I'm going to crosspost this to the Facebook group, with slightly more militant language

Mayor Kim Wolfe:

We need to find out if there are investors willing to bring a team here. We need to find out if people will support another team. And we need to see if the whole project would be feasible.

There is support. There are interested parties--the various principals involved in running the city of Huntington can't communicate apparently...

A.J. Boleski, said earlier this year that three or four serious inquiries had been made by existing team owners or leagues. One investment group looking to start a hockey league geared toward the top high school prospects in the country even made a presentation to council members two years ago. But interest waned when the city couldn't guarantee that the arena would replace its aging seats and upgrade its ice-making equipment, said Brandi Jacobs-Jones, the city's director of administration and finance.

So there ARE people willing to bring a team here. This answers the first part of your question, Mayor Wolfe. BTW, that "one investment group" is the USHL group that Tony Rutherford reported on back in May last year. Without divulging too much inside info, the people involved in that effort--who ARE STILL INTERESTED--have experience at the highest levels of sport. We're not simply talking major leagues, but international experience as well. In short: YOU WOULD HAVE ALREADY HAD A TEAM IN HUNTINGTON IF YOU HAD JUST GOTTEN ON THE BALL, PEOPLE. (I'm of course yelling at the bigwigs, don't get up and storm out on me yet guys!)

Now on to fan support. Since I've been doing this--almost four years now--the people I've spoken with on the street have typically given me two reactions: either "yeah, I remember the Blizzard, those were good times" or "wow, Huntington had a hockey team?" (The latter response, not surprisingly, comes from people new to the area.) I think the majority of people would at a minimum be favorable to a venture like this; with competitive pricing and decent promotion, I think it would do quite well. Also keep in mind the improvement of downtown over the last decade--people are already coming to downtown Huntington to shop, eat, work, why not throw in a hockey game?

This can work. It requires the cooperation of municipal government, however, since the building is owned by the city, and this is where our trouble comes in. It's become clear that the problem is not merely penny-pinching, or a stacking of priorities, but a divide in communication.

BTW, if you want to communicate your support--and let Kim Wolfe know you will support another team--his phonenumber is 696-5540, email is mayorwolfe@cityofhuntington.com.