Not really much of interest.
The International Hockey League (IHL) concluded its Semi-Annual Meeting this afternoon. Today was the second day of the Board of Governors meeting continued from Monday. The following items were discussed:
* A presentation was given to the Board of Governors by Cary Kaplan, President of Cosmo Sports.
* Results from the Mid-Season Evaluations of Officials were reviewed.
* The Annual Meetings will be held June 15-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* The scheduling meeting for the 2009-10 season will be held on May 27.
* Discussions were held regarding roster size and injured reserve rule changes for the 2009-10 season. These rules will not be finalized until the Annual Meeting, held in June.
Comments
Anyone feeling the IHL love tonight? http://www.mlive.com/generals/
Wonder why the IHL won't address this PR nightmare in a league that is in such strong ownership right now? Why won't this league take care of the players in Flint that are being put in a horrible situation? Is this the kind of marketing that the IHL wants to send out to the Hockey World when they try to be competitive in attracting quality hockey players into this league to entertain the paying fans? What a mess.
Blake, I know what the Franke line was a month ago about the ownership realignment in Flint....but why is this allowed to go on? Does David or Michael have any thoughts about the situation in Flint?
Is this league going down the toilet before our very eyes? Is this league going to be merged in the off-season with the ECHL or CHL? Or is this league going to fold and will be have professional hockey in Fort Wayne next season?
These are all honest questions.
Personally, Hit, I think we could see all of minor league hockey be restructured over the summer. Look at the attendance numbers and it's obvious more than half the teams in every league are losing money. There are all sorts of rumors out there about teams in other leagues possibly failing by the weekend.
Frankes are not commenting, except to say it will work itself out. I don't think the league will let Flint fail.
They won't let the fail this year, but if that ownership group can't purchase the arena there is no way that ownership survives. What is happening in Flint is not could for the league period. It is bad PR for future players who will wonder if it is just Flint or the entire league. The only team that has survived and has a good rep is Fort Wayne period. Every team in this league has new ownership the only stable ownership group is Fort Wayne. How can a league expect to attract good quality players and vet's to play in this league? I think for the most part right now that is the biggest question and yes this could hurt the K's because their association with this league. This is a 2 yr old league facing numerous problems while the ECHL and CHL may be facing problems with it's own membership, they have a long standing reputation as a stable overall league and players will go with what is a more stable league not a team in a league where the perception is that is not stable.
Truthfully, none of it matters. There will always be hockey here, the Komets will always be an attractive franchise to any league. Players won't wonder because they only go where they can get the most money. Period. That's all they care about, and I don't blame them for that. There might be 10 fewer teams next year so jobs will be that much tighter. ECHL and CHL are facing the same problems, but players don't care about the league, they care about the money. There were 100 minor league teams 10 years ago, there's something like 85 now, and there will be 75 or less next year. Players will always play because it beats getting a real job.
The other thing, do you think any more than 5 percent of the Komets fans really care what league they are in? Nope. They couldn't tell the difference anyway. All they care about is winning and having a good time.
It's an entertainment business built around athletics, not the other way around.
These problems have existed for decades, and they always will. Minor league owners always have to make their own mistakes, and they'll never learn from those made before them. Every era of the IHL has faced similar problems. It's just part of doing business in the minors. What's really crazy is that there are always more owners willing to give it a shot, and i'm not just talking hockey but every minor league sport. Owning a minor league sports team might be the true definition of insanity because only about 15 percent ever make any money out of it, and 99 percent of those come when they sell the team.
and the teams that understand this.......
It
I see on the Chicago Hounds website that it says "Coming In Spring 2009!" Any news on that Blake??
Well as a whole the entertainment around athletics for the IHL has been missing this year and at times just plain boring. Fort Wayne fans don't care about what league they are in but they do care about winning and tough physical hockey. This years club has not lived up to the tough physical aspect and with the injuries winning has been hard to come by. I don't think the talent level of this years club can come close to last year's club and we have the most to offer and we were a much more physical and tough club a year ago. The IHL has no room for mistakes because we only have 6 teams.
how can you be physical when you have that many injured and another undisclosed amount with undisclosed issues?
We just need to get healthy.
Burgee they started with the lack of physical play and toughness from day one. It was evident with the type of players they signed along the blue-line, with the exception of Beckett and he bolted. They did nothing to replace the type of player Beckett was along the blue-line. Guys are playing hurt and their is a big difference between that and injury. I don't like excuses being made for guys who have bumps and bruises for the reason for lack of phyiscal play if they can't play to their capacity then don't play them..
"I don
Ok so if the league is in so much trouble why do the team owners have their meetings in Las Vegas? It dosen't make any sense to have Flint on the verge of collapse and then hold annual meetings in Nevada for a weekend. Just one thing of many of why this league is in the state its in. The Frankies need to realize that they are on a sinking boat and if they don't jump ship things well continue to get much worse.
I am not calling them a "sissy" but if you are healthy enough to play the game then play them game. The K's have not come anywhere close to the physical play they showed last year, not even close. This team was never a physical team from the start as evident with the type of blue-line players that were signed and add to that the lack of physcial play by Bertram also added to that equation. When you look at the forward lines the physical play and toughness out of that group is almost non-existant. Last year we had a physical component on every line and guys willing to get dirty this year we are very soft plain in simple in 2 out of 3 line healthy or not. For a organization that has a lot to offer what has been put out on the ice this season, from a team stand point, is very weak. If the Frankes dump their money into most of the Vets that was a very risky gamble because it left them very little room to 1. sign tweeners and 2. make necessary changes in the roster because of cap space. So when they say their is nothing that can be done with their lineup because of cap issues they have handcuff themselves because of the money they are paying to their vets. The signing of Torino (sp) was a prime example of them not being able to make a significant impact on the roster. While he may be a very steady d-man the fact is he is 5-9 has no phyiscal nature about him. While I will agree with the fact we needed a body, he by no means improve the hockey club.