 The Central Hockey League announced that Canadian developer John Barath had been awarded an expansion franchise in Texarkana for the 2000-01 season.The expansion team’s arrival was met with skepticism when the "Texarkana Gazette" reported that Barath had previously abandoned the Tucson Gila Monsters, a team he earlier had owned in the West Coast Hockey League.Operating from the CHL’s smallest market, the team was already in trouble by November of its inaugural season, both on and off the ice.