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The league is now known as the North American 3 Hockey League.

Central States Hockey League
CSHLlogo
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 1998
No. of teams 13
Country(ies) Flag of the United States United States
Most recent champion(s) St. Louis Jr. Blues
Official website http://www.cshlhockey.com

The Central States Hockey League (CSHL) was an American Tier III Junior "A" ice hockey league that consisted of thirteen teams from Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri. The CSHL was a member of USA Hockey. The winner of the CSHL's playoffs went on to play for the National Championship against the champions of the five other Tier III leagues and a host city.

League History[]

Originally formed in the early 1970s as a Junior B-level league known as the Central States Hockey League (CSHL), the league evolved into the Metro Detroit Junior Hockey League in the early 1980s. The CSHL name was used again from 1994 until 2010.

For the 1997-98 season the league added the Grand Rapids Jr. Grizzlies to join existing league members Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks, (Detroit) Belle Tire, Metro Jets, Motor City Chiefs, St. Louis Jr. Blues, and Toledo Cherokee

The league moved up to Junior A in the summer of 2007 because it was considered to be one of the top Junior B leagues in the United States. The St. Louis Jr. Blues proved their dominance on the national stage winning the national championship four years in a row. The Jr Blues made history during the 2006-2007 season. They were the first team to win four consecutive national titles, breaking a record that was set over 60 years ago.

During the 2008-2009 season, it was announced that the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins would be joining the CSHL for the 2009-2010 season, bringing the number of teams to 13. The league was scheduled to return to 12 teams for 2010-11, as the Dubuque Thunderbirds' franchise left for the United States Hockey League, where they will be known as the Dubuque Fighting Saints. However, on November 10, 2010; the league became affiliated with the North American Hockey League and became known as the North American 3 Hockey League (with the 3 representing Tier-III). The NAHL took control of the league's operations immediately.

Many prominent college and pro hockey players have played in the CSHL at one point in their careers, including 2007 Hobey Baker finalist Eric Ehn (Metro Jets), Colorado Avalanche forward and 2010 U.S. Olympian Paul Stastny (St. Louis Jr. Blues) and Chris Butler (St. Louis Jr. Blues), now in the Buffalo Sabres' organization.

Teams at time of merger[]

Team Centre
Chicago Hitmen Rolling Meadows, Illinois
Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks Strongsville, Ohio
Flint Jr. Generals Flint, Michigan
Grand Rapids Jr. Owls Byron Center, Michigan
Metro Jets Waterford, Michigan
Motor City Chiefs Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Peoria Mustangs Peoria, Illinois
Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins Harmarville, Pennsylvania
Quad City Jr. Flames Davenport, Iowa
Queen City Steam Evendale, Ohio
St. Louis Jr. Blues Affton, Missouri
Toledo Cherokee Toledo, Ohio

Team Timeline[]

Team Centre Arena Seasons Fate
Belle Tire Fraser, Michigan Great Lakes Ice Arena 1997-1998
Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks Warrensville Heights, Ohio Cleveland Sports Plex 1997-2010
Metro Jets Waterford, Michigan Lakeland Ice Arena 1997-2010
Motor City Chiefs Dearborn Heights, Michigan Canfield Ice Arena 1997-2010
St. Louis Jr. Blues Affton, Missouri Affton Ice Rink 1997-2010
Toledo Cherokee Sylvania, Ohio Tam-O-Shanter 1997-2010
Columbus Crush Dublin, Ohio Chiller Arena 1998-2003
Grand Rapids Jr. Grizzlies Byron Center, Michigan Southside Ice Arena 1998-2000
Wayne Wheels Wayne, Michigan Wayne Ice Arena 1998-2003
Cincinnati Cobras Cincinnati, Ohio Northland Ice Center 1999-2005
Flint Jr. Generals Flint, Michigan Flint Iceland Arenas 1999-2010
Chicago Rush 2000-2001
Grand Rapids Jr. Owls Byron Center, Michigan Southside Ice Arena 2000-2010
Peoria Mustangs Peoria, Illinois Owens Recreation Center 2000-2010
Chicago Force Addison, Illinois,
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Addison Ice Arena,
Glacier Ice Arena
2003-2010
Columbus Stars Evendale, Ohio Sports Plus Arena 2003-2004
Michigan Ice Dogs Farmington Hills, Michigan,
Plymouth Township, Michigan
Farmington Hills Ice Arena,
Arctic Pond Arena
2003-2008
Quad City Express Davenport, Iowa Quad City Sports Center 2004-2007
Columbus Jr. B Blue Jackets Dublin, Ohio Dublin Center 2004-2007
Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones Evendale, Ohio Sports Plus Arena 2005-2007
Dubuque Thunderbirds Dubuque, Iowa Five Flags Arena 2006-2010
Queen City Steam Evendale, Ohio Sports Plus Arena 2007-2010
Quad City Jr. Flames Davenport, Iowa Quad City Sports Center 2007-2010
Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins Harmarville, Pennsylvania Blade Runners Ice Complex 2009-2010

Franchise Timeline[]

Hurster Cup Champions (Playoff champions)[]

  • 2010-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 2009-Dubuque Thunderbirds
  • 2008-Dubuque Thunderbirds
  • 2007-Dubuque Thunderbirds
  • 2006-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 2005-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 2004-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 2003-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 2002-Metro Jets
  • 2001-Metro Jets
  • 2000-St. Louis Jr. Blues
  • 1999-Toledo Cherokee

See Also[]

References[]



This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Central States 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).


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