He and the other IHL owners will be going to the CHL meetings Thursday in Phoenix. These will remain two separate organizations essentially forming a business partnership. There will be inter-league play, an all-star game and playoff formats to be determined. A lot of this is to be determined over the next month.
``The thing you have to understand is that the CHL is a publicly traded company so that goes into what you can and cannot say right now until we get the logistical stuff taken care of. With the Securities and Exchange Commission you can not promote any details until they are final and complete.'
Both leagues will operate under one rulebook, more in line with NHL rules, but the IHL will maintain separate record books, league offices and officiating staffs. Basically, everything will be announced after the CHL meetings this week and the IHL meetings June 21-23.
This was all driven by economics.
``As a board, we felt that reaching out and coming up with some sort of affiliation was very important due to the economic structure of Michigan and the upper Midwest,'' Franke said. ``There's not going to be any further questions or concerns whether the IHL with its midwestern core is going to be able to support itself over the long haul."
As for the ECHL, Franke declined to comment.
``We tried to make the six-hour, the seven-hour geographic footprint work over the last three years, but the bottom line with the way the economy has gone, there are not enough cities right now to create the size of league we felt was necessary and prudent for us to move forward by ourselves.
Comments
Okay, so they don't need X number of teams to gain VISA's.......so let's just allow a 4 team league playing 70+ games against each other and a four round playoff format.
Blake, are you saying that E-Ville still may be a possibility for this year?? And I would venture to say that the IHL/CHL is def. going to help the prospect of getting a team in the new arena in the next coming years.
Yep, been saying that loud and clear for two weeks. Does nobody on here read the actual paper? LOL. I think they are still going to have six IHL teams and play 10-12 games against CHL teams. So you play each IHL team 10 times. Not bad.
If you are Evansville, AAHL may be going away because there may be no one to play. Why not coming into the IHL a year early so you are ready to hit the ground running in two years when the new building opens? You don't want to go into a new building with a total expansion franchise when you can have all your people, including coaches and players, in place and knowing what they are doing. You've got to figure you are going to lose money the first year anyway, but what if you could go into the new building expecting to make money right away because you have experienced people in place?
There are a TON of potential expansion cities between the two leagues right now that suddenly become a lot more viable. Memphis, Lousiville, Kansas City, St. Charles. They all fit nicely in between.
Kind of what I thought would happen, I do this stuff all the time. Got a haircut and a great tan today.
Interesting that the Michigan Warriors don't have a signed lease with Perani Arena yet. Ironic that a building that had to go bankrupt a few months ago now has two leagues trying to move in.
You're funny, Burgee.
I agree Blake, but remember, there is no certainty that E-Ville is a lock for a pro team......
If you are referring to me Runningkomet, possibly wanting an apology, I wouldn't even think of it. I just always thought it was overly rude to call people idiot's because they try to bring some different scenario's to the "hockey" blog. I wouldn't figure they would agree, I'm pretty sure a lot of Fort Wayne fans would still turn-out for a 4 team league, winning championship after championship. This is not a hockey town, if it was, people would of been more outraged about the product on the ice we've been watching and I could get a hockey game on at BW3's in November w/o being glared at.
I'm just excited that this is a hockey blog, I thought it was turning into a Leisure and Lifetime Activities blog.
Evansville. Thats spectacular. What's thier "arena" hold? The one the play in, not the fancy new one thats being built and is all but leased to a USHL team.
I will offer my apologies for misinforming on the visa thing originally... Guess I was still working off two years ago in that regard... Ooops!
Unfortunatly I will miss the Early Bird Special, since there still isnt enough info out there to go on to commit for next season for me personally... I am eargerly waiting on more info to be released!
This is the first step, of hopefully many, in the right direction for a more sane minor league hockey landscape... I think the ECHL wet the bed on this one. They let the "enemy" in the back yard without a fight. I hope they have those golden parachutes to utilize when they fall off thier high horse....
It might hold 1,500 with more seats. Like Port Huron, Evansville's owner is very rich. Believe me, he can afford to take a loss for a year if it helps him make money the next year. Because he's a smart businessman, and I'm sure he's expecting to lose money his first year as you would with any first-year pro team. This might actually allow him to turn a profit quicker by doing it this way.
Again JM there are no perfect answers. It's minor league hockey.
Foks, even if this works out for this season, and we really don't know, we're going to be having this exact same conversation again next year at this time. It's becoming so common they might as well put it on the schedule. It's always going to be this way.
The ECHL wanted a couple of the IHL franchises, they just didn't want them all. Since its June and 2 of them don't even have a lease, I can't say I blame them. People are questioning thier "business model"? I question the CHL for getting involved with this. In all honesty, what does the CHL gain? The Komets, Bloomy whose attendance drops every year, and they struggle to break even, and QC, who might be a viable franchise, and Dayton...all 1200 of them.
Thank you Blake for all the latest information. I think (if anyone cares) we just need to wait a little bit longer. I feel very confident that will come out of those meetings will be a stronger IHL & CHL. It is very enjoyable to read everyone's ideas on how and what business men should or shouldn't do with their money. In the end there will be Komet Hockey. For me that is the bottom line. I enjoy Cool-Aid so I'll keep drinking it. I have an inside source (Burgee) who told me the Coliseum is going to be selling Cool-Aid Foo Foo's next season. They will most likely be overpriced like everything else in the building. Thanks again Blake you got a lot of information in one day.
