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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Thursday, October 18, 2001
IceRays to kick off new league, rivalry tonight
Corpus Christi to play San Antonio in new CHL opener
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
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David Pellerin/Caller-Times
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Jeff Paluseo takes a shot at Peter Emmanuel Brady during practice last week.
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Less than 150 miles of road separate San Antonio and Corpus Christi, yet the two South Texas hockey towns have never been on the ice as opponents.
Four and a half months of anticipation will finally be unleashed tonight when the Iguanas and IceRays meet at Memorial Coliseum in the opening game of the new Central Hockey League.
"The rivalry with San Antonio is definitely going to be a big bonus with the amalgamation of the two leagues," IceRays forward Cory Evans said of the summer merger between the old CHL and Western Professional Hockey League.
"We spent all that time driving through San Antonio over the last three years, so it just makes sense that we play," Evans said. "When it's a rivalry like that with two teams so close to each other, that'll be big."
Corpus Christi and San Antonio make up half of the CHL's Southeast Division, which includes fellow WPHL holdovers Austin and San Angelo. Those four teams along with El Paso, Lubbock, New Mexico and Odessa in the Southwest Division make up the Southern Conference.
Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Tulsa (Okla.) and Wichita (Kan.) make up the Northwest Division in the Northern Conference. In the Northeast Division, Bossier-Shreveport, Forth Worth, Indianapolis (Ind.) and Memphis (Tenn.) complete the 16-team league.
Only the top four teams in each conference advance to the playoffs.
Because of their close proximity, the Iguanas and IceRays are scheduled to meet a total of 13 times this season, including tonight's matchup.
While most players and coaches agree that the natural rivalry lends support to the newly formed league, it won't matter once the playoffs arrive.
"The way we look at it, no game is bigger than the other," IceRays forward Jeff Paluseo said. "Let's say we beat San Antonio every game, or they beat us every game, but the other team makes the playoffs. Then those games suddenly don't have that much importance."
Teams in the league had just eight days of training camp to evaluate players and make the necessary cuts to trim their rosters to the required limit of 18. Most teams were in the process late Wednesday of finalizing their rosters and submitting them to the league.
San Antonio coach Chris Stewart said there are still many questions about the new league, foremost about tonight's game.
"I can't tell you much because we don't know much," Stewart said. "This is a new league with new teams and new buildings. All eyes are going to be on this league this season. The competition level and skill of the players is going to be critical. There are still a lot of unknowns."
Stewart said the new rivalry between the Iguanas and IceRays should help the CHL flourish.
"I think it's good that the logistics would create such a good rivalry," Stewart said. "With more fans following the teams on the road, it's going to be healthy for everybody."
Contact Javier Becerra at 886-3734 or becerraj@caller.com
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© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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