A note on Barry Soskin

My schadenfreude light kicked on when I read in the last couple weeks that Barry Soskin has been booted out of the North American Hockey League as owner of the Albert Lea (MN) Thunder over a pay-to-play scheme--the players' families secure roster spots and playing time for large sums of money, a gross violation of the standards set in place for top-level Jr. A hockey.

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......
Barry

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.

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...