 | |
| Countries |  United States |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Website | www.USACHL.com |
The USA Central Hockey League (USACHL) was a junior ice hockey league that played in 2018. It consisted of four teams and featured players under twenty.
The league initially announced it would launch with six team, sixty-game season that lasted from October until March.[1] The Laredo Bucks (USACHL) and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (USACHL) announced as the first teams. The Wichita Falls Force[2] and the Texas Lawmen were announced as the third and fourth teams.[3] The league then released a schedule with only the four team, 48-game inaugural season.
The league played its first game on October 26, 2018, when the Killer Bees defeated the Bucks. After the opening week several games were postponed due to rink availability or arena issues. A sale of the Frio Grande Valley Ice Center in McAllen, Texas, and the announced home of the Texas Lawmen fell through forcing the team to use the nearby Killer Bees home venue for scheduled home games. The Lawmen's first few games also did not allow spectators in the arena as there was not enough time to schedule staff for the rest of the arena's operations to host a game. By the November 23 game between the Killer Bees and Lawmen, the teams played a three-on-three showcase due to lack of players
On November 14, the league's (and in turn the teams') social media sites were deleted or went dark. The statistics page was also deleted. The league blamed an unpaid employee was responsible and that the league would continue as usual. The unpaid media group that handled all sites for the league then renamed all the social media pages and the league began recreating the sites on their own, but were never updated.[4]
One month into the inaugural season, all the original coaches and the league president had left the league. Many players began leaving for other opportunities, creating many short benches.[5] By November 23, the league continued to play including a two games played 3-on-3 when one of the teams only had five available players.[6] The Texas Lawmen then ceased operations on November 29. The game between Wichita Falls and Rio Grande Valley was cancelled on November 30 citing bus scheduling issues, however, the city of Wichita Falls said they locked out the Force from the arena due to non-payment. The Force folded December 1.
The following week had more players announce they were leaving the Bucks and the team's staff all quit due to non-payment. On December 7, 2018, the league announced it had cancelled the remainder of the season.
Teams[]
| Team | Location | Arena | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laredo Bucks | Laredo, Texas | Sames Auto Arena | 2018 |
| Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees | Hidalgo, Texas | State Farm Arena | 2018 |
| Texas Lawmen | McAllen, Texas | Frio Grande Valley Ice Center | 2018 |
| Wichita Falls Force | Wichita Falls, Texas | Kay Yeager Coliseum | 2018 |
Standings[]
The final reported league standings, as of 11/23/18:
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Texas Lawmen | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Wichita Falls Force | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Laredo Bucks | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
References[]
- ↑ Zach Duncan: What to know about hockey's return to Wichita Falls. Times Record News (June 26, 2018).
- ↑ USACHL announces hockey's return to Wichita Falls with new nickname. Times Record News (June 28, 2018).
- ↑ http://www.newschannel6now.com/story/38959204/tx-lawmen-becomes-4th-team-in-usa-chl#.W4FgHBqrz4U.twitter
- ↑ https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/USACHL-CEO-Employee-likely-to-blame-for-social-13393868.php
- ↑ https://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=93438
- ↑ https://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=93455
External links[]
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at USA Central Hockey League. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |