Youngstown Out of The CHL
As of June 2, 2008, the CHL announced that the Steelhounds franchise would not be playing in the league. The CHL cited the reason for termination being non-payment of league dues. The Steelhounds and the league have had a dispute related to travel expenses since the franchise began in 2006. The Steelhounds explored joining the IHL or ECHL for the 2008-09 or 2009-10 season, as both leagues had teams located in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions, making them a better fit for the Steelhounds than the CHL (most of whose teams are in the Southern Plains and Southwest regions of the United States). The team's ownership engaged in talks with the IHL, and in previous seasons the Steelhounds have had exhibition games against ECHL teams.
After being kicked out of the league, and failing to quickly find a new league to play in for the upcoming 2008–2009 season, there was a mass exodus of top officials in the SteelHounds organization. On June 23, 2008 General Manager Joe Gregory resigned his position, and announced that he was hired as an Executive Vice President for the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. Then, Kevin 'Killer' Kaminski resigned his position as head coach on July 1, 2008. Then on July 2, 2008, the rival Mississippi RiverKings announced him as their new head coach, signed to an unheard of three-year contract.
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