Falcons future up in the air

FRESNO, Ca.- It has been no secret for Falcon fans this season that the team’s future in Fresno was far from secure as they moved into their refurbished home in downtown Fresno at Selland Arena. It was hoped the move would bring in more fans who had been clamoring for the team tomove back to Selland arena after a five-year stint at the sparkling new Save Mart Center on the north side of town. The Save Mart Center was just too big (just shy of 15,000 seats for hockey) and didn’t provide the old-time hockey atmosphere that many fans said they wanted. There were rumblings heard over the summer that the ownership group was having some difficulties financially. There were comments made that the fans needed to go out and get more fans attending the games; or the consequences may be dire for the team. After 16 home dates the team is averaging 3,284 fans a game which is a significant decline from where they were last year at Save Mart Center. There are many factors attributing to this including the economy, but the team owners must be shaking their heads in disbelief with many crowds well under the 3,000 mark and only a pair of games near 6,000 to balance it out. Late on Friday the rumors started to fly that the team was in imminent danger of playing it’s last game on Saturday against the Stockton Thunder and Monday could well be the end of the franchise. In the event the owners pull the plug on the Falcons the franchise would revert to the City of Fresno per terms of the team’s twenty-year lease at Selland Arena. As a result fans e-mail’s poured into city hall to “Save our Falcons”. The response has been such the city actually has requested fans to stop sending e-mails as it is clogging their e-mail system. “There will be a meeting either at 10:00 or 11:00 AM (PST) on Monday with the ECHL Board of Governors, the team owners and the city of Fresno,” said club CEO John Tull. “The fact that the city has requested that fans stop e-mailing is a great sign, it’s pretty obvious they got the message. The team’s owners have said they definitely do not want to continue to operate the franchise beyond this season and have been looking for a buyer or to form a non-profit organization to run the team.” “I am hopeful that something can be worked out. I’m confident the ECHL wants the Falcons to remain in Fresno. The other teams in our conference would face heavy expenses if the Falcons were to fold. There would be rescheduling arena dates and travel expenses. The city of Fresno has a stake in the team’s survival as well as they have spent millions of dollars renovating this arena for the team’s return.” Tull also addressed some of the factors which have led to the franchise’s crossroads. “One major factor for the team owners has been the stalling of the Legacy Project which was to provide a new practice rink, apartments and retail businesses in what is now the Selland Arena parking lot,” said Tull. “That (would have) provided a lot of revenue streams and other opportunities. They only had about 10-14 days to get the financing together for the project after it was announced, and with the economy what it is the financing didn’t work out and the project was put on hold for the time being.” “The best sign Falcon fans can see at this point is construction started out in that parking lot and us having to scramble for parking. It‘s been tough on us this year a bit. We‘re working out of our homes and don‘t have an office, the staff has been cut back, etc. etc. It‘s a tough choice for the owners, we can spend a bunch on promotions and advertising and get more fans in the seats but at what cost?” As for the hockey that did indeed take place the Falcons gave the 2,852 appreciative fans something to cheer about with a 3-1 win over theirnorth valley rivals from Stockton. The first period saw no goals as both teams played solid defense and appeared to be feeling each other out in the early going. Spencer Carberry and Adam Huxley dropped the gloves for an old time helmet-less brawl that lasted several minutes with both combatants landing some good ones. The second period saw Fresno take control of the game. Carberry opened the scoring early on with a slap shot from the point that found it’s way between the pads of Stockton goaltender Bryan Pitton (25 saves on 28 shots). Fresno made the score 2-0 near the game’s midpoint when Judd Blackwater notched his fifth goal of the year picking up a puck off that redirected off a defender’s skate and firing it into an empty net. Stockton got back in the game on a goal from Justin Chwedoruk who tapped in a rolling puck that trickled behind the pads of Fresno goaltender Mike Ouzas (32 saves on 33 shots) on a shot from the point by Cody Wild. Fresno notched the final goal at 16:01 when Adam Berti was stationed in the mid-slot and deflected a low shot from Blackwater from the right point over Pitton’s shoulder on the powerplay. The second period saw several more donnybrooks as Fresno’s Brennan Turner really took the better of it in a bout with Stockton’s feisty Garet Hunt. Another brawl erupted between Kyle Hagel of the Falcons and the much taller Milan Maslonka from the Thunder. Shortly after that Bobby Davey and Mike Salekin erupted in a slug fest. The final brawl of the night saw Hagel and Maslonka go at it again (Hagel leads the ECHL in fighting majors with 17). Fresno slammed the door in the final period and held onto the win despite Stockton outshooting Fresno 12-7 in the final period. There were “Save our Falcons” signs scattered about the arena, fans getting a petition together and a minute-long standing ovation at the end of the game to say “thank you” to the team that has played in Fresno since the late 1960‘s and dates back to 1946. If it’s all worked out the Falcons will resume action on the road in Bakersfield on December 27. If the ECHL will have its second folding in three weeks after none for years and players will be scrambling for work.

Contact the author at mike.canady@prohockeynews.com.

Contact the photographer at chris.canady@prohockeynews.com.