Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 24, 1993 TAG: 9310240044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It depends on how many people come to the East Coast Hockey League expansion team's home games at the 8,372-seat civic center.
he two-year contract between the city of oanoke and licensee John Gagnon, majority owner of the Express, includes some unique provisions that will either raise or lower the club's basic rental fee of $2,200 per game.
For instance:
For each paid admission over 3,125, the basic rental will be decreased by a credit of 50 cents per paid admission up to 7,525 paid admissions.
In the event that paid admission for a game exceeds 7,525, the rental fee for that game will be $1.
"I don't know of another building in the country that offers that type of arrangement," said Bob Chapman, the civic center's manager.
The Express has guaranteed an average of 2,875 paid admissions per regular-season game or 97,750 total paid admissions over the 34-game home schedule. Gagnon is obligated to reimburse the city of Roanoke $1.82 for each paid admission less than 97,750 for the season.
The contract also includes a clause that protects Gagnon in the event of snow. If Roanoke has received 2 inches or more of snow within 24 hours of game time and the game can't be rescheduled, the 97,750 paid admission guarantee will be reduced by 2,875 paid admissions.
Chapman said the city of Roanoke has spent approximately $38,000, not including labor costs, on capital improvements for a sport that hasn't been played regularly in the building since 1976. The city purchased new plexiglass and dasher boards to surround the rink.
The Express gets all revenue from dasher-board advertising. The city collects all revenue from concessions and parking.
"The city has made an investment to help get the hockey team going," Chapman said. "At the end of two years, if these guys blow this thing out of the water, then the city is going to be looking for more revenue.
"It [hockey] is either going to succeed or we're going to put it to bed. I think two years is a good trial basis. That ought to give us some indication as to the future."
Vern Danielsen, a member of the Roanoke Civic Center Commission, said the arrangement between the city and the Express should be beneficial to both parties.
"We [the city] are not in a situation where we're in danger of losing great deal of money," Danielsen said. "We've projected this out to where it's good deal, and we're satisfied with that.
"With all of us working together, I think it's a very high probability this will go. The more people that come in here, the cheaper we give them the building and the better our concessions are going to do. That was our basis for creating this innovation."
\ HIGH-POWERED T-BIRDS: If stockpiling players under contract to higher leagues means anything - and it should - the Wheeling Thunderbirds figure to find the ECHL a smooth ride this season. Of the 46 players on opening-week ECHL rosters under contract to a higher league, 22 percent are playing in Wheeling. Coach Doug Sauter's club includes five NHL-contract players and five American Hockey League-contract players.
Knoxville, which is getting players from International Hockey League outposts in Atlanta and Las Vegas, is the only team in the 19-club league even close to Wheeling's numbers, with nine players under IHL contract.
Collectively, the 19 ECHL first-week rosters included 18 players under NHL contract, 16 under IHL contract and 12 under AHL contract.
\ DIFFERENT LEAGUES: Roanoke defenseman Hughes Bouchard and Alexandre Daigle were teammates last season for Victoriaville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. However, any similarities between the two players end there.
Daigle, a sensational 18-year-old center, was the first pick in this year's NHL draft and later signed a record $12 million contract with the Ottawa Senators. Bouchard ended up with the ECHL and a salary of approximately $300 per week.
\ ROUGH BLIZZARD: Based on early results, the expansion Huntington Blizzard could be in for a long winter. The Blizzard was buried in all four of its preseason games, losing 12-1 to Wheeling, 11-5 to Johnstown, 13-4 to Toledo and 16-0 to Columbus. Huntington lost 6-2 in its regular-season opener Wednesday in Nashville.
\ ICE CHIPS: The ECHL not only is the largest minor league ever in pro hockey, it's also the first with two female players. Besides well-publicized Manon Rheaume in Knoxville, Erin Whitten is serving as a backup goalie for the Toledo Storm. . . . Roanoke coach Frank Anzalone knew what he was getting with Michael Smith. The Express defenseman played for Anzalone at Lake Superior State. . . . Five holdovers from last season's Roanoke Valley Rampage - goalie Todd Chin, center Scott Burfoot, center Roger Larche, defenseman Joe Dragon and right wing Ken House - made the roster of the Huntsville Blast. . . . Bill Horn, the top goaltender for the Roanoke Valley Rebels in 1990-91, made the Rochester (AHL) roster as a backup. Horn posted a 16-9 record and 3.32 goals-against average last season in the ECHL with Greensboro. . . . New York native Dana McGuane is the Express' trainer.
by CNB