From a Kalamazoo Wings release:
The Kalamazoo Wings announced that we submitted a letter to the International Hockey League to voluntarily withdraw from the league.
For 35 years, the K-Wings have created a long and honored history of producing great hockey that we and our fans take great pride in.
The Dayton Gems are taking tickets today, or rather reserverations for tickets. The team has scheduled its coming-out press conference for 10 a.m., June 9, with the first coach to be named then. Their season tickets cost $550, $450 and $350 and include exhibition games and parking.
The team is hoping to have its first home game on Oct. 31, which would be 45 years to the day of the old Dayton Gems' first IHL game. This is also the 50th anniversary of Hara Arena.
How do I know all this? Matt Goshert, the team's director of sales and marketing, is a 1999 Homestead graduate.
I talked to Michael Franke about Flint rumor No. 8793: "Everything in Flint is fine, and they will be at the league meetings in June, and they will be a member of the IHL in the 09-10 season. That's all we need to say."
Looks like Shreveport-Bossier of the CHL is in trouble. Maybe they'll end up in the SPHL.
First off, congrats to the Blackhawks on a great year. They are the best story in hockey this season and are going to be 10 times better next season just on the experience they gained this year. If they can get another veteran D-man, they could really be a cup contender.
What do you think? Can they take a game off them in Detroit Wednesday night?
I talked with Michael Franke today before running out to a tennis match, and he said expansion talks are continuing, and there's a lot going on in the industry right now.
"We feel good that we'll have some positive news to announce over the next couple of weeks," he said. "All the things we've been working on are progressing well."
Franke said he could not comment on Quad City or Dayton because he could not speak specifically about any city, other than saying, "They are both looking at our league right now."
He'll still call the Komets. You can read about it here, with a short excerpt from the book.
You can see the video of the announcement here.
New Haven-native and Army National Guard Sergeant First Class is going to skate this weekend in the Military Hockey Games at the Hamilton Center Ice Arena in Columbus, Indiana. This is the third year for the tournament which matches teams from the Army, Coast Guard, Marines, National Guard, Air Force, Air National Guard, Navy and Armed Forces for a tournament to raise money to support our troops. The game are from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
One question for you Steve: Are you nuts? LOL Didn't you just have knee surgery?
The Blackhawks didn't win, but they really showed me something tonight. That was truly a battle all over the ice.
