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Flint Generals on thin ice?


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Flint Generals on thin ice?

A press conference has been called for Tuesday to announce the future of the Flint Generals. Generals owner Dr. Khaled Shukairy has not ruled out the possibility of putting the franchise on hiatus, due to the major drop in attendence this year.

Here's a quote from that article that caught my attention:

"The question here is whether the economy has something to do with it, or is it the commitment of the fans to have a team?"

Hey Doc, what did you expect, 4421 fans per game? Did you ever think that maybe your incredible level of cheapness has something to do with the attendence drop? The main reasons you hired GM Gino Giacumbo (who had already failed once in Flint!!) and Head Coach Bobby Reynolds were 1)they were cheap, and 2)convenience. Plus, you allowed Reynolds to build only the cheapest roster possible, and wouldn't even spring for radio broadcasts or an athletic trainer! Let's not forget that the UHL commissioner actually had to order you to spend money on the team during the season! :cursing: :cursing:

Flint's economy may have had an impact, but let's face it, Flint hasn't had a strong economy in years. IMO, Dr. Shukairy has only himself to blame for the team's recent struggles. Flint's a great hockey city, always has been, always will be. If he actually spent money and allowed Reynolds to ice a competitive team, I highly doubt we would be talking about the Gens being in trouble. :evil:

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Can't they ban the good Doctor from owning sports teams?

Of course I'm still mad over what happened with the Gears.

I once had a car but I crashed it. I once had a guitar but I smashed it. I once, wait where am I going with this?

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Yup, the Doc screwed up royally in Saginaw. Not as bad as "The Bubanic Plague", Dr. Bernie Bubanic, but pretty close.

In fact, I think that was when things started to go bad for the Gens. After the Doc lost so much money with the Gears, he probably got gun-shy about spending money on the Gens. Sure, they won the Colonial Cup in 2000, but what have they done since?

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Hey guys don't be too suprised to hear something in the next week or so about Roanoke as well. The average attendance for the Vipers was a highly exaggerated 1500. The Dixon's (talk about bad owners) said they needed to average 3700 to break even and over 4000 to make a small profit. People I work with who had season tickets said in all honesty the average was about 750 to 1000. The NBDL Dazzle averaged 800 fans a game and they are as good as gone when the league meets in a few weeks.

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Even though the Valley Vipers are owned by two of the worst owners in the UHL, I'm still surprised they were able to beat out the Mechanics for worst attendence. That really takes talent. :lol::blink:

The attendence issue for the Valley Vipers is bad enough. If Richmond ends up relocating, they're toast. No offense to the UHL fans in the south, but I never understood why the league would expand down south again instead of trying to remain a Midwest/Northeast hockey circuit. Especially in times when gas prices are outrageous.

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Even though the Valley Vipers are owned by two of the worst owners in the UHL, I'm still surprised they were able to beat out the Mechanics for worst attendence. That really takes talent. :lol::blink:

The attendence issue for the Valley Vipers is bad enough. If Richmond ends up relocating, they're toast. No offense to the UHL fans in the south, but I never understood why the league would expand down south again instead of trying to remain a Midwest/Northeast hockey circuit. Especially in times when gas prices are outrageous.

They are relocating, they are becoming the Chicago Hounds from what everyone has been saying

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Even though the Valley Vipers are owned by two of the worst owners in the UHL, I'm still surprised they were able to beat out the Mechanics for worst attendence. That really takes talent. :lol::blink:

The attendence issue for the Valley Vipers is bad enough. If Richmond ends up relocating, they're toast. No offense to the UHL fans in the south, but I never understood why the league would expand down south again instead of trying to remain a Midwest/Northeast hockey circuit. Especially in times when gas prices are outrageous.

They are relocating, they are becoming the Chicago Hounds from what everyone has been saying

That'd be Richmond that's relocating to Chicago (Hoffman Estates, technically), Gary....Doc Margenau's in charge of that debacle.

Besides, the Hounds have already taken a major hit....seeing that Robbie Nichols, who was to be coach & GM of the team, decided to take the GM job in Elmira.

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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So happy that the Gens are coming back. I thought they were as good as gone. I agree 100% with your first post. I'm not really feeling the silver, black and white if that's what they switching to. Oh well I'll be following what they do. I went to 4 games this season...hopefully they'll put together a good team so I can go to some playoff games!

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Even though the Valley Vipers are owned by two of the worst owners in the UHL, I'm still surprised they were able to beat out the Mechanics for worst attendence. That really takes talent. :lol::blink:

The attendence issue for the Valley Vipers is bad enough. If Richmond ends up relocating, they're toast. No offense to the UHL fans in the south, but I never understood why the league would expand down south again instead of trying to remain a Midwest/Northeast hockey circuit. Especially in times when gas prices are outrageous.

The Riverdogs are either folding or moving and Richmond is getting another team in the SPHL I think that is right (Southern Professional Hockey League).

Roanoke is such a freaking mess right now it isn't funny. Nobody in town was willing to pay 21 bucks for ice level seats for a league that was a notch below the ECHL. They finally did lower ticket prices for 1 part of the civic center. The top 8 rows in each section a month into the season dropped to 8 bucks. That didn't even help. I know how bad the Dixon's are as owners and they pissed everyone off from the start when they told the fans if they didn't like the ticket prices stay at home, but I am not sure any ownership group will have success here.

The Dazzle is another mess their ticket prices were cheaper than the Vipers and they struggled to average 800.

