Mike Ashmore @mashmore98 .@Shawn_Rine reporting the Nailers have been sold and will remain in Wheeling. Not the last ECHL puzzle piece to fall, I can assure you.
Shawn Rine @Shawn_Rine @mashmore98 you got that right. 3 more dominos to fall
Wonder who they are??? I have it on good authority Elmira will be back, it's just who will be the operator.
Could be. Drektah the owner won the lottery back in te day, I wonder how much dough he has to play with. I believe he sold the old Icehogs to whoever owns the AHL franchise as well.
Interesting, so even Drektah(a past lottery winner)doesn't have the funds to keep this team afloat?
No clue, but a quick google search only brings up another forum where other people are prognosticating Chicago's doom and the tweet you quoted from Wheeling's color commentator.
Certainly would be a shame if they did end up folding. Almost enough to make me believe that the Sears Centre really is cursed....
No clue, but a quick google search only brings up another forum where other people are prognosticating Chicago's doom and the tweet you quoted from Wheeling's color commentator.
Certainly would be a shame if they did end up folding. Almost enough to make me believe that the Sears Centre really is cursed....
Big building and bad attendance tend to do that.
I think Martinson is the curse. No team exists that he's coached except for Elmira but we are in some trouble now.
Yeah, despite my "all is well" reporting a few weeks ago, it appears there is a reason that no season tickets have been offered for "next season"......yet*.
*Team is for sale, or partly for sale.
*Renegotiating lease with Global-Spectrum, managing company of the Sears Center Arena.
*Losses were 2 - 2.5 times as expected.
*New NHL/AHL parent team(duh, the obvious choice)
#1 does not have to happen if #2 is accomplished in satisfaction for there to be a next season.
That being said...
The Express is light years ahead of where the Chicago Hounds were as far as a team and attendance.
Global Spectrum($10 parking), its food service partner, Levy Restaurants(excessively outrageous concession prices, poor $1 night set ups), and Andy Frain Services(poor spectator/crowd control) have let the Express down in many ways.
There are good signs to build off of this season to give at least one more season a go.
Rumor was the Express tried to get the ECHL affiliation for the Blackhawks and when that failed, had to settle for the CBJ affiliation which would have helped on the marketing front.
$10 parking is insane at the Sears Center, never ate at a game there. St Patrick's day they offered corned beef sandwiches for only $10!
Seems every game that I went to and walked up to buy tickets, the cheapest section always sold out. Maybe they are reviewing pricing strategies because of this fact before offering season tickets next year?
Two people in the office that I've spoken to both said that they're sure the team will return next season.
Rumor was the Express tried to get the ECHL affiliation for the Blackhawks and when that failed, had to settle for the CBJ affiliation which would have helped on the marketing front.
$10 parking is insane at the Sears Center, never ate at a game there. St Patrick's day they offered corned beef sandwiches for only $10!
Seems every game that I went to and walked up to buy tickets, the cheapest section always sold out. Maybe they are reviewing pricing strategies because of this fact before offering season tickets next year?
Two people in the office that I've spoken to both said that they're sure the team will return next season.
Dang. Wouldn't have minded seeing that goon Martinson be on the short end of the stick for once.
Hawks or no Hawks, don't think it would have made much difference. That market is already pretty well covered.
Hawks or no Hawks, don't think it would have made much difference. That market is already pretty well covered.
Considering the number of Rockford fans who supported the Express, I think having the link between the Express and Rockford Icehogs AHL squad would have helped somewhat (although you'd have to follow the Hogs first).
I get your point though, besides players, does Rockford really benefit from the Blackhawks affiliation? The Hawks don't do any marketing for them, and I'd think 90% of the fans that attend Hogs home games go to see Icehogs (or drink beer) regardless of their affiliate.
Considering the number of Rockford fans who supported the Express, I think having the link between the Express and Rockford Icehogs AHL squad would have helped somewhat (although you'd have to follow the Hogs first).
I get your point though, besides players, does Rockford really benefit from the Blackhawks affiliation? The Hawks don't do any marketing for them, and I'd think 90% of the fans that attend Hogs home games go to see Icehogs (or drink beer) regardless of their affiliate.
Don't quote me on it but the head coach Martinson used to coach in Rockford.
Rumor was the Express tried to get the ECHL affiliation for the Blackhawks and when that failed, had to settle for the CBJ affiliation which would have helped on the marketing front.
$10 parking is insane at the Sears Center, never ate at a game there. St Patrick's day they offered corned beef sandwiches for only $10!
Seems every game that I went to and walked up to buy tickets, the cheapest section always sold out. Maybe they are reviewing pricing strategies because of this fact before offering season tickets next year?
Two people in the office that I've spoken to both said that they're sure the team will return next season.
This.
Parking was ridiculously overpriced given how many spaces they had open and how there are no alternative parking options nearby and the concessions, especially during their Dollar Fridays, were a joke.
That being said, the team store only have one cash register was pretty messed up, too, and I'm pretty sure that was on the organization itself. Plus, they did a pisspoor job of screening/censoring the music and videos that they played during the break, as on a number of occasions I heard clear as day F-bombs and other curses actually blasted out on the loudspeakers as part of the song's normal lyrics. Think they could've sprung for the radio edit versions of those....
Those complaints aside though, the games were a lot of fun. Hope your assessment that they'll be coming back next year is accurate.
Don't quote me on it but the head coach Martinson used to coach in Rockford.
He did, for 3 years including their championship season in the UHL. They also brought in the old PA guy from Rockford who left mid-way through the previous season.
He did, for 3 years including their championship season in the UHL. They also brought in the old PA guy from Rockford who left mid-way through the previous season.
Did they bring their old radio guy too or did he get the AHL job?
I gotta wonder how much Drektah got when he sold the Hogs to the AHL team owner. I know he's a previous lottery winner but ones gotta wonder even so if the honeymoon of being filthy rich is about over
I gotta wonder how much Drektah got when he sold the Hogs to the AHL team owner.
Um, that's not how it works, and after this many years, you should know that.
The Hogs were a UHL franchise. They simply folded when they were not offered a lease by the facility.
The AHL franchise that the civic authority (I forget its name) purchased to place into Rockford was the dormant former AHL Cincinnati franchise -- those owners got the money, not Drektrah.
Um, that's not how it works, and after this many years, you should know that.
The Hogs were a UHL franchise. They simply folded when they were not offered a lease by the facility.
The AHL franchise that the civic authority (I forget its name) purchased to place into Rockford was the dormant former AHL Cincinnati franchise -- those owners got the money, not Drektrah.
From what I remember hearing, the following should fill in the "gap" that doesn't seem to explain just how they jumped from the UHL to AHL.
After years of having Drektrah as his co-owner, Tumilowicz wanted him out. Even I'm fuzzy with the details, but somewhere in there, the MetroCentre also wanted to buy into the Icehogs with Tumilowicz to maintain a marquee tenant always in the building. Drektrah, from how I understood it back then, didn't want to move up to the AHL nor affiliate with the Blackhawks, so he wanted out.
At issue was the name rights and ownership, and Drektrah was paid to just go away and give up the rights Tumilowicz/MetroCentre. This wasn't settled until midway through the Icehogs first season in the AHL, halfway through the failed Hounds season.
Drektrah, bless his heart, tried all he could to save the Hounds, but the mess was too much. So he folded and after the Sears Centre figured their mess out (they were charging way too much for rent, and tried to run themselves without a management group), he came back with the ECHL team.
