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.
Pascal Morency is likely returning to Bridgeport.
Here's a story about Dayton hockey.
Kevin Kaminski has re-signed in Memphis.
Comments
Sorry to hear about the Mudbugs. I guess Saidachev will be on the move again.
As for the Flint story, I see everything is back to normal around here. Lol.
In the meantime, if anyone would like another glimpse at the Komets most recent championship, I now have my photos from May 8 up on Flickr -- 88 in all. That's 19 more than last year's set. The majority of them are post game. There's a little bit of everything in there -- even a couple of artsy shots I couldn't resist. So check them out. And as always, I encourage you to look at them individually as well for a glimpse into how my strange little mind works. Warning: I'm an MST3K fan, so there you go. :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23197874@N03/sets/72157618868686785/
Wendy you're right about Saidachev.... moving again right back to the Fort for next year!!!!
Blake, I can't help but notice that Franke states "member". Not "team", or "franchise". They could retain membership but not play (like the Hounds), correct? So it doesn't mean hockey next year in Flint necessarily.
Also a hot rumor going around the K-Wings messsage board that Kalamazoo is no longer a part of the IHL -- that either the franchise alone has plain left the league and that's why Pickard stepped down, or the league is merging with the ECHL (the rumor that won't go away it seems).
http://www.wingsstadium.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=831
It's worth noting that the exact same rumor was circulating in Muskegon about the Jacks about a week ago.
Dayton also released a new Gems logo and prospective colors tonight on the Hara Arena website.
This is all getting absolutely insane. Someone needs to clarify what's going on...
I heard a rumor today that Jessica Biel is leaving Justin Timberlake for me, too. Hey, it could happen!
Wendy, your pictures work fine on this blog for me. They are really good.Any pictures of Mitch Woods with the cup from 2yrs. ago? Iwould be interested in buying one.
Hoffa is buried under an IHL arena or prospective IHL arena and Pickard left his commish post to have more time to search for his body. He will be joined in the search by Jim Hawthorne.
Blake, I totally respect what you have reported and thank you for asking the questions of Mr. Franke.
Tell you what, Hit, I'll start responding to all the rumors if the bloggers and posters on message boards start using their real names so then we can judge who has credibility and who doesn't. Put your money where your mouths are. Be "real" reporters and put your credibility on the line. Don't hide behind screen names if you are wrong. Then let's see how brave everyone is on posting things. Like the saying there are lots of brave drunks, there are lots of brave posters who don't have to use thier real names and there are no consequences if they just throw anything up.
Every time I try to go and get the answers, people just use those to start more rumors and bring up more crap. So what's the point? It's not worth the time and energy, and it's simply too nice a day today to worry about this kind of stuff. Plus, I've got a few other responsibilities at the paper that at this time of year have to take priority.
Besides half the people wouldn't believe them anyway so we'll all just have to wait and see. Enjoy the beautiful weather and the weekend.
So when do the space aliens come into this? Hey, wow... This is starting to sound like a Sci-Fi channel original movie! :D
mightbite: Yeah, no offense to IC, but the link just posts better over here. Still, I plan to mention it over there too, because some people never come here.
Actually, I did get one of Woods and the Cup... or base of the cup as it were. It's clear enough, though it needed a little manual brightening. And it's at an angle from the back at a bit of a distance. As I recall, he didn't skate around with it very much, so that was the best I could do. I do have the negative (Henley only nicked the one that had his picture on it) or I can send you a jpeg if you gve me an email address. You can decide if it is good enough to buy.
Sorry for asking. Just hearing more and more things out there and was curious. The Flint situation is less than "Fine" and for anyone to think it is just "fine" is not looking at things clearly. Was Flint just fine last season when Mr. Franke and Mr. Pickard said they were?
I didn't mean any harm in my questions.
Just hoping the IHL is "fine" this coming season is all. My season ticket balance is paid in full.
