Hockey: UHL expands, announces rule changes for 2004-05

The United Hockey League has announced that it has expanded to 14 teams for the upcoming 2004-05 season.

The league started with 12 teams last season, but lost one when the Columbus Stars folded on January 9, 2004 due to financial reasons.

The league now covers seven states, from Missouri all the way to Connecticut. The state of Michigan has the most teams in the league with five.

The newest member of the league, Kansas City Professional Hockey, was announced as an expansion team in early July.

The second team in Missouri, Kansas City has yet to be named.

The KC franchise plays only nine of the other 13 teams.

They don't have a scheduled game against Richmond (VA), Elmira (NY), Adirondack (NY), or Danbury (CT.)

Kansas City faces off with their I-70 Rival Missouri 18 times in 2004-05.

They open their regular season on Friday, October 15 vs. Missouri at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

The fifth team in Michigan is the Motor City Mechanics.

The Mechanics, who play in Fraser, Michigan, are fortunate enough to play the remaining 13 teams, including the reigning Colonial Cup Champion Muskegon Fury 14 times.

Motor City will play their 40 home games at the Great Lakes Sports City Superior Arena, which has a capacity of 3,200.

The Mechanics open their regular season at home on October 15th vs. the Kalamazoo Wings.

The final expansion team for the 2004-05 campaign is located up north in Danbury, Connecticut.

The Thrashers will play their home games at the Danbury Ice Arena.

Danbury won't take the ice against Kansas City, Missouri, or the Quad City Mallards, however, they open their season at home on October 15th, against the renamed Adirondack Frostbite.

For pre-season games, the UHL has elected to remove the center line to eliminate two-line passes and to increase scoring opportunities.

During the regular season, the league will use the automatic icing rule to prevent injuries.

From now on, if the puck is iced, the whistle is blown as soon as the puck crosses the end goal line.

Also, due to an increase in the number of games that will be played (80), the salary cap has been increased to $260,000.00.

With 14 teams in the league, there are now three (3) divisions instead of the previous two (2) conferences.

The Western division will include Fort Wayne, Quad City, Missouri, Rockford, and Kansas City.

Muskegon, Flint, Port Huron, Kalamazoo, and Motor City will play in the Central division, and the remaining teams of Adirondack, Elmira, Richmond, and Danbury will play in the Eastern Division.

Along with the division alignment changes, the Colonial Cup playoff format has changed a little.

The top two teams in each division, based on points, will qualify, along with the two teams with the next highest point total.

The division winners will be seeded 1-3 based on points, and the five remaining teams will be seeded 4-8, based on points.

Teams will be re-seeded after the first round is completed.

The higher seeded team will retain home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, with each round in the Colonial Cup playoffs being a best-of-seven series.