milford Trophy – Coach of the Year * Clarence Campbell Trophy – CHL franchise that best exemplifies professionalism in hockey


References


External links


C.H.L. History 1963-1984
{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Hockey League (1963-1984) Defunct ice hockey leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1963 Organizations disestablished in 1984 1963 establishments in the United States 1984 disestablishments in the United States