IHA site down

[BCRantzilla]

This may be the clincher. The IHA, like the iihl, WHA, WHA2 and more or less the ENTIRE "A-League" experiement is pretty much no more.

Any news on weather or not Cashman's league will resurface or what is left of the SEHL?

[wncsport.com]

Not to mention that thesphl.com STILL hasn't updated their site about their league meetings LAST week.

The local newspaper didn't even do a story on these meetings until TODAY. And this league moved to Asheville due to the "central location."

:roll:

[BCRantzilla]

I plan on writing a rant about the death of A-League hockey and why it failed and why it can succeed after I am done my "how not to" series. It's a sad state of affairs if you ask me...

[hunter49770]

ya know, i live here in petoskey. i have met joe k and frankly i dont think any one of us know what realy went down. all i know is that the guy is taking alot of heat right now for the nehl and iihl that i personally dont think he deserves. lets examine what we do know, not that the press is always accurate, but here is what i know from that angle. joe k started a team with tom c because mike k sold him the franchise. joe k and tom c ran a good operation. joe owned half and tom owned half. mike k ripped off everyone. joe k blew the whistle on him. the league folded because of mike k stealing. joe k hooks up with cashman to join the nehl, he dumps tom c. tom c gets miffed has joe k busted. joe k keeps working on new league even after he discovers cashman is basically another killbreath, unpaid players, unpaid bills ect... joe k pleads to a charge. tom c is under investigation himself for the same things, mike k is in hiding and is under investigation. my take on all of this is that what happened between joe k and tom c was a business gone bad and it got personal, they can deal with it. mike k is the one that got both of them involved, he is the one who took the money and ran, and should be the one taking most of the heat. what ever happened to joe k and cashman i dont know, but what i do know is that the players that used to play for joe and ended up in the nehl last year never got paid, the rinks never got paid, and medical bills arent paid. all this said i am not defending anyone of these characters, but it does stand to simple reason that tom c and joe k should be the least of the worries in pro hockey because they pay their bills. mike k and jim cashman should be the real focus of whats wrong with minor pro hockey. undercapitalization, mismanagement, writting bad checks, leaving bills unpaid, these are the mike k and jim c trademarks, lets not forget that mike k also started the roller hockey fiasco and jim c started the gulf coast hockey league that folded and in both of those situations everyone was left holding the bag just as they are now. thats my rant.

[BCRantzilla]

Thanks for the post Hunter. Some interesting insight.

With all of the Cashman/Joe K. fighting going on and Joe getting busted, arraigned, and pleading out in almost record time I am shocked that Killbreath STILL HASN'T BEEN ARRESTED! How is this humanly possible? Are the police in Grand Blanc and Flint bought and paid for here?

As for Considine/Kolodziej mess, I'm with you there, bad investments can get ugly and this one couldn't get much uglier. At least they paid their bills.

A-League hockey CAN work but the hockey community needs to be more close knit in order to better determine who can and can't be trusted. I don't doubt that Killbreath has been long since balckballed from running any sports team or league in the state of Michigan. However, it doesn't keep him from doing his "promice of the moon and stars" act on the internet. There are always more 17-18 year old kids who don't know better to con and Killbreath knows that. However, we can do a better job of serving as a watchdog so the next bunch of 17-18 year olds can learn more about what they are getting themselves into.

This brings me to "breaking the code" a feature I did on one of my old sites. A LOT of iihl players who got conned by Killbreath refused to come forward thinking that he would simply have them blackballed from pro hockey forever. However, blowing the whistle on scum like that will do nothing but earn you praise among players and managers. Nobody wants crooks like Killbreath around, his presence and foul stench that follows him around make it that much tougher for legitimate hockey operators to run their businesses. Besides, does anyone for a second believe Mike Killbreath or the likes of him have ANY credibility in the organized hockey world? Don't be afraid to be a whistle blower because you begin to assume some of the blame if nothing is done and the guy is able to do it again and again to more people. Stand up for yourself and don't allow Lahey's like that to hurt you.