Blake -
You realize a simple call to the Flint and Kalamazoo box offices would verify or deny these rumors for yourself? You may not believe any of us, but I would think for you as a reporter that at least a phone call or two would be made. The claims being made by fans are from contacting the box offices/arenas directly. They're not calling up the Frankes...
Why do the bloggers have to supply "real" names to be sources? There's nothing WE can do to convince you. We're not trying to even. What we're trying to do is tip you off so you can use your own journalistic credibility to then find out for yourself and then (hopefully) pass the info on to us. Because we, as IHL fans, want to know.
Isn't calling an arena or box office a "source" for a reporter? There's more to the IHL then just calling up the Frankes and seeing what they say. It's entirely possible that some teams are attempting to pull an end-around on them, given Fort Wayne's power in the league.
I'm not saying the rumors are or aren't true.. I am however a bit disappointed in your own lack of interest in at least checking them out outside of calling Franke.
Let's talk about something else. We just won back to back championships, no hockey talk for 30 days, let's bash the ECHL for a while.
Burgee -
Some of us who post on here aren't Fort Wayners though. And the back-to-back Cups are, outside of Fort Wayne, a very dicey thing -- people don't like the fact that the Frankes own the Komets *and* (by many opinions) then control the IHL league itself. It doesn't reflect very well on the league.
No thanks. I'd rather talk about the league state and well being, not the Komets.
LOL, didn't realize I worked for Primis, but I sure wish he made out my schedule. Not sure how I got drafted to be the voice of the IHL, but guys, even I'm allowed to have time off, and like I said, I have other responsibilities. The earliest I'm going to have time to check into this is Monday. Good night, and everybody enjoy a beautiful Sunday.
Then why are you coming onto a KOMETS blog if you don't want to hear about THE BACK-T0-BACK IHL TURNER CUP CHAMPION FORT WAYNE KOMETS?
I do think the post by our beloved reporter was a bit snappy though. I understand you get tired of hearing rumors, as we all do, but it's nothing to get all fired up about. Just post some smack about your Red Wings beating Pittsburgh tonight and all will be well again. We're all just curious about what's going on because we are all huge fans and everyone wants to feel like they have the inside scoop on something, so they put it on here. We don't all get to "break stories" everyday like some people, so it's fun to get on here and try to have the next big story, even if there's no hardcore reporting. Was it really worth trying to pull out the "journalistic credibility" and "post your real names" cards to try and shoot people down? We're the people who check your blog religiously daily, buy your books that are talked about constantly on here, go out and buy extra copies of your paper when asked to, and who bring the Jungle to life. I don't necessarily think posting something on a Fort Wayne Komets blog that doesn't end up being correct is going to kill any careers either. How many times have we all seen something mis-reported on ESPN by one of their reporters? Those guys somehow all keep their jobs. They are called mistakes. People make them and everyone understands that. Are we all big-time Fort Wayne journalists? Not at all, but we are all fired up about the same hockey team and league and we get excited about it and like talking about it.
Hopefully the fresh air did you good. It's quite RELAXing. I've typed enough, especially with the finger I smashed when I was outside building a shed today. I'm heading up to stake out Flint and to turn over some stones for sources so I can do some "real" reporting.
Just out of curiousity Primis, who is your team? What's their blog site so I can get on it and complain about everyone talking about them on their own site?
GO KOMETS!!! and WAKE UP PITTSBURGH!!
Well said.
Go Komets!!!
Sorry I bleed orange and black, but I'll be tanning for the next few months and at 300 Lbs there is a lot too tan!
Kwings are sissys, rammer is a sissy, musky fans are sissy's and hit somebody is THE MAN!!!!!
Simsy 4peat, port huron is a sissy!!!!
Blake Sebring for mayor, RK for city council, Rammer is a sissy and Tulsa stinks!!!!!
Hit Somebody for commish!!!!!!!
I hate Ref's!
