Phoenix, Az The Central Hockey League announced today its 23-game 2007 pre-season schedule which begins on Tuesday, October 9th and runs through Monday, October 15th.
CHL 2007 Pre-Season Schedule
The pre-season faces-off next Tuesday in Wichita, Kansas with the Thunder hosting the Tulsa Oilers, the first of three pre-season games for Wichita and two for Tulsa. The pre-season schedule consists of 10 inter-league games featuring CHL teams squaring off against teams from the ECHL.
The Youngstown SteelHounds played the Toledo Storm in 2005 and the Dayton Bombers last season marking the first time the two leagues had battled during the pre-season. The Hounds posted a win versus the Storm and a shootout loss versus the Bombers. This season, the SteelHounds will play two separate ECHL teams with a game in Johnstown on Wednesday, October 10th and a game at the Chevrolet Centre on Friday, October 12th versus the Cincinnati Cyclones.
Other games pitting CHL teams versus ECHL opponents include two games between the Arizona Sundogs and the Phoenix Roadrunners (both games to be played at Tims Toyota Center in Prescott Valley), two games with the Mississippi RiverKings playing at the Florida Everbaldes, two games between the Wichita Thunder and the defending ECHL champion Idaho Steelheads, the Austin Ice Bats hosting the Mississippi Sea Wolves and the Texas Brahmas also playing host to the Sea Wolves.
The defending Ray Miron Presidents Cup champion Colorado Eagles will play a home-and-home series with their interstate rivals, the Rocky Mountain Rage on October 13th and 14th. Other select match-ups include the defending Southern Conference champion Laredo Bucks playing two games versus the Austin Ice Bats (October 11th and 12th) and in their lone preseason game, the defending CHL regular season champion (Bud Poile Governors Cup) Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs playing at Odessa on October 13th.
The Central Hockey League begins its 16th season on Friday, October 19th with eight games scheduled.