I've followed the messages from the past day or so about hockey in the
South and the ECHL. I live near Norfolk, Va., home of the Hampton Roads
Admirals. The team averages something like 7,000-8,000 per game in home
attendance. The other night, in an early-round playoff game, the
attendance was down to 5,500 or something like that and my paper's beat
writer mentioned that it was the second-lowest crowd of the season.
  It's interesting that on a local radio sports talk show a ways back,
someone brought up the suggestion that Old Dominion University, also in
Norfolk, should start a Division 1 hockey team. The suggestion came
originally, I think, from the Admirals owner, who said the school could
capitalize on the sport's popularity (and likely provide a marketing tie
with the Admirals). I was in the car at the time, so I couldn't call in,
but the ill-informed host was of the opinion that ODU wouldn't want to
travel to Minnesota and Wisconsin all the time!
  Supposedly there is a hockey club at Old Dominion. I subscribe to the
club organization's newsletter and noted that ODU is a member of the ACHA
Division II. Don't know where the team would play, except for a
commercial skating facility in Virginia Beach.
  And as previous posts have noted, the level of the ECHL isn't all that
high. I think there is a rule concerning how many veteran players you can
have. I know several of the players are just out of college ... 2 or 3
from Ferris State, plus others. Of course for most the goal is to make it
to the IHL or AHL as quick as possible. Hampton Roads is a Washington
Caps farm club and several players this year have gone on to Portland in
the AHL.
 
 
 
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|                   Lynn Burke    Newport News, Va.                     |
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