"Nothing, a lot of freaking nothing" --Bill S.

The budget meeting, with regard to any upgrades at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena, resolved... absolutely nothing. These budget meetings have apparently all been regarding current operating budgets--nothing to do with upgrades like the ones we're all crossing our fingers for. So the city is first going to sort out their budget, and THEN shoehorn in bond payments--a bit of a pain in the ass IMO. Word is that the braintrust has something in the cards to generate extra revenue, which hopefully could spill over into new shiny things for the Arena; if not let me put forward this idea:

*ahem*

The bond is $5.1mil, which after interest--a large chunk of which would, since these are Recovery Zone bonds, be paid back by the federal government--I estimate at something like $5.2million.

$5,200,000/20yrs=$260,000
$260,000/365=$712.33/day would need to be generated by a hotel tax.

My estimate is that there are about that many hotel rooms in Huntington city limits, but to be safe let's assume that half the rooms in Huntington will be empty on any given day. $2 would cover our expenses, and if we figure an average hotel room to be, say, $100, it would only be a 2% tax at that. We could go higher if need be. But my point is that this can be done without a whole lot of bloodletting.

A news dump post?!

Rare that I get a few different things at once to babble on, but I get just that:

• Marshall roller hockey takes on Ohio State on April 3; in the meantime, some of them will be in another Ironman tournament, this time in Fairfax, VA--they're short a player though. Interested? Fire me off an email--ViperLS1-at-aol.com--and I'll get you in touch with the right peoples!
• The Charleston Gazette had a nice write-up on the West Virginia Wild youth hockey program at South Charleston, who will be in the McCarthy Cup tournament in Newark, OH.
• The SPHL is looking at Maryland--well technically it IS the South, but an interesting reach. Certainly makes the prospect of adding teams in WV in the future a bit more palatable. (props to Section 125 for spotting that one!)
  

All I know is that we will not be the Ice Bats

I'd been meaning to put something like this up for a while, but a commenter inspired me--off the top of my head there is no way a prospective Huntington team ends up in the following leagues:

• NHL (too big)
• both CHLs (Central and Canadian (and yes, the Canadian Major Junior system has several teams in America)), and the NAHL (all too distant)
• the AAHL (too distant, too small, and too unstable anyway)
  

So who does that leave? Well let's handicap the ones I've actually heard about:

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE

Pros: One of the closest in proximity to Huntington, with a team in Youngstown and rumored expansion in the past to Louisville and Evansville. A big plus--as evidenced by the addition of the Muskegon Lumberjacks to the league's ranks next season--is a much better business model for smaller markets than the existing minor leagues, helped along by a shorter schedule and the fact that it's a strictly amateur league--there are no salaries in the USHL. Despite this, the quality of play in the USHL has grown significantly in the last decade, with the number of NHL draftees with experience in the league now rivaling the established Major Junior leagues.

Cons: Being a junior league may turn off some, particularly those who feel that amateur hockey would provide an inferior product. In addition, while there has been recent eastward expansion, the core of the league is still in the Central Time Zone--presently half the league resides in either Iowa or Nebraska!

SOUTHERN PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Pros: Until recently, this had a similarly favorable geographic footprint, with teams in Richmond and Winston-Salem, and Roanoke has been on the shortlist of expansion candidates. While a minor-pro league, the costs have been kept down significantly compared to other leagues, and the SPHL is seen as a model for "A" level minor league hockey. An attempt had been made to enter a predecessor league in 2003-04, with former Blizzard captain Jim Bermingham--then head coach for their team in Knoxville--acting as an ambassador of sorts between investors and the league.

Cons: Again, this had a favorable footprint; however, the league simultaneously lost Richmond and Winston-Salem and gained teams in Louisiana and Mississippi, further solidifying the southernness of the league. As it stands the closest travel partner to Huntington would be Knoxville--though this may not be as major of a problem; when the aforementioned Richmond franchise started play, the league stretched all the way down to Jacksonville!

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Pros: Geography helps somewhat in this league, in particular after they picked up Dayton this past offseason. Huntington had a team in the old IHL, of course, and while the current league is slightly farther westward than the 1950s-era IHL, the current footprint is still manageable. As I had mentioned not too long ago, at least one person had expressed interest in a Huntington franchise in the IHL, and thought I was apparently the most knowledgeable person about it--I'm flattered, really...

Cons: By all accounts the league is being propped up by the management of the Fort Wayne Komets; it has been plagued with instability going back to its days as the United Hockey League, and a rebranding and shedding of farther-flung teams (at one point the UHL had teams in suburban St. Louis, Binghamton, NY, and Asheville, NC!) has only served to put lipstick on the pig. The league has lost four markets to other leagues in the last three years (a fifth, the Quad Cities, left, then returned after a fiasco in the AHL), and their efforts in Dayton have been ridiculous at best.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE ECHL

Pros: C'mon, you guys remember the ECHL! Much of the North Division remains the same or only moderately shifted, with Wheeling, Toledo, and (for another few weeks anyway) Johnstown bolstered by Cincinnati, Kalamazoo, Trenton, NJ, Reading, PA, and Elmira, NY. While the league has a western division stretching all the way up and down the Pacific Coast from Southern California to Alaska, there is no regular season cross-conference play, so it really doesn't factor in until the playoffs roll around.

Cons: Johnstown is leaving, and Wheeling has been rumored on the chopping block for a few years now. More significantly, though, is the fact that the ECHL has so far shown little, if any, interest in moving back to Huntington.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

Pros: I'm not stutter-typing, there has to my knowledge been at least one inquiry into putting an AHL franchise in little old Huntington! It would reunite the area with old ECHL rivals Hampton Roads Norfolk and Charlotte, coming into the league next season, as well as some decent road trips to Cleveland and Wilkes-Barre.

Cons: There is no way Huntington could sustain a team in the AHL. Period. If the BSSA sold out every night, the costs of maintaining this caliber of team would simply overwhelm the franchise in a 30-some-year-old 5000-seat arena with no boxes or any such revenue generating amenities.

FEDERAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Pros: Closer than the AAHL, and they're looking at Johnstown, which suggests that they might be shooting a tick higher than mere "rec-rink A" minor league hockey.

Cons: I'm VERY wary--this is the fourth different league in pretty much the same footprint in four years, with few actual differences. They're courting Mr. Soskin as well (or is it the other way around), and they've run into trouble regarding a pilfered logo. Not a good start...

Herd Roller Hockey shows up big

Marshall's roller hockey club entered two teams in the Ohio State Ironman Tournament this weekend, and in their first competition outside the Fieldhouse, came in 4th in the Intermediate Bracket and won the Beginner Bracket outright! Way to go Herd!