As for Jim Cashman, I can honestly say that I don't know the man very well at all. We have exchanged a few emails but that's about it. I haven't heard very good things about him on message boards as he took harder smack on the NEHL board than Killbreath has ever dreamed of getting, even from me. However, from what I did see of the NEHL last year it looked like the problems were not that of a man trying to steal money from people like Killbreath. Also, from what I recall, HIS league did finish the season. Killbreath's league barely played a month.

This "war on the boards" is funny for a while but even I get annoyed with it after a few weeks. It's unfortunate that it has all had to end up this way but it did and now we in the hockey community have to clean up the mess. The question is how?

[hunter49770]

the problem is this, i watched the predators games here in northern michigan. i know the players that went there and we still talk a couple times a month. i know what camps they are in and i know what they did all summer. i also know that while they werent getting paid, jim cashman was driving around in a new car, sleepin with broads all over the place and taking advantage of them, and he was l;iving like a rock star on the gate money. this comes from the players. while they couldnt buy grocerees, jim was out drinkin at the bar with "a pocket full of cash". the problem i see with minor hockey is not the owners necessarily, but the idiots who try to start a league with no money or any idea on what they are doing. the bigger problem is when these same idiots con people into giving them money or playing for them or leasing them a building, they run away with the cash and dont pay the bills or the players. Dave W, Mike K and Jim C are all the same. Not one of them pays their players or their bills. just ask the players. better yet someone should ask joe k his side of the story. he worked with 2 of the famous 3. as much as joe is taking the heat for his actions now, and he does deserve some heat, the real theives that steal young players dreams and the fans money are running around free. the real crime is the one that goes un punished. joe k may be down, but he did pay his bills, and his players and something tells me there is alot more to the story here in northern michigan. i am off to do some digging of my own.....vacation is over

[preeths]

First off, the IIHL is dead. I think most who visit these boards know more than enough about that situation. The league has been gone for nearly a year. Why not just leave it alone? Do we really want to give the principals involved in that failed venture any more attention? I think it's time to move on unless we see them trying again.

As for the IHA, this is what we do know. Joe K. has pleaded guilty to a felony. That makes him a felon. I don't know if that carries any weight with anyone else, but it does with me. This was at least the fourth time he has had a brush with the law for similar offenses, so this was no misunderstanding or one-time accident. He is a repeat offender. According to the Petoskey News, as part of his plea agreement "...five other felony charges and a habitual offender, fourth offense (my emphasis) sentencing enhancement will be dropped."

Now, we have someone from Petoskey (who's admitted he knows Joe) trying to cast aspersions on Jim Cashman. Yes, Cashman had trouble keeping the NEHL afloat last year, but here's the difference between him and Joe as I see it. Mr. Cashman essentially ran a business that failed. That doesn't make him a felon. It only means that the business lost enough money to go under. Do people get hurt when a business fails? Yes, in the vast majority of cases they do. Do people remain unpaid? Yes, unfortunately that's the case when there is no money to pay them. Does it mean the owner stole money? NO! If you have proof of any wrong-doing by Mr. Cashman, bring it. Let's see what you have. Otherwise, this all looks like a lot of second-hand hearsay and a lame attempt at deflecting attention from someone who actually deserves the notoriety, at least according to the Emmet County Prosecutor's office.

[preeths]

What a joke. According to hunter49770, "joe k may be down, but he did pay his bills." Yeah, with somebody else's money. That's not much of a challenge if you're willing to do the time.

BTW, how does someone from Petoskey, Michigan supposedly know so much about Mr. Cashman? If anyone believes your statement, "he was l;iving like a rock star on the gate money," they need to have their heads examined. There was no "rock star" money in the NEHL or IIHL. Your statement that he was "sleepin with broads all over the place and taking advantage of them" is classless and only shows the real reason for your post. You want to smear his name. Take it somewhere else unless you have proof of wrong-doing. A case number or a link to an article in a newspaper (like the Petoskey News, for instance) will suffice.

