1.) Sundogs Raise the Banner
2.) Coaching Debuts
3.) Expansion Craze
4.) Rivalry Friday Night

1- The Arizona Sundogs will raise the CHL Championship banner on Friday night in their first game of the season and the first of back-to-back games versus their Southwest Division rival Odessa Jackalopes.  Head Coach Marco Pietroniro’s team is missing some of last season’s top performers like Alex Leavitt, Tyler Redenbach, Cory Urquhart and Rob McVicar, all of who will be tough to replace, but off-season signings Joel Irving (6-4, 225) and Cory Stillman (6-2, 211) give the ‘Dogs a BIG forward presence.

2- Three coaches will make their head coaching debuts this weekend and exactly half the teams will have coaches that were not behind the bench for their current team this time last year.  The rookies are Chris Brooks (RGV), Sylvain Cloutier (CRP) and Brent Bilodeau (WIC).  Coaches who are making their opening night debuts with their current teams are Kevin Kaminski (MIS), Dan Hodge (TUL), Joe Ferras (RPD), Kevin McClelland (COL) and Tom Coolen (AMA).  Last season, there were only three new coaches – Randy Murphy in New Mexico, Dan Wildfong in Texas and Paul Gillis in Odessa – with only Widfong winning his debut.

3- The Rapid City Rush make their regular season debut with a pair of games versus the defending Northern Conference Champion Colorado Eagles.  The Rush open the season with a CHL record-tying 14-game road trip and do not play at home until Saturday, November 29^th as their home facility is being completed (the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Arena).  The Rush went 1-1 in pre-season defeating Rocky Mountain and losing to the Eagles.
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4- There are seven games on the schedule for the CHL’s opening night with three of those games feature match-ups with great rivalries.  The Oklahoma City Blazers will host the Tulsa Oilers, the New Mexico Scorpios welcome the Amarillo Gorillas and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs face the Texas Brahmas.