SteelHounds won’t join IHL for 2008-09 season

By Tom Williams

YOUNGSTOWN — As the Oakland Athletics’ designated baserunner in 1974, Herb Washington put his sprinting skills to work earning a World Series ring.

But as a minor-league hockey owner, Washington has adopted the pace of a tortoise.

His slow-motion efforts to find a new league for his embattled Youngstown SteelHounds looks like it has cost the team any chance to skate this fall.

Paul Pickard, president of the International Hockey League, says he is tired of waiting for Washington to begin formal discussions about joining the IHL for the 2008-09 season.

Read more in Monday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.