The New Jersey-based league is a possibility for Youngstown's ice hockey team.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Owner Herb Washington of the Youngstown SteelHounds said this week that he is hoping to switch his team from the Central Hockey League to the ECHL Premier 'AA' Hockey League, and is hopeful that change can be made by next spring.
Commissioner Brian McKenna of the ECHL said Thursday that the SteelHounds have not made a formal application to join the league.
The ECHL commissioner said he spoke to Washington about a year ago in an exchange of information.
McKenna said that he is not allowed to talk to teams about joining his league unless they currently are not in a league, or have exited a league or, if still a member of a league, have received written permission from that league to talk to another league.
The SteelHounds have not received permission from the CHL to look elsewhere.
Washington said that he is looking for a league with teams closer to Ohio, pointing out that most of the CHL's 17 franchises are located in the Southwest, West or South. The team has long travel times, more expenses and longer stays away from home.
The ECHL, based in Princeton, N.J., has 25 teams within four divisions across the nation, including a North Division that consists of Cincinnati; Dayton; Elmira, N.Y.; Johnstown, Pa.; Reading, Pa.; Trenton, N.J.; and Wheeling, W.Va..
McKenna said he told Washington "that we did not know anything about his [Youngstown SteelHounds'] market, and that while he is in good standing with another league that we couldn't talk to him.
"We had a very pleasant conversation," McKenna said. "He did not call to apply to the league. He called about getting more information. And we gave him the same information that we would give any team that came to us."
McKenna said that Washington's announcement that he wants to join the ECHL "is news to me" because, "We have not received any application from Youngstown nor have we had any discussions about it."
However, McKenna said that the ECHL would review any SteelHounds' application like it would any other applying team.
"They would have to exit the [CHL] or we would have to get permission or some acknowledgment from [the CHL] to have formal discussions [with them]," McKenna said. "We would want something in writing from the league. We don't want to interfere with other leagues."
He said the SteelHounds, like any other team, would have to meet certain criteria to gain membership into the ECHL, and that final approval would have to come from the Board of Governors, which is made up of a representative from each member team.
"We have certain criteria that has to be met like marketing, lease on an arena and [whether or not] the ownership [is] qualified and does it have a business plan," McKenna said. "And if we are comfortable with that, we bring it to the board and it certainly is their decision.
"We would need existing market data on season tickets and sponsorships," McKenna said.
He said that it usually "takes between six-to-eight weeks for the application to be processed in terms of discussion.
"The expansion fee is set by the [ECHL] Board of Governors and is reset from time to time, but currently is $1.5 million."
McKenna used Elmira, which was part of the United Hockey League last season, as an example.
"[Elmira] put in an application and we reviewed the application and when we were comfortable with that we brought it to the Board of Governors," McKenna said. "We don't really seek out new teams. If there is a viable market with a good building, we will look into it."
But, like Elmira, he said teams usually seek out the ECHL, instead of vice-versa.
"Most of the teams apart from the East Coast franchises are former members of the West Coast Hockey League," McKenna said. "They determined themselves that they wanted to be part of something bigger and that was affiliated with the [National Hockey League] and [American Hockey League]. They voted to disband. Then after they joined, we added other expansion teams out [in the Western U.S.]."
McKenna said that Washington and the SteelHounds have an open invitation to apply to the ECHL for membership.
kovach@vindy.com
Friday, November 9, 2007
The New Jersey-based league is a possibility for Youngstown's ice hockey team.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Owner Herb Washington of the Youngstown SteelHounds said this week that he is hoping to switch his team from the Central Hockey League to the ECHL Premier 'AA' Hockey League, and is hopeful that change can be made by next spring.
Commissioner Brian McKenna of the ECHL said Thursday that the SteelHounds have not made a formal application to join the league.
The ECHL commissioner said he spoke to Washington about a year ago in an exchange of information.
McKenna said that he is not allowed to talk to teams about joining his league unless they currently are not in a league, or have exited a league or, if still a member of a league, have received written permission from that league to talk to another league.
The SteelHounds have not received permission from the CHL to look elsewhere.
Washington said that he is looking for a league with teams closer to Ohio, pointing out that most of the CHL's 17 franchises are located in the Southwest, West or South. The team has long travel times, more expenses and longer stays away from home.
The ECHL, based in Princeton, N.J., has 25 teams within four divisions across the nation, including a North Division that consists of Cincinnati; Dayton; Elmira, N.Y.; Johnstown, Pa.; Reading, Pa.; Trenton, N.J.; and Wheeling, W.Va..
McKenna said he told Washington "that we did not know anything about his [Youngstown SteelHounds'] market, and that while he is in good standing with another league that we couldn't talk to him.
"We had a very pleasant conversation," McKenna said. "He did not call to apply to the league. He called about getting more information. And we gave him the same information that we would give any team that came to us."
McKenna said that Washington's announcement that he wants to join the ECHL "is news to me" because, "We have not received any application from Youngstown nor have we had any discussions about it."
However, McKenna said that the ECHL would review any SteelHounds' application like it would any other applying team.
"They would have to exit the [CHL] or we would have to get permission or some acknowledgment from [the CHL] to have formal discussions [with them]," McKenna said. "We would want something in writing from the league. We don't want to interfere with other leagues."
He said the SteelHounds, like any other team, would have to meet certain criteria to gain membership into the ECHL, and that final approval would have to come from the Board of Governors, which is made up of a representative from each member team.
"We have certain criteria that has to be met like marketing, lease on an arena and [whether or not] the ownership [is] qualified and does it have a business plan," McKenna said. "And if we are comfortable with that, we bring it to the board and it certainly is their decision.
"We would need existing market data on season tickets and sponsorships," McKenna said.
He said that it usually "takes between six-to-eight weeks for the application to be processed in terms of discussion.
"The expansion fee is set by the [ECHL] Board of Governors and is reset from time to time, but currently is $1.5 million."
McKenna used Elmira, which was part of the United Hockey League last season, as an example.
"[Elmira] put in an application and we reviewed the application and when we were comfortable with that we brought it to the Board of Governors," McKenna said. "We don't really seek out new teams. If there is a viable market with a good building, we will look into it."
But, like Elmira, he said teams usually seek out the ECHL, instead of vice-versa.
"Most of the teams apart from the East Coast franchises are former members of the West Coast Hockey League," McKenna said. "They determined themselves that they wanted to be part of something bigger and that was affiliated with the [National Hockey League] and [American Hockey League]. They voted to disband. Then after they joined, we added other expansion teams out [in the Western U.S.]."
McKenna said that Washington and the SteelHounds have an open invitation to apply to the ECHL for membership.
kovach@vindy.com
Friday, November 9, 2007
Owner Herb Washington of the Youngstown SteelHounds said this week that he is hoping to switch his team from the Central...
