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Movin’ On Down The Road
Continued from page two ...
Same Dance Card, Different Partners?
Puzzling to the BJCC’s Poe was the fact that the President of Alabama Professional Hockey, Taylor Hall, did not originally contact him.
“Initially it was David Waronker,” stated Poe. “Although its my understanding that he doesn’t have an ownership (stake) in the team, it is bound to be a little bit curious that he would be coming in talking about a team he doesn’t own.”
Whether this signals a shift in the ownership situation or even the control of the direction of the team remains speculation. The owners and management of the Alabama Slammers were not in their offices for several days when contacted by MLN and did not return multiple requests for comments regarding this story.
Loan or partnership interest will become clear in the coming days. According to players, Hall is still very much on the scene.
There is a vulnerability in the operation's status, one that their rivals can smell like sharks to blood in the water.
Caught in the Great Southeast Hockey Plains War
The Slammers have been operating in one of the battle grounds of the Great Southeast Hockey Plains War.
Waronker’s EHL is moving on arenas already occupied by the rival Southeast Hockey League (SEHL). The SEHL is striking back, taking aim at the EHL’s most vulnerable operations, including Pelham.
For those unfamiliar with the Jerry Springer-like festivities of the last few years, many of the teams of the WHA-2 and SEHL teams were founding members of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL).
The league fractured when Waronker, upset with its operation, took several teams and bolted, searching for greener pastures as a minor league to the much-hyped return of the WHA. The few remaining teams in the ACHL also banded together to form the SEHL. Blood between the two leagues remains bad.
The WHA still claims in press releases that it will take to the ice next season, especially if labor troubles darken the arenas of the National Hockey League (NHL). Waronker became disenchanted with their future, and terminated the relationship with the “major” league taking his surviving franchises to form the independent EHL.
The metro Birmingham area was part of their turf war last season. When Taylor Hall struck a deal in Pelham, the SEHL was making noises about finding a rival ownership group to field a team that could occupy the BJCC. The SEHL did not put together the team for Birmingham last season.
That doesn’t mean that they have given up trying.
According to mayor Hayes, the city was contacted about the possibility of another league playing in Pelham. Sources in the ECHL doubt it was anyone connected with their league. SEHL Commissioner Jim Riggs was unavailable for comment when this article went to upload.
Hayes told those inquiring that the city had a contract with the Slammers until May 30th. He said that they would not entertain any rival offers to occupy the building until it was clear that Alabama Professional Hockey would not be leasing the facility next season.
A League of Complications May Make Move Uncertain
Poe says that there are still uncertainties regarding the new EHL that need to be addressed before negotiations to bring the Slammers to the BJCC can proceed.
“We’re trying to understand the ownership structure of the league,” said Poe. “We’ve been told that a board of governors will exercise policy direction for the EHL, but we’re trying to understand if there is a single owner that has 4 or 5 of those teams and is going to be actually controlling the majority of the governors seats. We’re unclear on that at this point.”
And the Winner Is…
Poe indicated that he wanted to wrap up the fact-finding and make a decision by the end of next week. If the BJCC is pleased with what their due diligence investigations reveal, the option for the Slammers to play there next season will become a reality.
“If we satisfy ourselves that everything is on the up and up and workable, we’ll definitely get into a program with the EHL,” said Poe.
Whether that will mean that the team will actually ease on down the road to Birmingham remains a question that will be answered soon. Waronker wants to solidify control of the region by the EHL. If the money he is using to keep the Slammers franchise moving forward is any indication, Birmingham still remains a strategic holding for the league.
There are Letters to the Editor on this article. Click here to access that section.
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