> From: James Bradshaw 
> To: Erik Biever <[log in to unmask]>
> CC: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>,
> Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:14:51 -0500
> 
> Sometimes the news is stranger than fiction.  See below for news
> about the Chiefs. 
>
> The news accounts from various authoritative media sources.
> 
> [From the primary newspaper in the Greenville market]
> http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100215/SPORTS/100215002/Greenville-Arena-board-votes-yes-to-bringing-hockey-franchise-here
> 
> Professional hockey poised
> to return to Greenville
> By Nathaniel Cary * STAFF WRITER * February
> 15, 2010
> The slap shot could return to Greenville.
> The Greenville Arena District plans to sign a five-
> year agreement with the Johnstown Chiefs, a
> Pennsylvania-based East Coast Hockey League team,
> to move the team to Greenville for the 2010-11
> season to begin in October, district board chairman
> Bruce Cannon said.
> The Chiefs franchise, namesakes of the 1977 small-
> town hockey team in the movie, "Slap Shot," will
> bring sticks, pucks, ice and nets back to the Bi-Lo
> Center, which has been without hockey since the
> Greenville Grrrowl folded following the 2005-06
> season.
> "Everybody knows the Chiefs," Cannon said, though
> he didn't know if the team would keep the same
> name.
> Neil Smith, the team's principal owner and interim
> coach, cited six-figure financial losses last year and
> an average of fewer than 2,000 fans per game this
> season as reasons that led him to seek a new home
> The Chiefs play in the East Coast Hockey League, the
> same 20-team minor league that included the
> Grrrowl.
> The Bi-Lo Center entertained offers from teams in
> several leagues but chose the Chiefs, Cannon said,
> adding that hockey could again become popular in
> Greenville.
> "They seem to feel that it will work again and we
> agree with them," he said. "We've had a lot of
> inquiries through the Bi-Lo Center and just in
> general talk from people who are certainly interested
> in hockey in Greenville."
> Cannon credited the Grrrowl with showing that
> hockey could catch on in the South. The Grrrowl
> averaged 7,000 spectators per game in its first year
> in 1998 and won the Kelly Cup, the league's title in
> 2002. But declining attendance doomed the 
> franchise, which drew 2,500 fans per game in its
> final season.
> The demographic in Greenville has changed since
> then with an influx of business and industry
> bringing people to the Upstate who grew up playing
> hockey and would make it an "attractive sport" for
> Greenville, Cannon said.
> Arena officials also felt more in control of
> negotiations because they were willing to "walk a
> way from hockey" if the finances didn't work, he
> said.
> 
> The deal represents less risk for the arena because
> the team would be a tenant and not a core piece of
> the building's operating agreement and guarantor
> on the arena's debt like the Grrrowl was, board
> member Ty Thornhill said.
> The arena also holds a "bumping right" to switch
> hockey dates if the arena has a chance to book a
> headline concert, said Roger Newton, Bi-Lo Center
> general manager.
> "We're not in the hockey business, we're in the
> arena business," Cannon said. "So if we can rent the
> arena to facilitate hockey we'd do that. If we could
> play baseball in the arena, we'd play baseball in the
> arena."
> Arena officials looked at the Greenville Drive as a
> financial model and stressed affordable prices.
> The Bi-Lo Center likely would block off the top bowl
> of the arena to limit seating to 6,000, except for
> special promotional nights, Newton said.
> The arena district board hasn't released lease terms
> pending approval of the memorandum of
> understanding and wouldn't officially announce the
> team's arrival until it has received ECHL Board of
> Governors approval to move, which likely would
> take place later this week, Cannon said.
> The team has played in Johnstown since 1988 and
> now plays at the Cambria County War Memorial
> Arena. It is one of only five original ECHL teams that
> have played in the same location since the league
> formed in 1988-89.
> The team's owners said financial considerations
> were the sole reason for the proposed move and left
> open the possibility that the team could be sold to
> any potential ownership group that would keep
> professional hockey in Johnstown. No group has
> stepped forward.
> 
> The Johnstown perspective:
> http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/ECHL-Johnstown-Chiefs-seek-move-to-South-Carolina-365866.php
> 
> ECHL Johnstown Chiefs seek move to South Carolina
> Published: 05:17 p.m., Monday, February 15, 2010
> 
> JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The minor-league Johnstown Chiefs, citing
> economic concerns, have announced plans to relocate to Greenville,
> S.C., beginning next season. The team said Monday on its Web site
> that it was seeking permission from the East Coast Hockey League for
> the move. The Chiefs say they are in discussions to play at the
> Bi-Lo Center in Greenville. Average attendance this year dipped
> below 2,000 people per game, and the team says financial losses
> reached the six-figure level last year. The Chiefs have played in
> Johnstown since 1988 and plan to finish the current season at the
> Cambria County War Memorial. The owners say they are still willing
> to help potential buyers interested in keeping the Chiefs in
> Johnstown. 
>
> and 
> http://www.wjactv.com/news/22565056/detail.html
> 



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