Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HOCKEY GROUP MAKES DEAL
The local group attempting to land an East Coast Hockey League expansion franchise in Roanoke next season reached an agreement in principle Friday on a lease deal with the Roanoke Civic Center.The agreement between John Gagnon, the group's primary investor, and civic center manager Bob Chapman is contingent upon an OK from the Roanoke Civic Center Commission, which meets Monday morning and is likely to give its consent.
Gagnon, who along with partner Pierre Paiement has been negotiating with Chapman for the past month, said he was relieved to reach an accord with the civic center, which seats 8,363 for hockey.
"This is the big hurdle we had to get over," Gagnon said. "From here on in, things should go pretty smooth."
Both parties refused to release specific terms of the agreement. Gagnon, who had said Thursday he and Chapman were "inches apart" on a deal, did say the "final snags were about prices."
Gagnon applauded Chapman and the civic center for making some concessions that made a deal possible.
"When this first got started, the chances of us working a deal were not real good," Gagnon said. "I think a lot of people were against it and some were for it from the start. But slowly, though, they saw we were serious about this and some the people who were against it started turning our way."
When contacted Friday, Chapman said: "I prefer to reserve comment on the proposal that has been negotiated until it is considered by the Roanoke Civic Center Commission on Monday."
Gagnon said Chapman has offered the club between 14 and 16 weekend dates (Friday and Saturday). Most of the other games would have to be played on Tuesdays.
"We're going to market Tuesday as Roanoke's night for hockey," Gagnon said. "You've got Monday Night Football and it's going to be Tuesday night hockey in Roanoke."
The civic center has played host to a handful of hockey games over the past decade. The last time the local franchise played there regularly was the 1975-76 season.