Come on Blake! Don't you know you need to answer all of our questions? I'm still puzzled about the union's lawsuit and why you haven't asked that question to the Frankes. lol.
Seriously, enjoy your time off. You deserve it.
Not all reporters are investigative reporters, you know. And I do use my real name. And picture for that matter. Not hiding, never will.
As for Pittsburgh, they would have done just fine if it weren't for the goals Fluery put in himself. (Grumble, grumble...)
Oooooo! Ooooo! Can I be the woMAN? :D
Wendy, I fear you and always will. I would call you "The Woman" but "THE WOMAN" in my house would probably kick my ace.
Blake: Definitely deserve some time off. Just let us all hoot and hollar and gossip on here and sit back and chuckle about it.
Primis: I'm still lost and don't know what to say to you.
Everyone else: Fort Wayne is actually providing us with the nice one week of weather a year that we usually get. Go out and enjoy it. I've been so productive this weekend that I'll probably have to lay on the couch for an extra 3 days just to average things out.
Best wishes to all!
FORT WAYNE, IN. For immediate release THE BACK-T0-BACK IHL TURNER CUP CHAMPION FORT WAYNE KOMETS will repeat as champions again, I say this with 100% assurance knowing we have 0 players under contract, not knowing which new teams if any will enter the league, I think you understand where I'm going. I'll start getting excited about the time my suntan fades.
Besides that I am not going to worry cause if anything happens Obama will fix it.
GO KOMETS, red wings lose title to pens in a game 7 overtime thriller.
TMF! TTFN.
That's right! Fear me! I have come to kick ace and chew bubble gum, and I'll all out of bubble gum. Ah, that's okay. I'm still just savoring the fact that one guy at the EOS party actually called me "miss".
As for the Pens, okay, it's not just Fluery's rump that was the problem. The face-off numbers were obscene, and they just didn't look like themselves out there. I give credit to Detroit for playing them hard, but it's up to them to push back. Is Detroit "in their heads"? From last night's performance, it would seem so.
RunningKomet -
Why do I come here to post and read, even though I'm not a Komets fan? Because some of us are IHL fans, not just blind Komet fans who've drunk a little too much of th Kool-Aid.
Honestly, I get the impression a lot of posters here could care less about the IHL or its health outside of Fort Wayne. The IHL means something to me and has for most of my life, back when it was the AHL's competitor. It's the same reason I check out the stories and blogs for the other teams as well. Blake's blog here is a much better source of info than his main articles or most of the other beat reporter's articles.
I also don't think it was at all out of line for me to ask a professional beat reporter why he's calling for others to do his work for him... which is what Blake essentially did by calling for bloggers and such to "provide their real names and the real names of their sources".
It boggles me that people get *upset* that other fans care about the league enough to think about this stuff and look into it. I suppose instead we could all just sit here ignorant of Dayton, Flint, and anything else going on, and then shrug if and when it all crumbles.
We'd be poor excuses for fans if we did though. But if that's they way some of you guys want to be, that's cool I guess. See how many more backslapping posts about how great the Komets are can happen if something happens to the IHL and the Komets suddenly don't have a league to play in... I don't think some of you have any concept of how fragile the IHL is right now with how few franchises it has the the current financial state of minor hockey. It's a tumultuous and scary time to be a minor league hockey fan...
I am not a reporter....I am a concerned Komet and IHL fan.
Primus makes great points. The IHL is at a big moment. The owners of Buddy's Pizza is bringing us the Dayton Gems. Is this the idea that the IHL brass had when they talked about strong ownership in this league before expansion just to expand? The same guys that promised us all the Indy Ice returning to the IHL just a month ago?
Flint, like it or not, is not "fine". The trouble they went thru this past year not paying players, vendors, ushers, front office people, letting the radio guy go, Brendan Savage is out of a job, etc....it is not "fine" in Flint and the sign that tells me that is Flint Fans are trying to give money to Mr. Perani and he is not accepting their season ticket money.
