Comments on: Kalamazoo Wings Leave the IHL http://jerseysandhockeylove.com/blog/2009/06/01/kalamazoo-wings-leave-the-ihl/ Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:30:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Carol http://jerseysandhockeylove.com/blog/2009/06/01/kalamazoo-wings-leave-the-ihl/comment-page-1/#comment-34588 Carol Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:41:08 +0000 http://jerseysandhockeylove.com/blog/?p=2463#comment-34588 It is so pity that Wings had left IHL. I was going to IHL games only to see them playing. It is because my few good friends are playing there. Or I should say “were playing”? Because it is not a fact that they will continue their carriers in Wings if they won’t go back to IHL. Btw thanks for the interesting blog! It is so pity that Wings had left IHL. I was going to IHL games only to see them playing. It is because my few good friends are playing there. Or I should say “were playing”? Because it is not a fact that they will continue their carriers in Wings if they won’t go back to IHL. Btw thanks for the interesting blog!

]]> By: Primis http://jerseysandhockeylove.com/blog/2009/06/01/kalamazoo-wings-leave-the-ihl/comment-page-1/#comment-34455 Primis Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:05:30 +0000 http://jerseysandhockeylove.com/blog/?p=2463#comment-34455 For the record, Kalamazoo was admitted into the ECHL officially today. http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news2&cat=1&id=19007 The IHL is a mess. Fort Wayne's owner Michael Franke pretty much runs the league himself -- he's the defacto CEO of it and any time the league makes a statement it comes from him directly. All league going-ons seem to run through his office at some point, and there are rumors of salary cap violations by a few teams that went unpunished... There are also rumors that the Franke has helped Flint financially and even that his brother has a financial stake in the Bloomington franchise. Some view the league as Franke's personal toy used only to support his Komets franchise... this was only heightened when the owners of the new Dayton IHL franchise turned out to be two guys from Fort Wayne that run a tiny pizza buffet chain. Kalamazoo fans will likely find more interest in the ECHL, expecially if they can gain an NHL affiliation quickly. Fans in the old IHL used to average 4,000 or more a game for some pretty bad Dallas/Minnesota Star farm teams... Kzoo's owner is gambling that this is in fact the case and that fan interest will ratchet back up at the chance to see the NHL pipeline once again. He also is personally trying to get a downtown arena built to house boht the KWings and the WMU hockey and basketball teams, and an IHL club holds little-to-no-water in terms of credibility with the public. An ECHL one, however, has more credibility and after a few years in the "E" he may then make a bid for an AHL franchise (since Kalamazoo in the IHL was already outdrawing many AHL franchises). It will be interesting to see what develops. Losing Kzoo was a huge blow for the IHL and resulted in some very bitter fans in other markets, and many Kzoo fans seem relieved to be clear of the IHL finally. For the record, Kalamazoo was admitted into the ECHL officially today.

http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news2&cat=1&id=19007

The IHL is a mess. Fort Wayne’s owner Michael Franke pretty much runs the league himself — he’s the defacto CEO of it and any time the league makes a statement it comes from him directly. All league going-ons seem to run through his office at some point, and there are rumors of salary cap violations by a few teams that went unpunished…

There are also rumors that the Franke has helped Flint financially and even that his brother has a financial stake in the Bloomington franchise. Some view the league as Franke’s personal toy used only to support his Komets franchise… this was only heightened when the owners of the new Dayton IHL franchise turned out to be two guys from Fort Wayne that run a tiny pizza buffet chain.

Kalamazoo fans will likely find more interest in the ECHL, expecially if they can gain an NHL affiliation quickly. Fans in the old IHL used to average 4,000 or more a game for some pretty bad Dallas/Minnesota Star farm teams… Kzoo’s owner is gambling that this is in fact the case and that fan interest will ratchet back up at the chance to see the NHL pipeline once again.

He also is personally trying to get a downtown arena built to house boht the KWings and the WMU hockey and basketball teams, and an IHL club holds little-to-no-water in terms of credibility with the public. An ECHL one, however, has more credibility and after a few years in the “E” he may then make a bid for an AHL franchise (since Kalamazoo in the IHL was already outdrawing many AHL franchises).

It will be interesting to see what develops. Losing Kzoo was a huge blow for the IHL and resulted in some very bitter fans in other markets, and many Kzoo fans seem relieved to be clear of the IHL finally.

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