Future of the Hounds!?!?

[penguinnick]

It should be a very interesting off-season.  With Washington and Zoldan combining their resources together to form one team, I think the team next year will do much better attendance wise.  Hopefully we'll be in the ECHL. 

[ytowner]

From the Youngstown Vindicator SUNDAY:

Quote:
YOUNGSTOWN — Following the SteelHounds' season-ending loss Friday at the Chevrolet Centre, owner Herb Washington said he intends to send a team onto the ice this fall.

For now, he's not exactly certain what league the SteelHounds will be a member of for 2008-09.

"In all likelihood, it's going to be CHL [Central Hockey League]," Washington said after the SteelHounds lost 1-0 to the Colorado Eagles in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series. "The CHL voted a union in, the players voted a union in — I don't know that is going to affect things for next year. That vote was recently taken so we have to see what takes place.

"At this point, we are proceeding [that we] will be playing in the CHL next season."

Asked what would be the ideal situation for Washington's team, the owner responded, "Less travel."

The SteelHounds have been members of the CHL for three seasons. Most of the teams in the league are in Texas and its neighboring states.

Youngstown is the only CHL team in the Eastern Time Zone. The team closest to the SteelHounds is the Mississippi RiverKings who are based not far from Memphis, Tenn.

"It's definitely grueling," said SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski whose team set a CHL road record with 19 victories. "Our guys were road warriors. The guys found a way [to win]."

The CHL's parent corporation is Global Entertainment, the former manager of the Chevrolet Centre. Last fall, Global and the city of Youngstown agreed to dissolve the management contract.

Last fall, Washington said he had made inquiries about joining the ECHL (another Double A hockey league formerly called the East Coast Hockey League).

The ECHL has teams across the country but the eastern teams don't play western squads during the regular season.

Among the nearby cities with ECHL teams are: Wheeling, W. Va.; Johnston, Pa.; Dayton; and Cincinnati. Toledo will return to the ECHL in 2009.

Kaminski estimated the SteelHounds could save $200,000 by switching.

"That's a huge difference for the owner," Kaminski said. "And you're home a lot more with your family."

Another possibility is the International Hockey League, formerly known as the United Hockey League.

The six-team IHL has teams in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. In 2007, the UHL had 10 teams before two folded and one joined the ECHL.

In June 2007, the CHL and UHL explored merging, a sequence that would have given Youngstown rivals much closer to Ohio. But merger talks collapsed.

Washington was careful not to mention the ECHL when questioned about changing leagues.

"We need less travel," Washington said. "If we could get in, we would jump at the opportunity."

Before the SteelHounds could switch, the CHL owners would need to release the team from its league commitment. Anything is possible now that Global no longer has a presence here.

Both the league and Washington say they have unresolved money issues.

"They would probably be happy to let me go," Washington said.

The CHL provides money to the teams who travel to Youngstown so the league would save thousands of dollars if the SteelHounds were released.

Washington suggested that the deadline for announcing a move would be February.

But the CHL owners will gather in early June for league meetings. The schedule for next fall is finalized after those meetings end.

Washington said he's very pleased with the results Kaminski has achieved in earning two playoff appearances.

This season, the SteelHounds went 39-20-5 for 83 points, the fourth-best record in the league.

"I'm very proud of how our team has improved and [with] the competitiveness of our team," Washington said. "The product is a very good product. I'm extremely pleased with how out guys have played and the job that the coach has done."

By going 5-1 down the stretch against the Laredo Bucks (Southeast Division winner) and Eagles (Northwest Division winner), the SteelHounds earned the third playoff seed.

But even though they had more points than Colorado, the Eagles had home-ice advantage in the series.

The SteelHounds couldn't hold a 4-2 lead in Game 1 in Colorado, losing 6-4. They lost the next two games (5-0, 4-1) before rebounding for a 5-2 win in Game 4.

"Next year, we will bring you a championship in whatever league we're in," Washington told fans following the 1-0 loss on Friday.

"Every season, we've gotten better. We will continue to do that because of the kind of coach we have and the kind of team [we] will put on the ice.

"I just as that you bring one more person with you next season when you come to the games," Washington said.

Washington spoke to the team following the loss. Captain Chris Richards said Washington "didn't enlighten us on what's going on for next year.

"He thanked us for the good year, saying he was proud of the way we played, the way we hustled."