Laredo Bucks commit to CHL for 2011-12 season

LAREDO, Texas – At Wednesday night’s Town Hall Meeting, Laredo Bucks Majority Owner Glenn Hart asked Bucks fans to show their support by renewing or purchasing their seats for the upcoming season by 5pm Friday. Hart stated he was going to look at the number of seats purchased as a point of reference as to whether or not to continue, but minutes before the deadline, the Bucks organization issued a press release advising that Hart has committed to another season in the Central Hockey League. “Once again our fans have proved why they are the best fans in the CHL,” Hart said. “After reviewing the number of seats sold for the 2011-12 season, I am happy to announce we will play next season. We still need more season ticket holders to renew their seats, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.”   “I have emailed the Central Hockey League and fellow owners that we would be playing next season even if Rio Grande Valley does not…I sincerely hope that they will.” Hart said, alluding to the current turmoil within the Killer Bees organization. The Bucks have created a new seating and pricing structure for their 10th Anniversary season, utilizing the lower bowl of the 8,065 seat Laredo Energy Arena only (including club level), divided into 5 new price levels: Club, Glass, Center Ice, End Zone, and Corner sections. “It will be great for the players to have the fans more ‘in the game’ and close to the action this season,” head coach Serge Dube said. “This will create more excitement and energy for the players with this new seating arrangement.”

Pricing for each section has been adjusted as well. Each section will contain a “current level price” and an “anniversary level price.” The anniversary level price will be given to those season ticket holders who have remained season ticket holders since the inaugural season of the franchise. During Wednesday night’s meeting Hart reportedly asked season ticket holders and sponsors for interest in owning a portion of the team. There is no word on what percentage of the Bucks franchise he would be interested in putting up for sale, or the price required to join the ownership group. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Hart is likely to sell shares in the team to a Canadian group, which recommended the hiring of Dube as head coach. Meanwhile, word has been leaking out about some of the proposed changes the league will implement for the coming season which will benefit the Bucks, if they are true. Michael Blake of Pro 8 News in Laredo reports that the CHL will now run under new salary cap guidelines, which require teams to operate on two tiers. The first tier for small market teams would allow a max of $8,400 per week to pay players. The second tier jumps up to $11,000. In addition, “bigger market” teams will now be required to share revenue with smaller ones. How those markets will be determined and what the player’s union has to say about all of this has yet to be announced. Contact the writer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com