In July Mr. Soskin sent me a message, on Facebook of all places:
I am looking into Hunn hockey and would like to talk to you about the possibility of bringing back minor pro hockey. Please email me your phone number so we can chat......I did in fact have a couple phone conversations with Barry Soskin, who was interested in putting an IHL team in Huntington... THIS year. I told him the logistics would be VERY difficult for such a short timeframe, but I thought if done properly it would be a good move, and as far as official dealings directed him to contact AJ Boleski at the BSSA.
Barry
The schadenfreude: when I mentioned the Rutherford story--the USHL rumor--he went on a long rant basically saying that the USHL wasn't worth his time because, in a nutshell, the other junior leagues--namedropping the NAHL in particular--utilized older players that could/would beat the crap out of the primarily U17 stock in the USHL.
Of course now that this has come to light it seems having a team full of bruisers may have been secondary to having a team full of money...
8 comments:
Soskin doesn't know crap about junior hockey in general and the USHL in particular. It is not an under 17 league and, in fact, would beat any team in the NAHL at least 65 to 75% of the time. In fact, the level of play in the USHL is closer to that of NCAA division 1 and/ormajor junior, than it is the NAHL.
If the City of Huntington hangs it's hockey hopes on Barry Soskin, it will soon realize it has made a HUGE mistake.
I don't think they would have ultimately--at this point though I reckon his name is pretty much mud in the organized hockey world (at least outside of Toledo...).
soon you will realize that they made a big mistake with barry, it's all a matter of time, they have little by little you will realize ... shame was a good coach.
Who made the mistake? The NAHL? Albert Lea? Myself?
It is a shame more people do not know about this! Barry Soskin owns the The Danville Dashers and has done a fine job of stealing and ripping everyone in general off since he started them. After reading this, it just added to my anger. I think it might interest you to know that he is such a cheapskate that the recent bus accident with the brakes going out on the team bus in Hyannis could have been avoided. He was told by 2 people including the inspection done on the bus that the brakes had to be replaced in October of 2011. He said they did not need to and you know why. He did not want to pay to have them done! he should be thanking his lucky charms that someone wasn't killed! He should be kicked out of the Federal Hockey League immediately!
Inasmuch as I'm able to in my capacity advising potential investors, my ruling out of the FHL for Huntington is directly related to his ownership of a franchise in that league. I believe that, given his track record, any league that will give him a franchise is doing its members a disservice in the name of collecting a franchise fee. The NPHL may be untested, but at least they seem to be operating with standards when it comes to ownership groups.
I didn't know about the bus crash--glad everyone's okay. There've been enough mishaps among the hockey community in the last 12 months without adding a bus disaster to it.
It's Barry the new owner of the Carolina Thunderbirds in the FHL???
It's Barry the new owner of the Carolina Thunderbirds in the FHL???
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