Five years ago, when a bunch of Canadians were peddling the wild dream of ice hockey played in the Southwestern states, there were people who called them mad.

In that first year the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) garnered the nickname 'Worst Professional Hockey League' amongst the naysayers. Third rate hockey players playing in converted cow barns, they sneered.

The naysayers have little to say nay about now. Their vaunted International Hockey League (IHL) is a memory. And, while the venues are still largely converted cow barns, the level of play by a rapidly improving quality of player has drawn core audiences in cities around the southwest to quality AA level play. In five years the WPHL has wrought hockey upon the desert west and the hot, humid South, and done what others before them failed to do... succeed.

The class of players and the stability of the existing franchises was enough to bring the Central Hockey League (CHL) calling. Just as the AAA level of hockey seems to be coalescing into the magic thirty needed by the NHL, the new CHL, composed of the old CHL and the WPHL, puts them high atop the list of aspiring AA class leagues looking towards the future.

As much as the merger is a lot of good news for all parties in the deal, it is a bittersweet move to many in the WPHL who had hoped that their name which became emblematic of their struggle to tame the wild west for hockey, would prevail in some way.

So it was that the final awards dinner of the "spring" meetings of the WPHL held annually in Scottsdale, a stone's throw from their Phoenix headquarters, was awash in memories and kudos, and a few carefully placed jabs at the merger.

The military theme of the dinner was probably appropriate, as the forces in the two leagues wrangle for control of operations, the schedule, and the rules. The atmosphere was friendly and pleasant, but who doesn't want to keep their job?

There was a lot of love-fest at the dinner. PR powerhouse Steve "Chewy" Cherwonak, dressed in combat fatigues, was a fine emcee. He told a few jokes so blue that even a few defenders in the room were blushing. He kept things moving along, except for the presentations of his friend and mentor.

League President, Brad Treliving was so awash in sentiment that he took just about every opportunity at an award presentation that involved him to regale the audience with tales of the WPHL's birth, and the people behind it. With a sense for brevity only rivaled by Bill Clinton, Treliving relished each moment.

Being a first-rate competitor, Treliving took a little side-swipe at the name issue during one of his nostalgia campaigns. The CHL name was retained, it was said, because of its longer history which, hopefully, will help its pedigree with the NHL in year's to come.

While the WPHL group lost the war on the name, they may have won the battle in terms of the day-to-day operational control. The executive ranks look to be populated with many of the talented people who brought the WPHL off of paper and into arenas throughout the South and the West.

What was more apparent at these meetings was the tight-knit community of owners, front-office staff, coaches and players who make up the WPHL. They are hard-working and tough-minded. They don't take "no" for an answer easily.

 

 

 

Brian M. Ross
Sr. Editor
MinorLeagueNews.com

Canadians of the Desert