Central Hockey League (1963-1984)
The Central Hockey League was a North American ice hockey minor league that was founded in 1963 and dissolved in 1984.
The league was founded in 1963 as the Central Professional Hockey League , five years later the name was changed to the Central Hockey League . The league, which is owned by the National Hockey League , was created as a replacement for the previously dissolved Eastern Professional Hockey League and was also completely organized and managed by the NHL. The first president of the Central Hockey League was Jack Adams , who ran the league for the next five years. The championship trophy was named Adam's Cup in his honor .
The league began with five teams in the 1963/64 season. These were the Omaha Knights , St. Paul Rangers , Minneapolis Bruins , St. Louis Braves, and the Indianapolis Capitols . The Omaha Knights became the first team to win the championship cup , the Adams Cup . Throughout its history, the number of participants in the league has fluctuated between four and nine franchises . None of the franchises was active all the time, many only survived a few years and were dissolved. After the 1983/84 season, which was played with five teams, the dissolution of three franchises followed, only the Indianapolis Checkers and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles continued to play in the International Hockey League .
Teams
Adams Cup Winner
|
|
Awarded trophies
- Adams Cup - trophy for the winner of the playoffs
- Tommy Ivan Trophy - Most Valuable Player of the Season
- Phil Esposito Trophy - regular season top scorer
- Bobby Orr Trophy - Most Valuable Defender of the Season
- Bob Gassoff Trophy - Most improved defender
- Terry Sawchuk Trophy - Best goalkeeper (pair) of the best defensive team (lowest goals against )
- Ken McKenzie Trophy - Rookie of the Year
- Don Ashby Memorial Trophy - Iron Man Award
- Max McNab Trophy - Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs
- Jake Milford Trophy - Trainer of the Year
- Clarence Campbell Trophy - Trophy for the most professional performing franchise
Web links
- History of the Central Hockey League ( Memento from December 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- Information on the individual seasons in the Hockey Database