THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 13, 1995 TAG: 9503130139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Sources close to American Hockey League commissioner David Andrews say he is flying to Charlotte today to meet with representatives of ECHL clubs contemplating a jump to the AHL, including the Hampton Roads Admirals.
Charlotte, Greensboro and South Carolina also have been approached by the AHL and will send representatives. So, apparently, will the Richmond Renegades, who have asked to be included if the Admirals go to the AHL.
AHL sources say Richmond's overtures have been received warmly by the league, which views the Renegades as natural rivals for the other four teams.
The Portland (Maine) Press Herald has reported that a group in Baltimore is close to receiving an expansion franchise that would join the five ECHL clubs to form a new Southern Division.
Presumably, Admirals president Blake Cullen and coach and general manager John Brophy will attend today's meeting. They were unavailable for comment Sunday.
The AHL is seeking the ECHL clubs to provide working agreements for the NHL, which is pulling most or all of its agreements from the IHL.
AHL owners met in Boston last week to hammer out a proposal for absorption of the ECHL clubs. Though details weren't disclosed, the big sticking point might be franchise fees - the AHL generally charges $1 million for expansion franchises. However, to go to the AHL, the teams would surrender ECHL franchises worth upwards of $2 million without compensation.
Other than Charlotte, which appears determined to move up regardless of the price, the ECHL teams will insist on paying little or no franchise fees.
Sources say Hampton Roads and South Carolina remain undecided, with South Carolina likely to decline the AHL. Greensboro likely will follow Charlotte's lead, and Richmond probably will go if most of the rest go.
Cullen said in an interview Friday that he expected it would be several weeks before he could decide whether to jump to the AHL.
``It's a big decision, and we're in the stretch run of the regular season,'' he said. ``Right now my main concern is our hockey team and the playoffs.''
Meanwhile, the ECHL could grow next season even if it loses all five franchises. ECHL owners will meet next week in Charlotte to consider applications from seven groups. That's in addition to Mobile, Ala., which has been approved for an expansion franchise.
Jacksonville, Fla., Louisville, Ky., and Greenville, S.C., are likely to be approved, although Greenville wouldn't begin play until 1996-97. Columbia, S.C., Evansville, Ind., Lafayette, La., and Pensacola, Fla., also are seeking franchises. by CNB