Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HARRY MINIUM LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long
The East Coast Hockey League will lose four of its top-drawing francishes next season if an NHL proposal to restructure minor league hockey is adopted, ECHL sources say.
Under the plan, the Hampton Roads, Charlotte, Greensboro and South Carolina franchises would leave the ECHL and join an expansion team in Baltimore in a new Southeast Division of the American Hockey League. Meanwhile, some of the AHL's smaller franchises in Canada and the Northeastern United States would move down to the ECHL.
The NHL also proposed that the AHL acquire five franchises from the International Hockey League - Indianapolis; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Peoria, Ill.; and Cleveland - which would form a new Midwest Division.
The 59-year-old AHL, one level below the NHL, would be a major step up for the ECHL clubs. AHL teams have direct affiliations with, and receive virtually all of their players from, NHL teams.
If implemented, the NHL plan would escalate a war with the IHL, which has moved into two NHL markets and is threatening to become a second major league. The plan would shift all of the NHL working agreements from the IHL to the AHL.
ECHL markets such as Charlotte and Norfolk are being considered as IHL expansion cities, one IHL source said. The NHL apparently is moving quickly to shore up those markets for its highest minor league.
The NHL plan would form a partnership between the AHL and ECHL - essentially making the AHL the NHL's Triple-A league and the ECHL its Double-A league.
Current relations between the ECHL and higher leagues are informal, with the higher leagues taking players at will but providing little financial assistance.
The NHL has proposed that the higher leagues provide help, including at least five players per team, something the ECHL has been seeking since its inception seven years ago.
The ECHL, in return, would lose its four best draws. The average attendance figures at South Carolina (8,502), Charlotte (7,869), Hampton Roads (7,596) and Greensboro (6,422) surpass every AHL team except Providence, R.I.
AHL owners met in Boston on Tuesday to discuss the plan and were expected to endorse it.
ECHL officials will meet Thursday in Charlotte, and while the proposal is not on the agenda, it surely will be the major topic of discussion.
``I guess we'll know more after Thursday,'' Hampton Roads president Blake Cullen said. ``But I know there is significant opposition to it'' from some owners. That opposition could come from Roanoke, Richmond and Raleight, which would lose natural rivals.
Cullen said he has heard nothing officially from the AHL, but that he has discussed the proposal informally with some ECHL officials.
``I won't know anything until somebody tells me exactly what the deal is,'' he said. ``What my commitment would be to them, I have no idea.
``I would have to have a lot of explanations and guarantees on both sides before I would consider it.''
However, sources in other ECHL cities say the Admirals have agreed to move to the AHL if the three other ECHL teams agree to go, if the Admirals receive guarantees on scheduling and budgeting, and if they can retain coach John Brophy. NHL teams usually provide coaches for their AHL affiliates.
Cullen admitted a move to the AHL would be likely if his concerns are met satisfactorily and if the other three ECHL teams go.
``We'd have to do it because we wouldn't want to be left behind,'' he said. ``If your big opponents are doing it, you have to. The fans would be upset for not moving to the next level if our rivals moved up.''
Sources said an NHL official was in Norfolk on Friday, briefing Admirals officials on the proposal. The official watched the Admirals defeat Raleigh before 8,815 fans at Scope - nearly twice the average attendance in the AHL.
Elsewhere, the reaction ranged from ecstatic in Greensboro and Charlotte to pessimistic in South Carolina.
``To say the least we're excited as hell,'' said Ron Davis, executive vice president of the Greensboro Monarchs. ``The intensity level [on the proposal] really came up late last week. ... Now, timing is essential.''
Charlotte president Carl Scheer was unavailable for comment, but sources in Charlotte say he is committed to moving to the AHL.
South Carolina owner Marcel Dionne said he is not committed to anything.
He is also concerned about the ECHL teams that would be left behind.
``What about Raleigh and Roanoke and Richmond? What about Tallahassee and future expansion'' in the Southeast?
The AHL is divided into three divisions.
The Southern Division has Syracuse, Rochester and Binghamton in New York; Hershey, Pa.; and Cornwall, Ontario.
The Northern Division has Albany and Adirondack in New York; Portland, Maine; Providence, R.I.; and Springfield and Worcester in Massachusetts.
The Atlantic Division has five Canadian teams - Prince Edward Island; Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick; St. John's, Newfoundland; and Cape Breton, in Nova Scotia.
Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Pa., is scheduled to come into the league in 1996-97.
by CNB