NORTH RICHLAND HILLS , Texas – When the Central Hockey League announced participating teams for the upcoming season, no one expected that the Youngstown SteelHounds would be left off the list. Especially Herb Washington, whose Blue Line Hockey, LLC owns the team.
The CHL press release simply said “… the Youngstown SteelHounds are no longer participating in the league.”
Washington said that he received a letter from the league the same day that stated the reasons for the team’s termination were non-payment of assessments and fees and non-attendance at league meetings. But Washington believes that the league owes him money and has complained that the CHL press release failed to mention that the parties have been embroiled in litigation over financial issues since November of 2006.
Youngstown was the eastern-most franchise in the CHL, with their closest rival, the Mississippi RiverKings, located over 750 miles away in Southaven, Mississippi. Washington claims that the CHL reimburses its other league members for their trips to Youngstown and that the CHL also agreed to subsidize the SteelHound’s travel expenses, but has failed to do so.
“We have not received a single dime from the Central Hockey League for our travel since I’ve been in the league, and it is our opinion, looking at our numbers, that the dollars that I owe the Central Hockey League are less than the dollars that they owe me for travel, and other promised reimbursements,” Washington said.
Washington added that the SteelHounds have lost money every year the team’s been in business. But he wouldn’t say how much. Washington believes the timing of the league’s decision was deliberate.
“This action by the Central Hockey League was well-planned, malicious in intent, and it was done to further hurt the hockey team, and the city of Youngstown,” Washington said.
“With litigation pending our position is very guarded,” the CHL’s Director of Communications, Bob Hoffman said. “What I can say is that we have sent the SteelHounds a termination letter and they will not be participating next season.” According to Global Entertainment’s financial disclosure report of Aug. 31, 2007, the company filed a lawsuit against Washington’s company for $115,000 in unpaid fees. James Domaz, Vice-President and General Counsel of Global Entertainment said that the league charges a $100,000 annual fee to all its teams. He stated that Washington had paid most of the fees in the first year, but has failed to pay any in the team’s second and third year in the league.
“It costs the league a certain amount of money to do league things such as management costs and paying referees,” Hoffman said. “The league breaks even. We couldn’t continue to supply services to someone who isn’t paying the fees.” Washington said he believes the CHL’s decision was also based on the severed relationship between Global Entertainment and the city. Global subsidiary International Coliseums Company managed the center for two years ending in October 2007. The city of Youngstown cut its ties with the firm, citing financial losses at the arena. The announcement left the SteelHounds scrambling to find somewhere to play this season. Washington says the CHL should have made their decision right after the ‘Hounds final playoff game in April.
“It would have allowed us to talk to other leagues…they knew by waiting this late that a lot of leagues had closed out their schedules,” Washington said.
Washington has previously sought the possibility of joining another AA hockey league such as the ECHL or IHL. Geographically, either league would be more suitable for the SteelHounds. The ECHL, based in Princeton, New Jersey has 25 teams within four divisions across the nation, including a North Division that consists of Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, Elmira, New York, Johnstown and Reading Pennsylvania, Trenton, New Jersey and Wheeling, West Virginia. The IHL has 6 teams; 4 of them based in Michigan ( Port Huron, Flint, Muskegon and Kalamazoo), the others in Bloomington, Illinois, and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
IHL President Paul Pickard said he and Washington have spoken about the possibility of bringing the SteelHounds into the league for the 2008-09 season.
“We’ve had conversations and we’d like to get together face-to-face,” Pickard said. “We have been following what was happening in the CHL…we kind of anticipated that if Youngstown did want to come on board we’d have to revisit our schedule, and we have contingencies for that. They fit into our business model and in our geographic footprint. He’s a strong owner, and they have a great facility. It’s not like they are a start-up team.”
A decision will probably need to be made before the IHL’s Board of Governors meetings to be held June 22-26 in Las Vegas.
Washington said he expects to have talks with IHL officials soon but wants to know how long he would have to stay in the league if he signs a contract. In the past, Washington has shown greater interest in joining the ECHL, but doing so this year would be “difficult,” he said.
“Sitting out a year and joining the ECHL for the 2009-10 season is quite feasible, Washington said. “I’m absolutely confident the ECHL would welcome us with open arms for ’09-10.”
Even if they have to suspend operations for this season, he says both the IHL and ECHL are strong candidates to bring professional hockey back to Youngstown in 2009-10. In the meantime, all SteelHounds employees have been told that operations will continue as normal for as long as possible.
Contact the author at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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