The
Central Professional Hockey League was a minor professional
ice hockey league that operated in the
United States from 1963 to 1984. Named the
Central Hockey League for the
1968–69 season and forward, it was owned and operated by the
National Hockey League and served as a successor to the
Eastern Professional Hockey League, which had folded after the 1962–63 season. Four of the CHL's initial franchises were, in fact, relocations of the previous year's
EPHL teams, while the fifth came from the
International Hockey League. Its founding president was
Jack Adams, who served in the role until his death in 1968. The CHL's championship trophy was called the
Adams Cup in his honor.