View CHL Map in a larger map

The Central Hockey League, the other CHL, grew this summer when it merged with the flailing International Hockey League. The CHL added five IHL teams while losing two of its own — in Amarillo and Corpus Christi. There will be 18 teams competing in the CHL in 2010-11, as seen in this map.

What's funny about this league is most obvious when you layer it with the ECHL map. (Save both to My Maps in your Google account to view them together.) The CHL perfectly fills in the ECHL's geographical gaps across the United States. It's actually quite something.

Compared with similar minor hockey leagues, the CHL is rather spread out. It's stretches from the Dakotas to the north all the way to the Mexican border, and from Arizona to Ohio. No wonder the league has been so unstable for years. Travel must be a nightmare.

I'm thinking the SPHL may be the next logo map. That or the USHL. Also have the NAHL and BCHL on the short list. Stay tuned.