ACHL Birmingham (AL) Bottleneck - MLN Sports Zone

Birmingham Bottleneck May Present Problems for ACHL
Lynchpin of ACHL six-team league may have hit stumbling point on an arena deal; Tupelo may have minor hurdles.

Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com

06.25.03 - The month began with unbridled optimism for the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL). The second-year league faces significant challenges to the rollout of its 2003-2004 season that hinge, at this hour, around the fate of hockey in Birmingham, Alabama.

On June 6, the league issued a press release with the headline: "Atlantic Coast Hockey League Begins Summer Planning As Six-Team League!" Now 20 days later that optimism seems to be more bridled with the possibility that the league will find itself two teams short of the six.

The ACHL was planning on adding the cities of Birmingham, Tupelo, and Huntsville to their existing members in Cape Fear, Knoxville, and Winston-Salem.

Teams in Macon, Jacksonville, Orlando and the one slated to open in Miami have exited the league to form their own league, the World Hockey Association 2 (WHA2).

The ACHL came through on Huntsville, announcing on June 12 that Alabama investor John Cherney will have a team named the Channel Cats on the ice in the Von Braun Center starting in October 2003.

Securing Birmingham and Tupelo is turning out to be a tougher task than expected for the ACHL.

Their June 6th press release stated: "...lease negotiations with the Birmingham- Jefferson Civic Center [BJCC], are expected to be finalized next week when league officials meet with Civic Center officials and local ownership..."

Rumors that the ACHL had secured an arena, the BJCC, were contingent upon the league finding an ownership group for a team in that market with financials that would satisfy requirements of the arena.

At this hour, it appears they have neither a team nor an arena.

MLN has learned that the ACHL has failed to meet a deadline imposed by officials of the BJCC, casting serious doubt on the future of ACHL hockey in Birmingham.

"The ACHL was not able to provide evidence of financial capability or ownership," stated Frank Poe, executive director of the BJCC. The deadline was set for 5:00pm on Monday afternoon.

Failure to meet the deadline was not for lack of trying. Jim Riggs, spokesperson of the ACHL told MLN last week that President Bill Coffee was in Birmingham trying to "finalize a deal that could be announced as soon as Friday [June 21]."

The ACHL's Vice President of Hockey Operations, Ron Hansis, claimed no knowledge of the deadline when contacted by MLN earlier today.

Other sources in the ACHL tell MLN that a deal was still in the works as of this morning, and the ACHL is still trying to come to a resolution in trying to develop a team in Birmingham. Poe, contacted by MLN late this afternoon, remained adamant that they had "no contract with the ACHL, and no hockey team."

Poe went on to say he doubts whether hockey can survive in Birmingham.
"There has been mixed results in the past [regarding] hockey. I'm not sure if it is feasible here." Poe admitted.

Long a collegiate sports town, Birmingham's history with minor league sports, and hockey in particular, has been a mixed bag. The ACHL believes its lower cost. fan friendly model. may be able to resurrect the sport in Birmingham in spite of the past problems with other teams and leagues in that city.

Situating a team in Tupelo may be another problem, and it is proving to be more difficult than anticipated for the ACHL.

The ownership group in current negotiations for an ACHL team previously owned the now defunct Tupelo T-Rex of the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL).

The WPHL merged with the Central Hockey League (CHL) in 2001. All territorial rights of the WPHL are held by the CHL.

Sources have told MLN the Tupelo ownership group may need to resolve outstanding financial issues with the Central Hockey League to gain a release of the territorial rights that the CHL may still hold on that city.

The ACHL denies that there are any territorial rights problems in Tupelo. The Central Hockey League and the Tupelo ownership group were unavailable for comment at press time.

The situation has the potential to destabilize the ACHL if the league cannot find enough teams backed by ownership groups and with the blessing of local government. Teams in Cape Fear and Knoxville, now signing up season ticket holders, are both committed to playing the 2003-2004 season. If the league does not form with enough teams to compete, they may be forced to seek refuge in the WHA-2, which is playing within the same general geographic region.

The WHA-2, meanwhile, continues to build its base for the 2003-2004 season. When asked if ACHL teams contacting the league for admission to the upcoming season would be allowed to play in that league, spokesperson Monique Griffin of the WHA-2 told MLN "We would be happy to take them in."

ACHL teams played against the WHA-2 teams last year as one league. There would be little needed to bring the ACHL teams into the WHA-2 should there not be enough momentum to propel the ACHL into the 2003-2004 season.

Brian Ross & Ketan Dhawan contributed to this article