SYRACUSE OFFER MAY BE TOO GOOD TO PASS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993                   TAG: 9301290218
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SYRACUSE OFFER MAY BE TOO GOOD TO PASS
A "fair offer" from the Roanoke Civic Center may not be enough to keep professional hockey in the Roanoke Valley.
Roanoke Valley Rampage owner Larry Revo said Thursday that although civic center officials have made him a "fair offer," his option of moving the East Coast Hockey League franchise to another city simply may be too attractive to bypass.
Syracuse, N.Y., sources say, is the leading candidate to land the franchise if Revo chooses to move at the end of the season.
"[Roanoke Civic Center officials] have made a fair offer, if you put it in context of other lease agreements in our league," Revo said. "The problem is that I believe that I'm going to have other options that I know are going to be very attractive, not only from a lease point of view but from a location point of view, that I'm totally convinced were an ECHL team put in there it would do extremely well.
"I just don't know that here. In fact, history would suggest just the opposite. And as a prudent businessman, I have to take that into consideration.
"It's one thing to have a reasonable lease agreement, but it's quite another thing to be in a situation even with that reasonable lease agreement that you can do well from a financial standpoint.
"That's where the real dilemma comes in. So [civic center officials] can do everything they can do, I can do everything I can do, and we could meet somewhere in the middle. But when you put that offer up against other attractive alternatives that you know are going to do well, as a prudent businessman you have to take that into consideration."
Revo, whose Rampage is averaging an ECHL-low 1,684 spectators per game at the Vinton LancerLot, predicted attendance wouldn't be a problem in Syracuse, which has been without pro hockey since 1984.
"I know Syracuse will draw because it has drawn well before," Revo said. "The pattern in Syracuse appears to be the same as other Northeastern cities have had with hockey. Cities had hockey, then it sort of fell out of favor, then they brought it back and it's done very well. I think Syracuse fits that pattern.
"Plus, the [$17 million] renovation [of the Onondaga County Auditorium] will make it an aesthetically appealing place to play. And there's definitely community support for hockey there. Clearly, a city of that size that doesn't have hockey is like an anomaly."
Revo also has made contact with Huntsville, Ala. The chance of the Rampage heading south aren't good, though, since Nashville and Knoxville are first in line among current ECHL clubs hoping to move to the northern Alabama city.
\ ANOTHER "HOME" GAME ON ROAD?: Revo said he hasn't ruled out the possibility of moving the Rampage's Sunday, March 7, home game against Greensboro to Winston-Salem, N.C. Revo banked a sizable profit last Thursday when the club drew 3,334 in Winston-Salem for a game against Wheeling.
"I see very well why season-ticket holders would be less than pleased," Revo said. "But I'm losing money [playing at the LancerLot], and that's the bottom line. And I need to do what I need to minimize that loss.
"I don't think taking that Sunday game from Roanoke, which we would have a maximum of probably 400 people in the stands, as a crucial blow to the future of hockey in the Roanoke Valley. Whereas, if I can move a Sunday game where we draw 400 here and have over 3,000 there, that's just a no-brainer for me."
\ A LEAGUE NOW, PLEASE?: Two former ECHL referees, Bob Henry and Jim Burlew, have signed a five-year lease with the Huntington (W.Va.) Civic Center, which has been given the go-ahead from the city to install ice-making equipment.
The kicker is Henry and Burlew have yet to secure 1993-94 expansion franchise rights from the ECHL.
Henry and Burlew had hoped to present their franchise application at Monday's league meeting in Wheeling, W.Va., but were told by ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly that such an order of business was not on the agenda.
\ ICE CHIPS: The Rampage, which plays at Richmond tonight and Johnstown on Saturday, has added defenseman Mark Marentette to its roster on a five-game tryout. Marentette has been playing in Holland this season. . . . The new North Charleston (S.C.) expansion entry for '93-94 will be called the Sharks. . . . Nashville's Trevor Jobe continues to have opposing ECHL defenses for lunch. The Knights' sniping center collected nine goals and seven assists in four games last week to win ECHL player-of-the-week honors again. Jobe, who has nine hat tricks this season, has 66 goals and 112 points in 44 games, putting him on pace to shatter the ECHL record of 80 goals and 148 points, set in 1988-89 by Erie's Bill McDougall. Jobe also leads the league in power-play goals (17), shots on goal (244), game-winning goals (nine) and shooting percentage (.273).

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB