Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 25, 1994 TAG: 9401250123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
The meeting is being held in conjunction with the second annual ECHL All-Star Game, which will played tonight at 7:30 at the Scope.
Groups from Columbia, S.C., Greenville, S.C., and Mobile, Ala., are among the parties expected to open preliminary discussions with the owners concerning possible expansion franchises for 1994-95 and '95-96 seasons.
The ECHL began with five teams in its inaugural 1988-89 season and has since grown to 19 clubs.
The ECHL is the league with the largest number of franchises in minor-league hockey history.
The issue of on-ice violence also will be addressed. The ECHL, which prides itself as being a developmental league, has taken a recent public relations hit due to several unsavory incidents.
The most-publicized black-eye was a brawl between the Greensboro Monarchs and Hampton Roads Admirals two seconds into their Jan. 7 game in Norfolk. Six players from each club were ejected, and three from each team were later suspended for taking part in the fracas. Coaches Jeff Brubaker of Greensboro and John Brophy of Hampton Roads were suspended and fined for failing to control their players during the melee.
The two clubs squared off Sunday in Greensboro for the first time since the brawl. With ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly watching from the press box, the teams, minus their suspended coaches, combined for only 14 penalty minutes. The Admirals won, 4-2.
Today's meeting will be followed by the All-Star Game. Defenseman Mike Smith is the Roanoke Express' lone representative on the Eastern Division squad.
by CNB