BILOXI, MS – Fans of the Mississippi Surge have spent a good deal of this off-season thirsting for information about the fate of their team. Thursday night, they got a lot of good news.
In his second town meeting event since mid-April, team owner Tim Kerr updated approximately 100 fans on a variety of subjects including season ticket sales, the teamâs lease with the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and more. He was joined for the question and answer session at the Mississippi Coast Convention Center by head coach Jeff Bes and SPHL President Jim Combs. The meeting lasted just short of an hour before fans had the opportunity to individually talk with the participants.
The first thing Kerr, who is also owner of the Pensacola Ice Flyers and currently is finishing his second season as chairman of the SPHLâs Board of Governors, did was thank the fans face-to-face for their help in keeping the team alive through season ticket sales. The fans met a May 11th deadline by purchasing 737 season tickets to allow the Surge to commit to playing the 2012-2013 season. He said that as of the meeting, 740 season tickets have been sold but that 50 more tickets for each game are being donated to local charities and another 25 will be going to military personnel, bringing the total to 815. The present number is just 185 short of the teamâs overall goal of having 1,000 season tickets by October. Kerr also reiterated his pledge that should the team turn a profit, those profits would be donated to local charities on the Gulf Coast.
âWe still have work to do and are looking forward to continuing to work together with the fans to ensure that hockey remains on the Gulf Coast for many years to come,â Kerr said.
An important part of the Surgeâs existence is predicated upon a lease with the building. With the initial lease about to expire, Kerr said talks are underway with the MCC on a renewal. He noted that the two sides are âextremely closeâ to finalizing a two-year deal – a statement that drew applause from the fans.
Bes was also extremely appreciative of the fans for their dedication and support. He joked with the fans about having some âjob securityâ thanks to their efforts and also passed along the gratitude of the players who called Biloxi home last season.
âI have been in contact with the guys by text message and they are thrilled to be returning to the Coast for another season,â Bes said.
The addition of Combs to the roster of speakers was an added bonus. He told the fans that the SPHL would maintain its nine-team membership this coming season but that expansion is certainly on the horizon.
âIn 2013, we are looking to expand the league by anywhere from one to four teams,â Combs said.
During the fan question portion of the meeting, Kerr was asked about the possibility of the team changing its name since some people still think of Hurricane Katrina when the name Surge is brought up. Kerrâs answer to the question was that the team has no plans to move away from its name. Fans also asked about the possibility of bringing the âtraveling Stanley Cupâ exhibit to Biloxi, the possibility of seeing an SPHL All-Star game in the future and whether an exhibition game between the Surge and a college hockey squad would be considered.
Bes, who admitted he is happy to have a full off-season to build his roster, was asked about the possibility of non-protected list players returning to the Surge. Before he could answer, Combs jumped in and said that Bes could not comment on that topic because non-protected players could not be signed until August 1st.
Combs said that training camps for the teams would begin on October 15th ahead of the leagueâs ninth season starting the weekend of October 26th-27th.
(Editorâs Note: Pro Hockey News was the only media outlet to cover Thursdayâs Surge town meeting.)
Contact the author at pat.mcarthur@prohockeynews.com
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