On Thursday, the Rapid City Rush announced the signing of three new forwards for the 2012-13 campaign. The Rush have acquired center Damian Surma from the Dayton Gems along with forwards Rusty Masters and A.J. Hau from the Laredo Bucks.

“Announcing three players today that all possess great character, work ethic and grit, is great for our hockey club,” said Rush Head Coach Joe Ferras. “At the same time, these are three players that bring different skill sets and qualities that will be valuable pieces of the puzzle.”

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The European exodus continues for Rapid City Rush players.

Forwards Shawn Limpright and Konrad Reeder have reportedly signed  to play in the French League for the 2012-2013 season. Read More at: rapidcityjournal.com

It’s difficult to tell who is more excited about Colt King signing with the Missouri Mavericks – the veteran power forward or coach Scott Hillman.

“When I left Sheffield and was looking for a new team,” said King, who played in England last season, “Missouri was at the top of my list. When I played with Rapid City, we always looked forward to coming to Independence because there was so much passion in the building. It will be fun to have that passion supporting me this time around. I can’t wait for the season to start.” Read More at: examiner.net

The Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League announced today the signing of goalie Larry Sterling for the 2012-13 season.

Sterling, an eight-year veteran, played 37 games last season for the Dayton Gems and recorded a .922 save percentage, third best in the CHL. Read more at: tulsaoilers.com

The Arizona Sundogs have been hard at work this offseason, searching for players they hope will help turn around the franchise, which has suffered through three straight losing seasons.

The Sundogs will likely keep only one player from last year’s squad, Adam Smyth, who re-signed with the team in April. However, the team hasn’t ruled out bringing back other former players, but it is unlikely. Read more at: prescottdailycourier.com

The Tulsa Oilers announced today the signing of a forward Ryan Menei for the 2012-13 season.

Menei, who spent last season with Cortina SG of Italy’s Serie A, was selected as a finalist for the CHL’s Most Valuable Player Award for his outstanding play with the Rapid City Rush during the 2010-11 campaign .Read more at: tulsaoilers.com

Winning a Central Hockey League Franchise of the Year award at the league’s annual Spring Conference is considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

To win it in back-to-back years is unprecedented.

Yet, that’s exactly what the Missouri Mavericks did this week in Las Vegas, where the third-year team brought home eight of the top 15 awards. Read more at: examiner.net

The Quad City Mallards were named the Central Hockey League’s Community Relations Franchise of the Year last night at the awards banquet that concluded the CHL’s annual spring conference in Las Vegas.

The 2011-12 season saw the Mallards make donations worth over $140,000 to organizations throughout the Quad Cities area while Mallards players and staff- as well as the team’s mascot Mo Mallard- made nearly 100 appearances over the course of the campaign. Read more at: myqcmallards.com

The Wichita Thunder celebrated a remarkable season this past Wednesday night at the 2012 Central Hockey League Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada and were nominated for 10 of the 15 awards that were handed out while taking home one.

With the ever-changing world of technology and social media, the Central Hockey League honored the Thunder with the New Media Franchise of the Year Award. Read more at: wichitathunder.com

The Central Hockey League’s (CHL) 17th annual Spring Conference concluded on Wednesday night at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas with the league’s awards banquet honoring the top front office executives and team achievements from the 2011-12 season.

Earning more than half of the awards, the Missouri Mavericks stole the show taking home eight of the 15 awards announced including the CHL Franchise of the Year (second straight season the Mavs have earned the league’s highest organizational honor). Read more at: centralhockeyleague.com

Brent Thiessen chuckles when recounting a recent conversation he had with a Missouri Mavericks fan.

“People always seem to think that since the season is over, we just shut the office, go out and play golf and have fun,” said Thiessen, the president and general manager of the Central Hockey League team that has called the Independence Events Center its home the past three years. Read More at: examiner.net

The Central Hockey League (CHL) will hold its 17th annual “˜Spring Conference’ beginning on Tuesday, May 22 running through Wednesday, May 23 with delegates from all CHL teams participating in league meetings, presentations and workshops. This year’s conference will be held at the MGM Grand Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Coach Scott Hillman has signed a two-year contract extension with the Missouri Mavericks that will run through the 2014 season.

The Central Hockey League team made the announcement Friday afternoon.  “This was a no-brainer,” Mavericks president and general manager Brent Thiessen said. “If you look at where we were in year one to where we are now, it was an easy decision to bring Scott back.

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The Central Hockey League’s new Denver franchise announced today the team name will be the Cutthroats. The Denver Cutthroats have also released their seating sections, season ticket and game day prices for their upcoming inaugural season, which is scheduled to begin in October 2012 at the historic Denver Coliseum.

The Cutthroats will bring professional hockey back to the Coliseum for the first time in 13 years, hosting 33 regular season games.

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The Rapid City Rush announced today that they have acquired defenseman Justin Sawyer from the Wichita Thunder and forward David Solway from the Tulsa Oilers as the future considerations from previous trades during the season.

Sawyer was selected by the Rush as the futures from the Jarred Mohr trade that sent the defenseman to the Thunder just prior to the start of the season.

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In a letter to fans posted on their website Thursday, the Dayton Gems announced they are going out of business, bringing an end to another chapter in the long and often rocky history of professional hockey in the Miami Valley.

The news was hardly shocking considering ownership partners Kathy Rupp, Dr. Paul Nitz and Rob Garfield had announced this past season probably would be the team’s last without new investors. read more at: daytondailynews.com

The Central Hockey League continued to shrink Thursday, leaving the Quad-City Mallards as one of only two teams remaining in the league east of the Mississippi River.

The Evansville IceMen and Fort Wayne Komets both held news conferences Thursday to announce that they are leaving the CHL for the ECHL, confirming what many around the league suspected would happen for several months. Read more at: qctimes.com

The Missouri Mavericks will not have to worry about taking on the defending Central Hockey League champion Fort Wayne Komets next season.

Nor will the Mavs have to plan road trips to Evansville or Dayton.

That’s because the league announced Thursday that it will end its two-year agreement with the International Hockey League, and the Fort Wayne, Evansville and Dayton franchises will no longer be affiliated with the CHL. Read more at: examiner.net