Baseball has started again and the Avalanche (single A Astros) are already averaging 4000 fans their first two homestands. I went last night and they had 4500 on a weeknight. Their ticket prices are simple 6.00 general admission, 7.00 reserved and 8.00 box. Their isn't a bad seat in the house, and the owner knows how to run a organization correctly. I go on Monday nights for 1.00 GA seats and they drew 3500 this past Monday in 40 degree temps.

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Yeah, Richmond has an expansion franchise in the SPHL all set to go...basically, as soon as Margenau & Acton issue the press release announcing the demise of the Riverdogs, the SPHL club will be all set to take over....

Personally, Richmond deserved a much better fate than they're getting...but I'm glad for my friends down that way at least having some form of hockey to watch.

And it's not like it's very rosy in other areas in the UHL as well...

--There's some serious rumblings out in Missouri that the Otters might go belly up this offseason (which would look really bad seeing the league offices are in the St. Charles area).

--Elmira's got their own new worries...seems Doc Afr has kinda neglected to pay some of their employees.

--Flint's troubles are well documented in this thread.

--Adirondack might be out of the hole seeing the Parfets (who also run the K-Wings) are lending a hand financially, but after talking to a few of my friends up in the Falls, it seems the Bite have neglected to even put out ANYTHING on season tix for 06-07...most teams I know of in the league (except Richmond) have had that stuff out for a few weeks now...

--Motor City's coming back for next season, but their attendance woes are well known (personally, I don't see what's so bad about their arena...been there a few times and I like it...guess maybe it's a "if it's not the Wings then who gives a ****" mindset in place)...06-07 could be a make or break for the Mechs (which is kinda sad seeing they have a good team and all)...

--Roanoke's problems are well known...VTS has it on the mark (as in it jives with the stuff I've heard from folks down there)

--Port Huron's in better shape going into this year than they have been in ages financially...now, if they can just get a coach and GM with a clue, they might be dangerous ;)

Right now, if I had to say what were the stronger teams in the U, it'd be a really short list :

Quad City -- New ownership group coming in next year that's committed to bringing back the glory days of Mallards hockey.

Rockford -- Good team on the ice, really well run off of it.

Fort Wayne -- The Frankes are rolling in the dough and they can bank on 7K a night.

Muskegon -- Probably the best run of all the UHL clubs.

Kalamazoo -- Right up there with Muskegon on and off the ice.

Danbury -- When you have an owner that's willing to do whatever it takes to get a winner out there, you have to respect that.

That's 6 out of 14 teams that I feel are on solvent ground. When it's a shade under half, that's not good.

I can see Bloomington doing well, but I'm not sold on Chicago/Hoffman Estates lasting too long (especially in light of who's running the team and even more so after seeing their ticket prices...they're charging MORE than the AHL Wolves do...).

This could be a year where the U sees a ton of turnover, and most of it being in the bad kind of way.

But then again, when you have a commissioner that's willing to blast the folks that are the lifeblood of a team (aka the fans....like he did in that pressy up in Flint where he basically ripped the fans for not going to games...heck, with the way the good Doc was running it, I don't blame Flint fans one bit for not going...) or rip areas that a league could use for success (basically stating that hockey in the south "is a fad and not very well attended"), you got tons of problems.

And people wonder why I'm such an outspoken critic of how things are being run in the U....maybe it's because I see some very disturbing trends and I'm not exactly liking how this could all play out...

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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Well this is how i would fix the UHL. verry simple merge with the CHL!!!! i mean take the 6 stable teams and bloomington and u have a instant rivaly with youngstown and make a great division.

I have a simple two word phrase for you that would instantly harpoon any merger.

"Travel Costs".

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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Well this is how i would fix the UHL. verry simple merge with the CHL!!!! i mean take the 6 stable teams and bloomington and u have a instant rivaly with youngstown and make a great division.

I have a simple two word phrase for you that would instantly harpoon any merger.

"Travel Costs".

Exactly...when you have teams in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico...travel costs to places in Illinois & Michigan are gonna ratchet up big time (and last time I checked, gas wasn't all that cheap either)...

That and the C would insist that the brain trust that runs the U would have to be completely out of the picture if that were to happen (personally, that'd be a big step in the right direction, if ya ask me)...however, the twits running the U aren't exactly ready to step down (matter of fact, they'd like to poach a team or two from the C...and outside of Youngstown, I don't see ANY that make any sense to add).

The C adding Youngstown was kinda a headscratcher here....seeing their closest rival is Memphis (and last time I checked, that wasn't exactly a short hop down the highway)...

The ECHL would have been a MUCH better fit for them, IMO....Dayton, Toledo, Wheeling, & Johnstown would have been right there...

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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so traveling to texas or tennesse is not good for treavel costs???........and right now they go to NY and CT so NM and AZ is not as bad.

Just for :censored: s and giggles...

Moline IL to Danbury CT-983.34 miles (farthest stable UHL road trip IIRC)

Moline IL to Fort Wayne IN-306.23 miles

Moline IL to Kalamazoo MI-292.62 miles

Moline IL to Bloomington IL-132.73 miles

Moline IL to Rockford IL-124.69 miles

Moline IL to Muskegon MI-331.91 miles

Moline IL to Odessa TX-1172.03 miles

Moline IL to Wichita KS-563.71 miles (Memphis and Youngstown probably similar)

Moline IL to OKC-717.27 miles

Moline IL to Loveland CO- 834.30 miles

Moline IL to Albuquerque NM-1292.64 miles

Moline IL to Prescott Valley AZ-1698.36 miles

Bear in mind that Moline is probably the closest team to the CHL. Granted I know everything seems far away from Maine, but the the UHL GMs the travel costs that come with such a merger would be insane.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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well all teams in the UHL,SPHL and CHL are affliated with the NHL right????

nope

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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