ORLANDO, FLA – Less than a month ago, the Mississippi Surge were riding atop the SPHL as President’s Cup champions. Wednesday morning, the franchise found itself under the control of a new yet familiar owner.
The SPHL anounced Wednesday that it had approved the sale of the team from Coast Hockey, LLC to Surge Ice, LLC, a group led by Pensacola Ice Flyers’ owner Tim Kerr. Kerr is also currently the SPHL’s Chairman of the Board of Governors.
“(The) local ownership was not able to give the amount of time to the team that was needed (to make it successful),” SPHL President Jim Combs said. ” Tim has been very successful in Pensacola. He was willing to come over and help out and then decided to buy the team.”
Both the Surge and Ice Flyers had been ECHL franchises until two seasons ago when they joined the SPHL as part of a three-team expansion along the I-10 corridor. Under the direction of head coach and general manager Steffon Walby, the Surge have won the William B. Coffey trophy as regular season champs twice as well as getting to the championship series in both of its season. Mississippi defeated the expansion Augusta RiverHawks to win the President’s Cup.
Kerr, a former NHL great with the Philadelphia Flyers and former Pensacola Ice Pilots owner, has revived hockey in Pensacola in a resounding way. In its two seasons at the Pensacola Civic Center, the Ice Flyers have averaged over 3,000 fans per home game – including 3,457 in its inaugural campaign – and made the playoffs both years.
“Biloxi is a great market with a long-standing history on the ice and my decision to purchase the mississippi Surge was done so hockey will continue for years to come,” Kerr said in the league announcement. “Not only is it important to the fans and comunities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the Surge to succeed but it also benefits the other teams along the I-10 corridor like Pensacola and Louisiana and I look forward to the challenge. I look forward to the challenge of presenting hockey for everyone’s long-term enjoyment on the coast.”
Combs said that while there has never been a rule about owners owning parts or all of more than one team, the league has put some stipulations on Kerr.
“Anybody can own more than one team if they want,” he said. “The owner will only get one vote to cover the two teams and no trades between the teams will be allowed. We will monitor all of that.”
The sale of the Surge comes amid rumors that the SPHL is about to expand at the expense of the Central Hockey League. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs ownership contacted Combs in March regarding franchise and operations information. Combs also was a guest on a radio show in Bossier City on March 19th, giving fans a primer on what the SPHL is all about.
There is speculation that as many as two or three CHL teams could opt to jump ship for the less-costly SPHL business model. Combs said that teams wanting to participate in the SPHL for the 20-11-2012 season need to have their letters of credit and available home dates to the league by May 15th.
Stay with ProHockeyNews.com for more on this developing story.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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