This is what people are saying in K-Zoo: Kalamazoo and Mr. Pickard are playing a game of hardball with the league right now as they know that if one of the the big 3 teams (FW, Musky, or FW) fails or leaves, then this league fails or folds. That town is in the middle of a political tussle with the thoughts of building a new arena downtown and the politicians need a Hockey team to go into that building and are looking at AHL and ECHL possibilities to by pass the Wings Stadium and in turn K-Wings and IHL. To save that team, Pickard and company might have to try to move to the ECHL and they seem to be weighing those options according to people that have reported that Pickard, Bootland, and Welsh have met regarding this situation and veteran players that played for the K-wings this past season are looking elsewhere to play because of this development. If the Wings go ECHL, then Fort Wayne has no choice but to follow in my opinion.
Muskegon and Mr. Taylor have voiced interest in the ECHL. Taylor nearly moved Quad City to the ECHL when he worked for that team. It doesn't mean they will move, but the ECHL has been sniffing around that team. I am sure all minor league teams are looking at other leagues, just in case.
Let me say this. The best situation for Fort Wayne and Hockey is the IHL in my opinion. We will get our best product for the money in this league. The ECHL is a very bad choice. The roster would be controlled by the NHL for the most part, players getting robbed, less veterans, and a crappy product compared to what we have seen in the IHL. The AHL would not work here for several reasons that have been discussed many times before.
Lets get the IHL right and build this thing strongly. But this is a serious situation that doesn't hurt to discuss. I know it is unpopular.
I love the Komets. I am proud to be in Fort Wayne supporting them, reading Blakes wonderful work, supporting the IHL and the Frankes. But we can't ignore what possibilities are out there.
I hope a big announcement comes that proves all of this wrong. I want to see 6-10 IHL teams battling year in and year out.
Well all I can say is the information that hitsomebody has I have seen the same stuff. Wether all this is going to happen or not we will see. These sources though have been right before about things that were happening this league and elsewhere. We knew about Quad City before christmas they were going to lose the AHL. The picard not being commish was known for awhile. I am not one who jumps at rumors and such but when there are flint fans coming on the board saying they can't pay for season tickets that sounds like a problem there. As everything is coming together it sounds that we could merge with the ECHL (minus PH and Flint) or we maybe looking for a league. The reports from flint is that perani is out and there is only one owner left and they can't sell until some owners are paid money that is owed to them from the other owners.
I'll try to see what I can find out tomorrow.
Well Primis, we are all truly sorry that there is only one Blake to go around and whatever hole you are living in cannot provide the information and resources that our town has developed and built over decades of hard work and dedicated fans. Must be all of us blind Komets fans that have helped make the team and the town what it is. Feel free to mooch all you want though. Think of it as our Welfare to you :) See, we're all doing our part to make the U.S. just what the federal government wants it to be :) :)
Wendy: A thousand apologies, but I was instructed by the boss that I'm not longer allowed to fear you :( Maybe some other time?
Now "Children"....Sir Blake will let us in on the latest and greatest information IF & WHEN we need to know it. That I am sure of. I like most of you enjoy his blog first and foremost. I read others all around the League (IHL). THe IHL must come first because we all want it to survive. It (IHL) is "great" hockey at a fantastic price. Owners need to make a profit to continue operations. Each owner has a business plan. One that works for them. Some are better (K's) that others (Flint) but all must work inside of their business model. THe owners (Member Partners) must feel comfortable with new teams and that model or they will not let them in the League. It is one for all and all for one. They support each other that is a must to survive in the world of minor league hockey. I for one DO NOT put a lot of faith in rumors. I do not care who starts them or where they come from. There is only one #1 reporter in the IHL and I trust him for the truth. Blake will get what we need when we need it and see to it that his blogger's get it first. Cut him some slack. He has earned it in my book. Oh yes, I use my real name on his blog. I say what I mean and mean what I say. If you can not do that you do not belong on this blog.