THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080638
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals will need answers to lots of questions before they jump into the American Hockey League, team president Blake Cullen said Tuesday.
NHL officials have proposed that four ECHL teams - Hampton Roads, Charlotte, Greensboro and South Carolina - move up to the AHL next season as part of a restructuring of minor league hockey.
Teams in Indianapolis, Cleveland, Kalamazoo, Mich., Peoria, Ill., and Fort Wayne, Ind., also would move from the International Hockey League and Baltimore would receive an expansion franchise under the proposal. Meanwhile, some of the AHL's smaller franchises would move down to the ECHL.
AHL owners were scheduled to discuss the proposal Tuesday at a meeting in Boston, but they had no immediate comment.
Cullen said that he has heard nothing officially from the AHL, but he said 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.''
He is concerned about the following:
Budgets. Cullen has not seen an AHL budget and doesn't know how much it would cost to put an AHL team on the ice. AHL officials say it costs more than $500,000 for an NHL working agreement alone. Moreover, travel costs would increase. Instead of busing to Raleigh and Richmond, the Admirals would fly to many games. The Admirals would have to increase ticket prices if they moved up, he said, adding that he would oppose the plan if the price increases are too steep.
Coach John Brophy. Cullen said Brophy is one of his prime drawing cards and he wants to keep him. Most NHL teams choose the coaches of their affiliates. Would an NHL team allow the Admirals to keep Brophy?
Entry fees. The AHL generally charges $1 million for new members, the same as the ECHL. Cullen's franchise is worth close to $2 million, based on its location in a large market that draws well for hockey. He says he won't give up that franchise if he has to pay for another.
NHL affiliation. The Admirals would need guarantees that they would be affiliated with an NHL team.
Expansion fees. The Admirals are due hundreds of thousands of dollars in ECHL expansion fees from teams that will be placed in Mobile, Ala., and Louisville, Ky. If they leave for the AHL, will they forfeit that money?
Because of the unanswered questions, Cullen's position would best be described as cautious.
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.
Charlotte president Carl Scheer was unavailable for comment, but sources say he is committed to moving to the AHL.
South Carolina owner Marcel Dionne, however, said he is not committed to anything.
``It's running wild a little bit,'' he said of newspaper reports describing the proposal. ``There are so many unanswered questions, from transfer fees to budgets to ticket prices. You can't see all the implications it would create.''
He also is concerned about the ECHL teams that would be left behind: ``What about Raleigh and Roanoke and Richmond? What about Tallahassee and future expansion?''
Richmond owner Harry Feuerstein, who was unaware of the proposal until he read of it Tuesday in The Virginian-Pilot, is worried about losing four natural rivals, especially Hampton Roads.
``I know so little that it's kind of hard to develop a reaction,'' he said. ``But I kind of view this as the wrong step to take. . . . I think we're on the right track in the ECHL.''
He said he is concerned that ECHL officials were not briefed on the proposal before word leaked to the media, as is Cullen.
``I wish it hadn't come down this way,'' Cullen said.
Cullen said that he is happy in the ECHL, but that if he receives satisfactory answers to his questions and the other three teams go, he'll probably move up to the AHL.
``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.''
ECHL officials will meet Thursday in Charlotte, and while the proposal is not on the official agenda, it surely will be the major topic of discussion.
``I guess we'll know more after Thursday,'' Cullen said. ``But I know there is significant opposition to it'' from some owners. by CNB