I am posting two messages about the sale of the Eagles, the first one
was a summary of Larry Miller's press conference.  This one is
strickly my personal veiw of the sale, and does not represent anything
or anyone other then me.
 
Five seasons ago Larry Miller bought the Salt Lake Golden Eagles from
Art Teece, a man you spent many years working with the Eagles
Organizaion.  Art Teece had been losing money on the Eagles for years,
but his love for the game kept the team alive through 3 leagues.
 
Salt Lake has outlasted the old Western Hockey Leauge, the Central
Hockey League, and has now played in the International Hockey League.
The Salt Lake Golden Eagles have also played in two buildings - The
Salt Palace, and the Detla Center.
 
I started attending games in 1979, and have had season tickets for a
number of years (I don't recall the first year I bought season
tickets...as a couple of years I was a student in college and could
get discount passes for the games.)
 
Since 1979 the Eagles have had working agreements with a number of NHL
clubs -  The St. Louis Blues, Minnisota North Stars, Hartford Whalers,
New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, and most recently the New York
Islanders (if I have left out a team, I am sorry).  When the Eagles
started operations back in 1968, they had a working agreement with the
California Seals.
 
Okay, now after Larry Miller took over the reigns of ownership, a
number of things happened.  Mr. Miller decided the Salt Palace did not
have enough seating capacity for him to make money on his boring
(basket) ball team, the Utah Jazz.  The City, State and County would
not front the money for a new arena.  So Larry Miller went to the
Japanize bankers and asked for money to build a 20,000 seat arena.
Larry Miller did not have enough common sense to make sure it was an
arena to play hockey in along with his boring ball team.  Larry Miller
made a mistake of making the statement that "Hockey Fans are crass and
dangerous...and he was not sure if he wanted them in his new arena".
 
Btw, Larry Miller had never been to a hockey game before he purchased
the franchise from Art Teece.  One of the season ticket holders had to
ask Larry Miller to move out of her seat the first game Larry Miller
attended.
 
Now at the time that Larry Miller bought the Eagles, the break even
point for sold seats was around 4000, now it is 7500.  This has to do
with the new arena, as the costs have to be covered.  For hockey the
new arena holds less than the Salt Palace did (10,000 vs 12,000).  The
seats in the new arena (now called the Delta Center) are a hard
plastic seat, the old arena had nice theatre type soft seats.
 
Okay, so after the "hockey fans are crass and dangerous" problem, the
next thing Larry Miller did was upset some of the die hard hockey
fans.  The booster club would plan an event with the team, and Larry
Miller would decide he need the team on that night for something else
(one time it was the open house of his new arena, one time it was his
own Christmas party, etc).  This upset a lot of the people in the
booster club.
 
Now, the one night of the year that the Salt Lake Golden Eagles
managed to sell out was bikini night.  Middle of January, you have a
bikini contest during intermission.  So Larry Miller decided to say
there would be no more bikini contests.
 
The Eagles tied up Larry Miller's Delta Center for 41 games a year,
plus playoffs for a few hockey fans.  He could book a concert, rodeo,
ice show, or some other event and sell the place out on those 41
nights.
 
All the above have led to some of the people in Salt Lake believing
Larry Miller was trying to destroy hockey in Salt Lake City.
 
roland