Dallas Freeze

Central Hockey League (1992-1995)

Background

The Dallas Freeze were one of six founding members of the Central Hockey League (CHL) upon that circuit’s creation in 1992.

The CHL was a revival of an earlier league of the same name that played in many of the same cities between 1963 and 1984. The Dallas Black Hawks (1967-1982) were a league power in the old CHL. The Hawks maintained a rollicking, violent local rivalry with the CHL’s Fort Worth Wings/Texans who operated for the very same fifteen season stretch between 1967 and 1982.

Like the Black Hawks before them, the Freeze played at Fair Park Coliseum in South Dallas, a somewhat down-at-the-heels district east of downtown. Founders of the new CHL took pains to restore many of the original league’s markets, including setting up a new Dallas-FTW rivalry between the Freeze and the Fort Worth Fire. The other original CHL cities in 1992 were Memphis, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Wichita, all of which hosted teams in the old CHL.

Of course, some things had changed since the classic Black Hawks/CHL days of the 1970’s. For one thing, founder Ray Miron set up the league as a single-entity corporation, where the league owned each franchise rather than local franchise owners. And, most importantly, the National Hockey League had set its eyes on Dallas. In 1993, as the Freeze were about to enter their second season, the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas at took up residence at Reunion Arena just five miles away from the Freeze’s home base at Fair Park.

In Competition

1980’s-era NHL veteran Ron Flockhart (Flyers, Penguins, Blues) coached the Freeze for the team’s entire three-year existence..

Dallas posted winning seasons in 1992-93 and again in 1993-94 but suffered first round playoff exits to cap off each campaign. In the their final season in 1994-95, the Freeze finished in last place in the 7-team CHL with a 24-36-6 record.

Wayne Anchikoski (102 goals, 126 assists) and Troy Binnie (104 goals, 99 assists) were the Freeze’s top two all-time scorers. Both Anchikoski and Binnie played in all three of the Freeze’s CHL seasons.

No one who played for the Freeze ever advanced to the National Hockey League after leaving the CHL. However, center Jim McGeough (Freeze ’93-’95) played parts of four NHL seasons in the 1980’s and right wing Richard Hajdu (Freeze ’92’-’93) and goaltender Mike Zanier (Freeze ’92-’93) both enjoyed a couple of games in the senior circuit before arriving in Dallas.

Demise

Dallas was a problem child for the Central Hockey League from inception. The team played at a shopworn arena in what CHL Media Relations Director Jason Rothwell would later call “[not] the greatest part of town”.⁴Munn, Scott. “Financial Woes Force Dallas From CHL”. The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK). April 21, 1995 The club finished last in the CHL in attendance (4,427 per game) during the league’s inaugural season. Then the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas ahead of the Freeze’s second season and announced attendance for the minor league club crashed a further 35%.

The Freeze reportedly lost half a million dollars during the 1993-94 season and that amount again or more in 1994-95.⁵Munn, Scott. “Financial Woes Force Dallas From CHL”. The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK). April 21, 1995 While that kind of red ink might have been acceptable to a rich oil man toying with the club as a hobby, it was unacceptable for a single-entity, centrally owned league trying to bootstrap its way to survival. The CHL closed down the Dallas Freeze after three seasons in April 1995. It was the first of the league’s original six clubs to go out of business.

The Central Hockey League eventually disbanded after 22 seasons in October 2014.

Dallas Freeze Shop

Links

Central Hockey League Media Guides

Central Hockey League Programs 1992-2014

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