[BCRantzilla]

Hey Paul,

I mention Killbreath again for 2 reasons, 1) out of sheer amazement that Joe went down so quickly yet Killbreath has gotten off scot free and 2) a reminder that this guy has resurfaced before and likely will again and for folks to be more careful.

As for Hunter's comments, some of those last ones were indeed uncalled for. I would love to meet a minor league hockey player who can even think of living high on the hog like implied here. I don't know Cashman personally but the comments made by Hunter aren't consistant with the smack Jim recieved on his own message board and others like it. Most agreed that he wasn't doing a competant job of running the NEHL but none claimed that he was a fraud. Crap happens in the sporting world and Jim's last league didn't work out.

As for Joe, I would like to learn more about the other 3 convictions he has had over the years. Is a 4th time 'habitual'? Probably but on this occasion it sounds like both Tom and Joe are guilty but only one got in the newspapers for it. It's too bad because Joe did end up doing some good for players that got burned by the iihl.

I'm going to write a rant about the death of A-League hockey after my "How NOT To..." series is finished. I feel very strongly that yes A-Level pro hockey can exist and the model put forth by Woronker, Killbreath and Cashman CAN work but the right people with the right amount of money, energy and committment are needed or it won't fly.

[joek]

Paul, thanks for closing my accounts so i cant defend myself. nice way to be fair, great journalism. So let me set the record straight from my side. Yes, I plead to one charge. Why? I got tired of fighting and tired of spending thousands of dollars on attorneys. Why dont some of you call the IRS, USCIS, and michigan police to see why Tom isnt on this board bashing me. I'll tell you why, because he is facing more charges than i was. This is a private matter. This never effected our players getting paid or our bills getting paid. As for Jim cashman, Paul if you want proff tell me where to send it. How about phot copies of 13 bounced checks, statements from my former players that were never paid, and copies of police reports from NY and PA where complaints have been made. How about copies of 2 workmans comp cases that have been filed. What else do you want? Jim, why not tell us all about the 50K you got from the girl in York who lost the money she put up as security because you didnt make your payments? Explain that one while I get copies of those documents. There is only one person on this board that has any credibility and that is big chris, he at least called me to get my comments. now that is what someone does when they want to report what they know. nobody else on this board has any claim to reportin anything like news when all they do is report what other people say or write, that is not reporting. sense my account and this post will probably be deleted quickly i wanted to let all of you know, including tara bost who has done her best to interfer with the league, i am not the president of the IHA, i resigned that position a while ago. so pick on me personaly all you want, but when you do something that hurts other peoples interests in a legitimate business that is a problem. any questions ask away.....as for you jim, why not pick up the certified letters people are sending so you can face them in court?

[HockeyFan2]

what a sad , sad topic

People are posting looks like garbage infomation to me.
By the way that newspaper has written wrong infomation and I will state, not a very reliable source, FYI

they want to sell newspapers, hasn't anyone figured that out yet

I do not see them reporting their sources of information

Question I have is, who all made you judges and the juriors here when the facts are known only in the legal courts??

joek very sad that you have to come here in the first place to justisfy to these "fans" who know nothing

[preeths]

I doubt that anyone here wants or needs to be a mediator in this dispute. Let the courts handle that. Joe has already reached a plea agreement and will know his sentence soon. He IS a felon. You can't blame a small town newspaper for that, and I doubt they sold one extra paper because of Joe's story.

If charges are filed against anyone else, they'll have the opportunity to defend themselves at that time. They are innocent until proven otherwise. All the mudslinging in the world won't change that.

It is indeed a sad, sad topic, but the bottom line is that neither Joe nor Jim are involved in any league covered by OurSports Central. I don't see any reason they need to be discussed here until that changes. Take the personal battle elsewhere.