I can not figure out what this does for either league. The company that owns the CHL lost money in their operations. In fact their stock is trading at near record low of 20 cents a share. I am wondering if the current owners of the IHL are going to end up buying in to GE.
Very interesting.
Hoping the Komets don't ever have to make trips to Louisiana or anywhere else on the other side of the world. Not good business and I would have to forever burn my Mudbugs tee shirt if the Komets had to play them.
Welcome back Blake. Are you sure it wasn't you having secret meetings with both leagues last week and coming back with all of this news? Glad you got a little break before the tidal wave hits.
The IHL doesn't need 6 teams to have foriegn work visas, Quad City has a working agreement with the Philadelphia Flyers, so the IHL has a loophole.
what does this do for the chl??? as we have said all along, minor league hockey as it stands now is a losing propisition. leagues need to re design themselves and locate teams geographicly. this is what the komets have been preaching since they redid the ihl. obviously the chl is listening and this year will be a great experiment to be the first step towards redoing all of minor league hockey. think of this affiliation as major league baseball. two seperate leagues who play their own schedules and their own rules. they have limited inter league play which counts in the standings and they meet each year for an all star game and at the end of the year for a championship. i think this is what youll hear when they dot all the i's and cross all the t's. this will also open it up a little for some new franchises that are kinda on the border line because of travel distances.
Does the visa have to be stamped on the players passport for it to be valid?
Burgee, send me your Visa number and I'll be glad to show you how it works.
Next time I think I'll stay quiet, not go out on a limb with my idea's or opinion's whether right or wrong and then tell everyone "I told you so"...
Or I hope nobody ever comments on where the Government or any other business spends 'thier' money then gets mad when fans comment on where they would like 'thier' favorite team to spend 'thier' money...
I really want to believe this is the start of something better and not another smokescreen.
Bob Chase said on the Pat Miller show that the IHL is keeping the Muskegon franchise together: players, coach, announcer, equipment, etc. and are looking for another city to move it to. Could this be Evansville? Could it be St. Charles? Could it be Chicago/Hoffman Estates?
He also said Port Huron coming back is a longshot because of the Arena there, the city/county that runs it, allowed the Icehawks to run it last season and it made money, so now the government wants it back and there is serious strife between the team and the arena now.
Could Kinney go to Flint and make it work? I say heck yes. A real owner, with real marketing, with real resources, in a real arena, with maybe even real fans to draw from.......You can do it Kinney. You da man.
I am 50/50 on this thing so far. I see both positives and negatives both ways.
They need 2-4 more teams in the IHL or IHL Division to make this thing real.
I got your message on K-Zoo..
Sounds like the IHL owners basically have no problem watching K-Zoo die in the ECHL and watch them either go to the Junior ranks, or die all together. They have screwed themselves. They will play Toledo, Cincy, and Elmira all season over and over. How fun? And do it with high expenses. And their new arena they want....well, I have read that the ne downtown arena they want, it is not looking good. They keep re-drawing the plans, last time I looked, they were down to about 5500 seats to 6000 and still, they can't agree to build it or not.
Would be nice if we can add 2-4 new teams. Then I would say this is solid....right now, it doesn't appear real solid. But we will see I guess.
Hit,
Nothing in minor league sports ( or even major league) is solid now.
Look at baseball. The Blue Jays and D rays are two of the best teams in baseball and neither can draw more than 15,000 most nights. It used to be that winning would bring out the fair weather fans. Not in this economy. Even the NHL playoff games did not sell out in many of the earlier rounds. The Komets will do what they have to do to survive and if that means playing in a four team league I think they will in order to keep the doors open. I know some "fans" want the Franke family to sell the team (funniest thing I have read yet) or go dark until they can join some super league.
I am glad they are doing what they have to do in order to survive and thrive and being fiscally responsible so that this city doesn't become like 99% of the others wondering from one year to the next if the team will be back.
I agree.
But my opinion is that if there were 2-4 more teams in this deal....i would say this is ideal.
What is wrong with that thought?
I am hearing there may be 2 teams added to this deal.
Evansville or Flint, not both......and one other team.....my guess St. Charles or Chicago.....
I will play wait and see.
Flint has to be done tomorrow, or they are toast as it sounds....but reading Savages article sounds like there is a real chance they get a lease deal and Kinney gets a team in this thing.
I know in one of the articles I read Hextal said right now only 4 teams are committed; but by the time they go to the desert there could be as many as 7.... Lotsa stuff happening in a very short amount of time....
I bet the magic number is 6.
Snuffy is on his/her/its game tonight.
Hit, isn't there a picture of you kissing a pig posted on this blog somewhere? Had tootsie rolls tonight which reminded me of pigs on tthe ice which reminded me of hit smooching pigs
Burgee, I would never kiss LGKomets momma.....lol
Lol Burgee.
Hit, I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting two or more teams. I welcome it. But...I'd rather have six stable teams than 8 teams with the fear of the other 2 folding mid season as we have had to deal with in Dayton and Flint this past season.
I just want stability. It isn't going to happen in this day and age and maybe has never happened in minor league sports but in my land of make believe, that is what I want to see.
Steve Martinson "fired" by Elmira /not many big PIM players in CHL :(
i hope they could add some teams and come up with 8 teams . six will be ok for a year with interleague play but 8 would be nice. i f this thing works all the fringe teams and some of the other cities might be more willing to come in next year. i too am 50 50 on this but instead of cutting it apart i want it to succed so we can have entertaining hockey for years to come.
Well said, chuckitt.