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. |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--| | Lynn Burke Newport News, Va. | | [log in to unmask] -- mail still shows [log in to unmask] | |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|