WHA is only a dream

[Global-Hockey]

There is no way this league will drop the puck this season. Here in Pontiac, the Silverdome has not had 1 shovel of dirt turned to lay an ice plant in the floor. And they have no signed contract to play in the Dome. The league has moved back the opener from October to November, the leagues number 1 draft pick said "You got to be kidding me, I am not playing for you guys". Here in Pontiac, not one ticket has been offered, not one employee other than the coach/GM and a team photographer has been hired. The league has already thrown one team out, only one team has an arena to play in (Dallas) and that is in an old hockey style barn that nobody else wanted to even skate high school teams in. The only merchandise is a Hull Jacket for an ridiculous price of over $200 (Frankly the name is not worth everything the league is trying to get from him). Lets face it, no schedule, only 1 coach signed for the entire league, no preseason scheduled, no training camps scheduled, only 1 arena under contract, how can a professional league put a product on the ice in 5 or 6 weeks. This so called league is not a threat to the USHL little lone the NHL. The players have no interest in skating in this league. And as much as I think another professional league is needed to hold the NHL in check with stupid $80.00 a ticket nose bleed seats, the WHA is not that league. (Thats my opinion and I am sticking to it)

[patmc16]

I'm sad to say I think Global is right. I thought I wasn't looking hard enough for Gladiator info. I guess I'm not the only one who couldn't find any. The website (league or team(s)) doesn't appear to be updated in several weeks. Have any players been signed anywhere? The draft was pretty much a joke. Yet another league to die before it was born. Sad, just sad.

I guess I'll be happy with the "U" and the Mechanics.

[Global-Hockey]

The league has not signed ONE player with the revised season now 6 weeks away. No coaches, NO scouts, No GM's. And really nobody even seems to know who the owners are, or who the money men are in this league. Sorry to say, this is a dream that will not come true (Thats my opinion and I sticking to it)

[BCRantzilla]

My latest rant focuses on how NOT to run a pro sports league. I have a bad feeling that some WHA people are going to end up being future Lahey's of the Month...


http://www.freewebs.com/rantzilla/

[HockeyFan2]

I won't be buying season tickets to Motor City
because I will have to see what they do

I have no faith in the owners of the arena keeping a descent night of hockey there. Funny CEHL was there but you wrote a check out to the Falcons so to me I knew there would be trouble and there was Police at the games that is no way to run an arena. I think someone got took

so don't get you hopes to high that is a hard area to sell hockey tickets
and spending all that money on a newspaper that no one reads the sports section is a dead horse

Who did you make your check out to??

[patmc16]

I won't be buying season tickets to Motor City
because I will have to see what they do

I have no faith in the owners of the arena keeping a descent night of hockey there. Funny CEHL was there but you wrote a check out to the Falcons so to me I knew there would be trouble and there was Police at the games that is no way to run an arena. I think someone got took

so don't get you hopes to high that is a hard area to sell hockey tickets
and spending all that money on a newspaper that no one reads the sports section is a dead horse

Who did you make your check out to??

Man, I usually don't comment on others grammar, but what the heck are you even saying here? Since this post is directed at me I felt the need to respond. I think I get the point but the half completed sentences and incoherent rambling makes me unsure. God knows I've made my share of spelling and punctuation errors, but sheesh!

First, this should be a separate thread. This one was about the WHA, not the UHL. My original one liner about the U was just an afterthought.

Second, I have attended and enjoyed many CEHL games at GLSC since the league was started, as well as Wayne State games when they played there. I even made it to a couple of Border Cat games that they played there after moving to Port Huron. Not once did I see the police called in. No, I didn't buy season tickets for either. I didn't want to make the time and/or $$ commitment. Others may disagree, but I don't look at junior or college sports in the same light as professional sports. I am more willing to make that commitment to a professional team.

Third, the team is the Mechanics, not the Falcons. They have no connection to the Falcons in any way other than playing in the same arena and the same league. They are owned by the same people that own the Detroit Demolition, who are the 3 time NWFA champions. The assistant GM actually played for the Demolition at one time. The Falcons died a couple of years ago as the Port Huron Border Cats. Dr. Afr's bassackwards running of the Falcons/Border Cats has absolutely nothing to do with this franchise or its management. That would be like saying the hockey fans in Colorado shouldn't support the Avalanche because of the way the Rockies were run in the late 70's / early 80's. Nonsense!

Fourth, I didn't write a check. I used a credit card, which offers me a level of protection that $$ or a check wouldn't, just in case.

Fifth, where better for a professional sports team to advertise than in a sports section of a newspaper? They have also sent direct mailings to all people who have entered the drawing for free season tickets and they have set up information tables at both Gibraltar Trade Centers during the sports card shows.

All in all, I don't feel like I "got took". Maybe time will prove me wrong, but the same could be said for any professional franchise, minor leagues in particular. Compared to some of the other operations out there the "U" is relatively solid league. At least they have a schedule, some players, and actual rink to play on, known opponents, and tickets for sale. That's more than can be said the for the Gladiators or the WHA as a whole.

How's that for bringing the thread back to the original topic! :)

[patmc16]

I think someone got took

so don't get you hopes to high that is a hard area to sell hockey tickets


UPDATE: I visited GLSC again this past Friday. Everything seems to be proceeding nicely. If I got took, I am one of many. A week into season ticket sales there were 43 season tickets sold (they maintain a large diagram of the arena with pins showing what seats have been sold). There looked like so few, I counted them out of curiosity. As of Friday, there were several hundred pins in the diagram. This time I didn't take the time to count them, but I would estimate 400 - 500. Not bad for an arena that only seats a few thousand.

Bottom line: Give this franchise and those operating it a chance. They seem like the real deal to me. Don't hold others actions against them. You might just like it. GO MECHANICS!!!!!

[Global-Hockey]

Well NOBODY could run a franchise any worse that the Afr clan. Lets see what this dynamic duo of father and son have done with their ownership. Falcons-Gone
Border Cats-Gone
Louisvile Panthers-Gone
From my time covering the team for the magazine, this ownership was like a father and his spoiled rotten son. How the CoHL (UHL) ever allowed these two clowns to own a hockey team is well beyond me. I have talked to Mechanics ownership and they seem to be above board and professional. If they run this franchise like they do their womans football team (2 time champions) than you folks will finally get to see some good hockey.