CHL Rumors, Dell Returns, Frozen Four & More

Aaron Dell has returned to Allen after a one game stint in Houston - photo by chlphotos.com

 - Aaron Dell has returned to Allen after his one game call up to the Houston Aeros. While Aaron did not play in the 4-3 victory over the San Antonio Rampage Thursday night in Houston it is a great experience for the rookie who most believe will be playing in the AHL next season.

- Found this post on chlforums.com ( a great site for CHL fans) by MavaFanJoe who is a regular contributor and have to agree with him he has too much time on his hands but interesting nevertheless. Here is is post;
 I do these types of things, because, well, sometimes I have way too much time on my hands. Also, I have a very analytic mind that thinks of this kind of crap. But, did you know, that last night, April 12, 2013, was the first Friday, in the last 25 weeks (since October 19, 2012) that there was no hockey played in the CHL? And, today will be the first Saturday during the same period, that the CHL will not hold a game on a Saturday? Inevitable, yes, but strange since we are still in the post-season. Until the President's Cup is won, one would think there would still be at least a Saturday game.

- Not to worry about watching hockey as the NCAA Frozen Four Championship game is tonight between Yale and Quinnipiac. The two schools who are only 10 miles apart in central Connecticut earned their way to the NCAA hockey championship on Thursday. Yale edged UMass Lowell 3-2 in overtime in one semifinal, and top-seeded Quinnipiac followed by beating St. Cloud State 4-1.
The victories set up the fourth showdown between the Bobcats and the Bulldogs this year. Quinnipiac is 3-0 against Yale this season, though it will hardly matter if they can't make it four in a row.

-  While St. Cloud State didn't make it to the finals they did have the Hobey Baker award winner in Drew LaBlanc who hails from Hermantown, Minnesota which is a suburb of Duluth. Drew signed with the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday.  Speaking of Duluth and Hobey Baker awards and my Minnesota roots I will weave in my too much time on my hands trivia here. The Hobey Baker Award which is hockey's equivalent of the Heisman  was first awarded in 1981 and the first winner was Neal Broten from the University of Minnesota. Neal is from Roseau, MN the same hometown as Brian McMillin. The school with the most Hobey Baker award winners with five is the University of Minnesota Duluth where Mike Montgomery was the captain of the team when they won the NCAA championship in 2011. Finally, Minnesota is the home state of nine Hobey Baker award winners with Michigan in second place with four winners.

- For those looking for information on what will happen with the CHL after the season I found a couple of fun facts you can consider. None of this says anything definitive but it is food for thought.
There is a web site (thesportsadvisorygroup.com) where minor league sports franchises list teams for sale and also minority ownership for sale. The company name is WB Grimes and Company Sports Advisory Group. While looking through this site I found two minor league hockey listings that I found interesting:

*This exciting Midwest “AA” professional hockey team is scheduled to launch in the 2013 season. Seeking investors now to help develop business and marketing strategies leading up to the launch. Team will play in an exceptional U.S. hockey market. Investment units starting at $125K* This one has to be the St. Charles Chill and this may be normal operating procedure but it could also mean they need money to start up. There have been rumors they are having difficulty. See info below about their coach.
*Ground floor opportunity to join ownership group of a top CHL franchise located in the Southwest. Major metro area location. Terrific and well funded ownership group already in place. Solid marketing and operations already driving this team to new heights* I think this one is for the Brahmas as the contact person for this listing has a telephone number with the area code (817) which is Fort Worth. Again, this could be normal operating procedure to get an infusion of money.

- Something else I came across has to do with the St. Charles Chill head coach, Jamie Rivers, who was named head coach back in September 2012. Rivers is a 38 year old veteran who was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1993 and has played for six different NHL teams as well as in the OHL, AHL, IHL and in Europe in Russia, Switzerland and Austria. Rivers has lived in St.Charles for 15 years. If you check Rivers twitter account you will find it full of tweets about him talking to the EIHL (United Kingdom) teams (Belfast & Nottingham) about a position. Belfast has a coaching vacancy but Nottingham does not. Here is a tweet from yesterday, "I am also in contact right now with management from both teams. We will have this figured out soon. EIHL Fans are awesome!!" Is this an indication that the CHL will announce the Chill will not operate in 2013-2014? I guess we will have to stay tuned.