Login | Contact Us | Feedback | Customer Service | Site Map | Archives | RSS | Subscribe to the paper

HomeAll

Hurricanes bypass SW Florida again

STORY TOOLS
Share on Facebook

There will be no hurricanes in Florida this September. At least not the NHL kind.

The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes released their preseason schedule Monday, and for the third straight year will not be spending a por tion of their training camp at Germain Arena.

Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. is part of the ownership group of the ECHL's Florida Everblades that also owns the arena.

"The weather is just so unpredictable that time of year," said Everblades and Germain Arena president Craig Brush.

"Every time they've come down, they've been faced with issues."

Prior to the 2004-05 lockout, the Hurricanes had spent a portion of training camp and played at least one exhibition game at Germain each year, beginning in 1999.

That first year, Hurricane Floyd forced the team to leave a day early. In 2001, the September 11th terrorist attacks affected the team's travel and exhibition schedules.

Winning the Stanley Cup could also boost ticket sales for the Hurricanes' home preseason games, both of which will be played at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. Carolina will play home games against Nashville (Sept. 22) and Columbus (Sept. 29) and play at Nashville (Sept. 23), at Columbus (Sept. 24) and at Washington (Oct. 1).

"They're in a position now where they can capitalize on preseason games at home," Brush said. "They're going to get pretty good crowds. And their building is a lot bigger than ours. It just makes financial sense."

Brush said there have been preliminary discussions on bringing the Stanley Cup to Southwest Florida.

---

The ECHL also released happenings from its Board of Governors meeting June 15-16.

Brush's four-year term as Chairman of the Board ended. Steve Chapman of the Gwinnett Gladiators has replaced him. Chapman has been the league's Executive of the Year the past two years.

"I enjoyed doing it," Brush said. "I put in my term.

There's an excellent replacement, Steve Chapman, that's very anxious to assume that role. I'll stay involved. It's something that you don't do forever. It makes sense for Steve to take over."

The league gave extensions to the Gulf Coast Swords, the franchise that is located in Lakewood Ranch, and the Reno, Nev., group.

The Swords were given yet another extension "to allow the ownership group to finalize details to resume construction on its arena project," according to the league's press release. This is the second straight year an extension has been given. If the franchise could get off the ground, it would be a perfect scheduling partner for the Everblades.

"There's been so many false starts," Brush said. "We won't get our hopes up too much until we see something actually concrete develop from this."

The league also announced that the Greenville and San Diego franchises would not be in operation for the 2006-07 season.

Greenville entered the league in 1998, the same year as the Everblades.

"The ECHL is disappointed that Greenville is unable to continue as a member and the league would like to thank the Grrrowl fans for their support the past eight seasons," ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said in a press release.

San Diego was among the league leaders in attendance, but Brush said the ownership group waited too long to try to sell the team. The group also owns the arena.

"It was just too late when they made their decision for anybody to buy it from them (and play this season)," Brush said.

The league approved the sales of the Charlotte Checkers and Long Beach Ice Dogs to new ownership groups.

The league also received updates from the Mississippi Sea Wolves, who haven't played since Hurricane Katrina hit that area last year, and the Myrtle Beach, S.C., franchise.

The Sea Wolves told the league they have received a letter stating that the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center will be ready for play for the 2007-08 season. Myrtle Beach stated it continues to work toward construction of a facility on the Coastal Carolina University campus for the 2007-08 season.

---

Former Everblades forward Eric Manlow signed with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League on Monday. Manlow, 31, scored 73 points in 80 games for the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins last year.

Manlow played parts of the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons in Florida, scoring 22 goals and 39 assists in 44 games.

Hamilton is the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens.

---

The Columbia Inferno announced Monday it was ending affiliation agreements with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the AHL's Manitoba Moose. According to a press release, the team is expected to announce new affiliations later this week.

Comments

This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below — responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Read our privacy policy & user agreement.




Post your comment
(Requires free registration.)

Username:

Password:
(Forgotten your password?)

Your Turn: