Denver, CO Awarded Expansion Franchise For 2012-13

[chilly666]

GLENDALE, AZ (April 10, 2012) – The CHL announced on Tuesday that a team in Denver, Colorado has been granted franchise rights for the 2012-13 season. The announcement was made at a press conference at the Denver Coliseum, the new home of the Denver CHL franchise.

The Denver CHL franchise’s investment group is led by John A. Hayes who is president and CEO of the Broomfield-based Ball Corporation.

“It’s a great day in the City of Denver,” said Duane Lewis, CHL Commissioner. “We are very excited to partner with John Hayes and his staff as well as the City of Denver and welcome them into the Central Hockey League. We are very confident that the Denver CHL franchise will reflect John’s (Hayes) dedication, work ethic and success and will be one of the elite franchises in the league. Denver has such a rich hockey past and present and we are very pleased to have the CHL a part of Denver’s hockey future.”

The team also introduced some of the people that will be tasked with running the franchise as Brad Lund was announced as the team’s President, Brent Cullaton is the team’s Assistant General Manager and Director of Hockey Operations and Derek Armstrong was introduced as the team’s head coach.

“My family, my business and my roots are in Colorado and it was personally important for me to locate this franchise in my hometown,” said Hayes. “These teams provide significant help for local economies and this is a unique way to be involved in my community.”

“I started my pro career here and now I have the opportunity to get back to the city and continue my career as a coach, which is wonderful,” said Armstrong. “It’s a great city. I’m excited to be involved with the game I love and I’m looking forward to getting started for next season.”

The Denver Coliseum opened in 1952 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and is owned and operated by Arts & Venues Denver, a division of the City and County of Denver. In its past, the Denver Coliseum has hosted the International Hockey League’s Denver Mavericks (1958-59), the Western Hockey League’s Denver Invaders (1963-64), the Western Hockey League’s Denver Spurs (1968-76) and the International Hockey League’s Denver Rangers (1987-89).

“Hockey has been a part of the Coliseum’s history almost since the beginning and we’re excited to see it return,” said Kent Rice, Arts & Venues Denver Executive Director. “The CHL is putting its trust and assets into this community and we’re extremely proud.”

The team announced that they will announce the team name, colors and unveil the logo in the near future.

[The_Sheriff]

Going to be named the Cutthroats. Pretty excited...a lot of great hockey in this state nowadays.

[GODARDNYI]

i can't believe they're going to be name after a trout......a trout?

[woeisme]

Better then a pig!

[The_Sheriff]

Word on the street (yeah I said it) Is that Ben Guite is going to be brought in to captain the team...

[The Rover]

I'm not familiar with the size of the city or fanbase in Denver. Basically, is it large enough to successfully house both the Avalanche and the CHL team or is the CHL team going to fold in five years because it cannot compete with the NHL?

[chilly666]

The team is still unnamed, though the name "Denver Cutthroats" has been registered with the city and the U.S. patent office. A generic website advertises season tickets requiring an initial deposit of $50. The name and logo is expected to be unveiled in a couple of weeks.

The team's name is likely to be "Denver Cutthroats," in honor of the official state fish of Colorado — the greenback cutthroat trout.

Link

[pigfarmer]

Originally Posted by GODARDNYI

i can't believe they're going to be name after a trout......a trout?

And you have to admit, that is one bad ass name for a fish!

[chilly666]

Denver, CO – 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. The team’s colors consist of green, blue, red, and white, and the team took its name in honor of the state fish of Colorado – the Greenback Cutthroat Trout.

“It’s a great looking logo that really incorporates a lot of what the state of Colorado is about,” said head coach Derek Armstrong. “Colorado has always been an active state with beautiful scenery and the logo focuses on that between the Cutthroat Trout, the mountains, the water, and the colors. There’s no other logo like it in hockey.”

The Denver-based company, Adrenalin, had the responsibility of developing the team’s logo and color scheme.

“We wanted to be sure the logo included elements and colors that depict the state of Colorado and the city of Denver,” said Adrenalin President Dan Price. “The trout maintains a position between white mountain peaks and river rapids, and breaks through a forward moving ‘D’ — representative of Denver's progressive population.”

The Cutthroat Trout was named Colorado’s state fish in 1994.