The International Hockey League (IHL) is pleased to announce the addition of the Evansville IceMen, who will begin play within the next two years in the IHL. The Board of Governors unanimously awarded a member club to EI Acquisition, LLC which is owned by Ron Geary. Mr. Geary is the owner of Ellis Park Race Track, which he acquired from Churchill Downs in September 2006 and the Evansville IceMen, who currently play in the All-American Hockey League (AAHL). Further information regarding the Evansville IceMen will be available in the next few months.
The following items were also discussed during the three-day meetings, which were held in Las Vegas, Nevada:
* The IHL Board of Governors created a three member search committee for the next Commissioner that will consist of Tim Leighton (Bloomington), Rich Bruner (Dayton) and Jeff Patulski (Muskegon). The committee has set a goal of naming the new Commissioner by September 1.
* The Executive Committee for the 2009-2010 season will be as follows: Chairman of the Board, Michael Franke (Fort Wayne) and Vice Chairmen's of the Board, Frank Kinney (Port Huron) and Tim Leighton (Bloomington
* The expansion draft for the new member club will be held Friday, June 26th. Each member club may protect thirteen skaters (13) and one goaltender, losing a maximum of three players.
* The league will conduct an expansion draft for the new member clubs within the next 10 days. A dispersal draft of the Kalamazoo Wings players rights will be held shortly after the expansion draft.
* The 2009-2010 IHL schedule will be completed by mid-July.
* The IHL will continue with the standard set forth regarding officiating, however, there will be a greater emphasis on the calls made for aggressive stick penalties (i.e. slashing, cross checking).
"We have been very pleased with the direction of the officiating,” said Brad Jones, VP of Hockey Operations. “This is an area that we feel strongly needs to be addressed for the upcoming season.”
* Member Clubs will be allowed to dress 19 players (17 skaters, 2 goaltenders) for a game. The active roster will be at a maximum of 20 active players. Last season, only 18 players were allowed to dress per game and 21 players were allowed on the active roster.
* Member Clubs are allowed to carry a maximum of eight (8) veterans for the 2009-2010 season. In the previous seasons, member clubs were allowed to dress a maximum of seven (7).
* The IHL has eliminated the six (6) game requirement for players to qualify for a position on the post season roster.
* "Due to the enormity of the agenda, the board will reconvene via teleconference in the next few days,” stated Michael Franke, IHL Chairman of the Board. “We look forward to announcing additional exciting news concerning the IHL in the near future."
Comments
BLAKE-- that's what I call "Great" reporting. Thank you, Thank you.
di you put that extra S in there?
"The league will conduct an expansion draft for the new member clubs"
???
We have an addition to the scoring announced in a previous post, Add 3 assists to Robin Bouchard, change the short handed goal to Jim Duhart and give the assist to Todd Robinson. The season hasn't even started and they already have more points that they scored against us in the playoffs.
Not really reporting yet, I just copied the press release.
I think somebody made a freudian slip. I think they are waiting for a certain city to make the announcement of another expansion team first, which is only fair.
Didn't Bruce Boudreau get an assist??????
The Komets association with the Evansville IceMen is interesting. Even though Evansville is 3 hours away the Komets are currently advertising on the IceMen's web site at http://www.evansvilleicemen.com/Evansville%20IceMen.html .
I heard they didn't let Larry Sterling into the meetings because they were afraid he would let too many secrets slide past him out the door once the Komets fans in Las Vegas started changing LAAAAAAAAARRY! LAAAAAAAAARY! LAAAAAAAAARRY!
CRAP! That was supposed to say "chanting", not "changing". Number one joke-killer, right here. Nice to meet you.
Why not? Maybe they can attract some Evansville fans who want to see what the IHL is like a year early.
Blake, that was NICE copy and pasting, beautiful.
I'm just proud that the IHL announced something, sounds like there will be a 7th team in the league, maybe waiting for the city to announce it themselves?
I find it very interesting that the IHL raised the number of vet's and didn't raise the salary cap. I can support the extra vet but someone is going to be working for less money. I am not sure if that will work out very well. Unless someone retires or we lose a veteran in the draft we now have eight. David Hukalo became a veteran this past season. I guess we will just have to wait another week or ten days to see just who we protect and/or we say good bye too.
Don't forget the league already has the highest AA salary cap, and that there are going to be fewer AA teams out there so there will be more players available. It's definitely a buyers' market.
Blake- You are right again! If they are out there Sims and David will find them. There is more than just salary involved. Some guys want to play for winners. Other guys want to play for a "players coach". The Komets have the winning history that is for sure. We have that kind of a coach. They seem to get guys that want to win. Classy guys with character. We will take all we can get.
I know it's the economics of the game, but it still sucks to see people go.
I think Evansville is alot more than 3 hours away. Isn't it like 8 hours away from Fort Wayne.
I don't think it's quite that far. You can get to Louisville in four I think. I think it's farther than that because I believe there's no direct route, but I'm sure it's not eight.
It's a little over 5 hours and 15 minutes if you go the I-69S to (Indianapolis) I-70W to (Terre Haute) US-41S route.
It's about 5 and 1/2 hours going the I-69S to (Indianapolis) I-65S (Louisville) to I-64W route.
Shutterbug is right, but it depends. I once had an acquaintance tell me that it only took 3 hours to get to Terre Haute from Fort Wayne. Sure, if you're running 90 the whole way. :s
Doesn't everyone do 90 mph? I've seen more than my share of Fort Wayne's finest doing at least 50 up the rows in the Coliseum parking lot to try and get out of traffic 2 minutes sooner.
It'll be nice once they get the 69 extension going and finished. Should cut down on that drive quite a bit.
I've riddin with people who have been known to fracture the limit of speed.
My wife is from St. Louis, we make that trip frequently. Fort Wayne to Terre Haute in 3 hours is fairly easy to do. Yes, I do push the limit a tad but not any faster then the flow of traffic. The tough part is from Terre Haute to St. Louis. I-70 is pretty flat and straight across Illinois with a lower speed limit and a lot of cops out to keep you pretty close to it.
Evansville is one of those "you can't get there from here" places, something the state should have corrected a long time ago except there hasn't been much demand for it until recent years. Even now the idea of extending 69 has more to do with getting to Texas then it does Evansville.