Federals replace Wild on FHL schedule

SYRACUSE, NY – When the FHL introduced the Vermont Wild as the state’s first professional hockey team, it was with the expectation that owner Randall Latona was ready for a long run in Morrisville.
Unfortunately for the second year league, the Wild failed to survive the first month of the season. Just as they did a year ago when faced with a similar challenge, the FHL recovered quickly with the formation of its newest franchise, the Delaware Federals. The Federals will assume the Wild’s remaining road schedule for the rest of the season.
The situation in Vermont seemed to be solid. Latona came into the league with experience as a sports franchise owner, having owned the Rochester Knighthawks pro lacrosse team as well as having held a minority stake in the AHL’s Rochester Americans. He also owned the Green Mountain Arena in Morrisville, the home of the Wild. Just by his presence as a team owner, Latona joining the FHL gave the league more credibility.
The final Wild home game came on November 12th against the Danville Dashers in front of 271 fans. Following a search to find other investors failed, Latona pulled the plug on the team after just over two weeks as an independently operated franchise.
The FHL stepped in to subsidize the Wild’s next three road games, allowing the remaining teams to maintain their revenue streams from home contests. It also bought time for the league office and team owners to find a long-term solution to the looming scheduling problem.
It was a similar situation to what the FHL faced in its inaugural season. Last December, the Rome Frenzy ended their season early, forcing the league to rework its remaining schedule. It would be reworked a second time when the Broome County Barons left Binghamton before ending up on Cape Cod where they remain today as the Bluefins. This time however, the other owners were not amenable to repeating the schedule redo, fearing a loss of income from cancelled games.
An attempt was made to salvage the scuttled by a new ownership group that the FHL was working with. Delaware Pro Hockey, Inc. (DPHI) had been in

negotiations with the state of Delaware for a January debut at the 350-seat Center Ice Rink at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington. The building, built in 2002, has a concession stand and pro shop. The plan was for Charlie Pens Sr., the director of American Hockey Services which operates American Hockey Schools, to be named general manager and head coach for the Federals.
DPHI was unable to secure home ice for the Federals to play on, forcing the group to beg out of its investment for this year. Once the DPHI deal fell through, the league stepped in, taking over operations in an effort to complete the remaining Wild away game schedule. The Federals will be strictly a travel team for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season.
“We thought we had it done. They (DPHI) thought they had it done. It just unraveled in about 36 hours. Then we had to go to plan B instead of plan A,” FHL Vice-Commissioner Andrew “Sarge” Richards said. “This is a solution that the owners came up with and wanted to do.”
Plan B began with the last minute scramble to put a roster together for a scheduled game on December in Hyannis, MA against the Bluefins. A full roster was cobbled together to replace the Wild players who had been released to play elsewhere but the game resulted in a resounding18-0 win for the Bluefins. Former NHLer Billy Tibbetts had a career night for Cape Cod, scoring two goals and adding eight assists for a ten point night.
The game’s outcome arguably hurt the league’s attempts to continue earning a positive reputation.
“That was a mess,” Richards said. “We had to completely change that (Federals) roster but we didn’t have any time to get it together. It wasn’t what we wanted.”
Given more time to prepare for upcoming games, Richards said he expects the Federals will ice a more competitive squad for the remainder of the season.He did admit that finding quality players that could compete against existing FHL first lines will be difficult this late in the year.
“If they (first liners) wanted to play, they’re already playing,” he said.
The league hopes to tap into the hockey-rich areas that it currently has within its footprint to find the best available talent. The Federals’ roster is expected to fluctuate depending on the location of each venue and player availability. Dan Farrell, who has junior level experience in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League as well as experience in the hockey equipment business, will act as the head coach for the remainder of the schedule.
Richards said that housing a Delaware-based team for the 2012-2013 season is not out of the question. He noted that the rink at the fairgrounds will have to have some upgrades such as additional seating and professional locker rooms before the league or DPHI will make the deal.
“Unless they get everything they want, they’re not going to do it,” he said.
For now anyway, the FHL has plugged a hole in the seawall once again. Let’s hope there are no more leaks on the way.
Contact the author at wendy.hull@prohockeynews.com