The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were a professional ice hockey team which played in the Bossier City - Shreveport metropolitan area of Louisiana . From 1997 to 2001, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were members of the Western Professional Hockey League , until a 2001 merger between the WPHL with the Central Hockey League. From 2001 to 2011, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs played in the Central Hockey League . From 1997 until 2000, they were known as the Shreveport Mudbugs , changing the name to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs after the team relocated from the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport to the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City.
17-783: One of the few successful sports teams from the Bossier-Shreveport area, the Mudbugs found success early. Coached by former Mudbug player Scott Muscutt and owned by Tommy and Leslie Scott, the team increased attendance each year and hosted the All-Star festivities for the Central Hockey League in 2007. The Mudbugs maintained heated rivalries with the Texas Brahmas , Laredo Bucks , Mississippi RiverKings , and Colorado Eagles . In their first four seasons,
34-528: The 2014–15 season , officially signaling the end of the Central Hockey League after 22 seasons. The Allen Americans , who won the last two CHL President's Cups, won two consecutive ECHL titles following the folding of the Central Hockey League. The Mississippi RiverKings, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder were the last of the original six franchises still playing at the end of the CHL's tenure;
51-554: The WPHL and CHL to ever win the Cup three straight years. During the 2009–10 season, Mudbugs legend goaltender Ken Carroll and Travis Clayton were named to the Central Hockey League's All Decade Team. On July 20, 2010 former player Jason Campbell was named the new Vice President & General Manager for the Mudbugs. With the merger of the CHL and the IHL beginning with the 2010–11 season ,
68-543: The CHL's six original teams from the 1992-1993 inaugural season, only the Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder remain and are still active as of 2023. Southern Hockey League (1995%E2%80%9396) The Southern Hockey League (abbreviated SHL ) is a defunct low-level professional ice hockey league. It operated in the United States for one season, 1995–1996, with teams in the southeastern United States . It
85-689: The CHL: the Dallas Stars , Minnesota Wild , and Tampa Bay Lightning . Several teams of defunct leagues joined the CHL along its history, including the Southern Hockey League , Western Professional Hockey League and International Hockey League . After two teams suspended operations during the 2014 offseason, the ECHL accepted the remaining seven teams as members in October 2014, meaning
102-587: The Central Hockey League was purchased from Global Entertainment by all the team owners, putting the CHL business model in line with that of the NHL and AHL. On May 2, 2014 the St. Charles Chill ceased operations. Soon after, the Arizona Sundogs and Denver Cutthroats suspended operations. On October 7, 2014, it was announced that the ECHL had accepted the Central Hockey League's remaining seven teams as members for
119-758: The Hirsch Coliseum as a member of the Tier II junior North American Hockey League . On April 8, 2016, the Shreveport Mudbugs were officially announced as an expansion team in the NAHL. Ray Miron President's Cup Champions Governor's Cup Champions Central Hockey League Northern Conference Champions Division Championships Central Hockey League Franchise of the Year Central Hockey League Coach of
136-739: The Mudbugs played in the Berry Conference. The Mudbugs would go on to win the Ray Miron President's Cup that season in a seven-game series with the Colorado Eagles , but would cease operations two weeks later citing low attendance and financial issues. In October 2015, it was announced that a new Mudbugs team would return for the 2016–17 season after signing a 12-year lease agreement with the Louisiana State Fairgrounds to play their home games in
153-546: The Mudbugs saw their most success. After the sweep from the Fort Worth Brahmas in the second round of their opening season, the Mudbugs went on to win the President's Cup Championships three straight years in the WPHL . Following the merger of the WPHL and CHL , the Mudbugs found their way back to the Ray Miron President's Cup Finals three times (2004, 2006, 2011). The Mudbugs were the only team in history of
170-713: The RiverKings since folded, in 2018. In the 2014–15 season, ten teams (Allen, Brampton, Colorado, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Missouri, Quad City, Rapid City, Tulsa, and Wichita) were in the ECHL, two teams (Mississippi and Columbus) were in the SPHL, and four organizations (Corpus Christi, Fort Worth Brahmas, Odessa, and Rio Grande Valley) fielded junior teams in the NAHL. Of the CHL's remaining teams prior to October 7, 2014, Tulsa, Wichita, Allen, Colorado, Fort Wayne, Missouri (now Kansas City), and Rapid City are still active as of 2023. Of
187-1088: The Year Central Hockey League Rookie of the Year Central Hockey League Most Outstanding Goaltender Western Professional Hockey League Rookie of the Year Western Professional Hockey League Playoff Most Valuable Player Western Professional Hockey League Man of the Year Western Professional Hockey League Most Outstanding Goaltender Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL)
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#1732790808062204-554: The end for the CHL after 22 seasons. The Central Hockey League (CHL) was revived in 1992 by Ray Miron and the efforts of Bill Levins , with the idea of central ownership of both the league and the teams. Both men were from hockey backgrounds. Miron had been general manager of the Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils ), and had briefly been president of the previous Central Hockey League in 1976. In
221-613: The ensuing years. The last active former WPHL team, the Fort Worth Brahmas , effectively ceased operations following the 2012–13 season . Subsequently, in 2010, the International Hockey League folded and all five remaining IHL teams joined the CHL; the last of these, the Quad City Mallards , folded in 2018 in the ECHL. Brad Treliving , who co-founded the WPHL in 1996, became CHL commissioner following
238-859: The inaugural 1992–93 season the league had six teams, including the Oklahoma City Blazers , the Tulsa Oilers , the Wichita Thunder , the Memphis RiverKings , the Dallas Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire . After Levins died, the league's championship trophy (awarded to the winner of the CHL playoffs) was renamed the Levins Cup . After running the league for eight years, Miron retired in 2000 and sold
255-529: The league. The Levins Cup was renamed the Ray Miron President's Cup . After experiments in expansion and an ongoing battle for players and markets with the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) throughout the late 1990s, the CHL merged with the WPHL in 2001, with 10 former WPHL teams joining the CHL for the 2001–02 season . However, several years of gradual contraction in the former WPHL markets claimed most of these teams in
272-685: The merger, before leaving to join the Phoenix Coyotes . Duane Lewis was named the permanent commissioner in June 2008. In October 2013, the CHL appointed former president of the Pittsburgh Penguins Steve Ryan to succeed Lewis. On March 8, 2013, the Central Hockey League announced an expansion team in Brampton, Ontario . The Brampton Beast would become the first Canadian team in the CHL's history. In October 2013,
289-428: 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
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