Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
| Subscribe Now Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
|
 |
 |
|
Weather  Calendar Obituaries Classifieds Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Coupons Ad Center Gift Finder |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
Home News Sports
Free Time Life Money Nation/World Opinion Blogs/Columns Archives Site Map |
| PrairieThunderFriday, June 1, 2007 7:55 PM CDT |
 Comments (3) |  E-mail this page |  Print this page |  Enlarge type |  Reduce type |  Search archives |  RSS feeds |  Add to My Yahoo! |
GM: Team to stay in UHL
BLOOMINGTON -- With questions continuing to swirl regarding the future of the ever-shrinking United Hockey League, Bloomington PrairieThunder vice president-general manager Jerry McBurney offered some answers Thursday. McBurney said the Thunder will continue to be a member of the UHL, the league will have a minimum of six teams and possibly as many as eight, and that a final decision will be made before the league’s annual meetings June 18-21 in Las Vegas. “We’ve got to come to a resolution very quickly because we need to begin working on schedules and getting all of our policies in place as far as workman’s compensation, insurance and all of that,” McBurney said. “We have to know who the standing members of this league are in pretty short order. “It could be as long as two weeks, but my assumption is much, much sooner than that. We set the map for the upcoming season at those meetings, and there are a lot of things that we have to know before that period of time.” The current membership is down to six after last week’s announcement that the Quad City Mallards will jump to the American Hockey League. Rockford also will join Quad City in the AHL, while Elmira is moving to the ECHL. Port Huron, which completed last season’s 10-team UHL lineup, has ceased operations. Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Muskegon, Flint, Chicago and Kalamazoo are the lone holdovers, although McBurney said negotiations are continuing with a possible new ownership group in Port Huron and that other teams could be added through expansion. “There will be a minimum of six teams,” McBurney said. “My guess is it probably will be seven or eight based on the fact I do believe that a deal will get done in Port Huron and one of the new teams will come into the league. “The core group of teams that remains is strong. They’re strong financially, and they’re strong on the ice. Those teams have the financial footprint that they can continue to operate. Now it’s matter of finding some of these other markets that are looking for a hockey team and can join the league.” Potential expansion franchises can expect a rigorous screening process. “This league will be a lot more discerning as far as ownership groups that they allow in,” McBurney said. “When looking at future ownership groups, if you have any concerns that someone is not going to be able to support the franchise for a long period of time, then maybe we just don’t let that particular ownership group in. “It’s going to be a lot more selective as we build this league back up, and in my opinion, I think the perfect number of teams would be a 12- or maybe a 14-team league.” While fans may tire of seeing the same opponents in a six- or eight-team league, McBurney said the caliber of hockey should improve. “The good thing about it is your talent pool within the league will be better, and I think it will be a better hockey league as far as on the ice,” McBurney said. “With the number of players to go around per team, you will have better players on each team based on the fact that a couple of the teams are gone.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
|
||||||||||
|
 |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2009, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|
