UHL CEO/President Richard Brosal just finished an hour-long teleconference with the meeting that was very informative. Among the highlights:
* The league is not going to leave Elmira out there on an island. The UHL is currently looking into several potential expansion sites, including Williamsport and the Allentown/Lehigh Valley area again. Other potential cities include Traverse City, Mich., Mishawaka and another unnamed Indiana, St. Charles, Mo., Akron, Oh., and some other areas in Illinois. He said they hope to make an announcement about another Indiana city by January. That means they could ICE a team next season. The league is determined to stay in its geographic footprint, going no further West than Iowa, no further East than Elmira.
* As for the hard salary cap, the first offense is a $25,000 fine and Brosal has the option of suspending the coach and general manager for as long as he likes. The second offense is another $25,000 fine and the suspensions carry on to coach and GMs and carry over to players. Ownership is also involved. The third offense carries a $50.000 fine and the coach and GM will be suspended for the rest of the season, those suspensions could carry over to the next season and any playoff position is forfeited.
To enforce the new hard cap, UHL officials have free access to question players, their wives, any team personnel and any other businesses the team may be affiliated with. Audits will be unannounced. If a team is caught on an initial violation, it has 72 hours to report any other potential violations or it's an automatic second violation if the league finds anything else, even the smallest item.
* If a player leaves an existing UHL contract to go to Europe, such as Robin Bouchard did last week from Muskegon, he is prohibited from returning to this league for this season and next season, even if he wants to return to his former team. Colin Chaulk would be eligible to return because he did not sign his contract, but the Komets retain his rights. Players are not eligible to go to the CHL or the ECHL, either, because those leagues have recipriocal agreements with the UHL.
MORE TO COME
