The United Hockey League is adding another division for the 2004-05 season and, apparently, another team.

 

The executive committee announced numerous on- and off-ice changes for the upcoming season Wednesday.

 

In the press release, the league included a 14-team, three-division alignment for the upcoming season.

 

The problem?

 

They’ve added two expansion franchises this offseason to the 11 teams that participated in the league in 2003-04.

 

The Quad-City Mallards will remain in the Western Division, along with the Fort Wayne Komets, Missouri River Otters, Rockford IceHogs, and perhaps Kansas City, which the Kansas City Star reported in May would be the UHL’s newest franchise.

 

The league would not comment on Kansas City being the 14th franchise when the QUAD-CITY TIMES contacted them a few weeks ago, and the press release lists “Expansion Team” as the fifth member of the Western Conference.

 

The Eastern Division will have four teams — Adirondack Frostbite, Elmira Jackals, Richmond RiverDogs and the Danbury Trashers, an expansion team — while the Central Division will consist of all Michigan teams, including the Motor City Mechanics, another expansion franchise, Flint Generals, Kalamazoo Wings, Port Huron Beacons and Muskegon Fury, the defending champions.

 

The league also switched playoff formats, as the top two teams in each division as well as the two teams with the next highest point total will qualify for the postseason. All three rounds will be best-of-seven series, with the teams being reseeded after the first round.

 

The Mallards will play 40 games at The Mark of the Quad-Cities in 2004-05, as the league increased the amount of games from 76 to 80 and raised the salary cap to $260,000 — up from $250,000 last year — to compensate for the expanded schedule.

 

Several other changes were made for the 2004-05 season:

 

• Teams will be allowed to have seven veterans — players who have played in more than 280 professional games — on their rosters.

 

• Players will not need to touch the puck for icing infractions. Play will be whistled dead once the puck crosses the goal line.

 

• The league will experiment in the preseason by taking out the red line, thus eliminating two-line passes.

 

July 8th, 2004