Frankfurt Lions in financial trouble

[fuechsken]

Today the Lions confirmed the rumours about the financial trouble of the club. Once again they ask both, local companies and the City of Frankfurt for financial and structural help.

Source: http://frankfurt-lions-gmbh.de/pages/news/topnews.php (German)

[fuechsken]

Apparently, the Lions have come to an agreement with the city of Frankfurt to delay the payment of the liabilities and to lower the leasing rate of their arena. On July 2nd, the DEL will announce whether all teams receive a licence to play next season.

Hockeyweb.de (German)

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Now what will happen tothe Lions being denied a spot in the DEL?

[JVR]

It's sad.
The DEL is pretty much dead.

The Scorps only survived because the owner pays again from his own pocket.

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Any chance they can operate in 2 Bundesliga? Or will they totally cease operations?

[ts]

Originally Posted by ALF AmericanLionsFan

Any chance they can operate in 2 Bundesliga? Or will they totally cease operations?

Most speculations I've read (mostly in other fan forums) say they will probably start again in the Oberliga. Other possibilities are a fresh start in the Hessenliga or they try what Kassel does, go to court and try to push the DEL to handle them a license (less likely).

The Oberliga is a possibility because the Young Lions could get a license there, so the Lions could take that license for a new start of their pro team.

For a start in the 2nd Bundesliga they would need to overtake a license there, right now nobody seems to think they can get one. The EHC Müchen will be promoted to the DEL, seemingly therefore another Oberliga team will get promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. Currently there are no official announcements from the ESBG (Eishockeyspielbetriebsgesellschaft => body for 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga) about who will get a license for 2010/2011.

At this stage nothing's sure. It will be interessting if Kassel will be able to stay in the DEL (doubt it), if so, maybe Frankfurt will follow their example?

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Originally Posted by ts

Most speculations I've read (mostly in other fan forums) say they will probably start again in the Oberliga. Other possibilities are a fresh start in the Hessenliga or they try what Kassel does, go to court and try to push the DEL to handle them a license (less likely).

The Oberliga is a possibility because the Young Lions could get a license there, so the Lions could take that license for a new start of their pro team.

For a start in the 2nd Bundesliga they would need to overtake a license there, right now nobody seems to think they can get one. The EHC Müchen will be promoted to the DEL, seemingly therefore another Oberliga team will get promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. Currently there are no official announcements from the ESBG (Eishockeyspielbetriebsgesellschaft => body for 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga) about who will get a license for 2010/2011.

At this stage nothing's sure. It will be interessting if Kassel will be able to stay in the DEL (doubt it), if so, maybe Frankfurt will follow their example?

Thanks for the update...hopefully some kind of miracle can happen.

[HockeyInsider87]

What teams like Frankfurt and Kassel need to do is to recruit quality players who will play for a reasonable salary and not players who expect too much just because they have played a few NHL games. There is usually a good reason why players only played a few NHL games. They had weaknesses or weren't as good as their hype.

It always amazes me to see players make it to the NHL just because they were big or could fight or played for weak NHL team organizations or teams that had a lot of injuries and then get rewarded further by getting top paying contracts in Europe.

There are many players playing in the AHL, ECHL and CHL that are far more skilled than many players that make it to the NHL. These players are the ones who would play in Germany for a reasaonable salary and help teams win. That's another reason why teams need to pay scouts in other countries or have staff that travel and recruit. They will pay for themselves by finding quality players that would play for less salary and make your teams more competitive.

Paying players over 100k just because they were fortunate and played a few games in the NHL doesn't make financial sense. If teams can afford it, fine but if they can't they need to find ways to remain competitive without having to pay out more than they bring in.

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Originally Posted by HockeyInsider87

What teams like Frankfurt and Kassel need to do is to recruit quality players who will play for a reasonable salary and not players who expect too much just because they have played a few NHL games. There is usually a good reason why players only played a few NHL games. They had weaknesses or weren't as good as their hype.

It always amazes me to see players make it to the NHL just because they were big or could fight or played for weak NHL team organizations or teams that had a lot of injuries and then get rewarded further by getting top paying contracts in Europe.

There are many players playing in the AHL, ECHL and CHL that are far more skilled than many players that make it to the NHL. These players are the ones who would play in Germany for a reasaonable salary and help teams win. That's another reason why teams need to pay scouts in other countries or have staff that travel and recruit. They will pay for themselves by finding quality players that would play for less salary and make your teams more competitive.

Paying players over 100k just because they were fortunate and played a few games in the NHL doesn't make financial sense. If teams can afford it, fine but if they can't they need to find ways to remain competitive without having to pay out more than they bring in.

Who on the roster has NHL experience? Slaney is about it and he was new. Young and Gordon never sniffed NHL time. All were minor leaguers. They have also hunted down lower minor league talent like Hahn so to say that is what they need to do is a little bit tardy since they already have been doing that for awhile.

[HockeyInsider87]

Originally Posted by ALF AmericanLionsFan

Who on the roster has NHL experience? Slaney is about it and he was new. Young and Gordon never sniffed NHL time. All were minor leaguers. They have also hunted down lower minor league talent like Hahn so to say that is what they need to do is a little bit tardy since they already have been doing that for awhile.

Not to split hairs but 4 Lions imports had NHL experience last year and 6 the year before that. Players like Hahn are plentiful and bargains if teams would just search for them. Ulmer is good but is he worth what is likely a salary between 125-200k? I'm guessing but that's an educated guess.

Frankfurt were 5th in league attendance with an average near 6000 per game. Either the arena lease agreement is out of line, the player budget is too high or there is money leaking somewhere. The team should be able to make it with that kind of attendance. Just some fiscal discipline and good management is required. That may be asking for too much?

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

RIP LIONS

[fuechsken]

Originally Posted by ALF AmericanLionsFan

RIP LIONS

Minor League Hockey is still entertaining... speaking from my own experience