Brian in Boston Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 It's back to the drawing board for the new WHA. The league finds itself in the position of having to replace two of their "Original Six" franchises in the wake of Dave Waronker's decision to end negotiations to sell his Orlando and Jacksonville-based hockey teams.Waronker has announced that negotiations to sell the Orlando Seals and Jacksonville Barracudas to Calgary, Alberta-based Star Leaf Sports have come to an end. Waronker will maintain control of both teams, which will compete in the Southern Hockey League this coming season. There is an outside chance that the SHL may merge operations with the rival SEHL prior to the start of the 2004-2005 season.Waronker claims that Star Leaf Sports missed several deadlines for placing a monetary deposit in escrow towards the purchase of the hockey teams. Nevertheless, despite their apparent inability to arrange financing for the franchise purchases from Waronker, the principal partners in Star Leaf Sports had already made overtures to arena management and fans in both cities. Additionally, they had made job offers to prospective head coaches for each team, this despite the fact that Waronker already had coaches under contract. Convinced that Star Leaf Sports did not have the financial wherewithal to complete the purchases, and concerned over the effect that Star Leaf's actions were having in Orlando and Jacksonville, Waronker pulled the franchises off the market.Given that Star Leaf Sports had applied to the WHA for membership in the league's upcoming inaugural season, WHA officials are now left scrambling to find replacements for two of their so-called "Original Six" franchises. Given the difficulty that the planned Toronto and Hamilton franchises are having in securing facility leases, the loss of Orlando and Jacksonville now leaves the WHA with teams in Dallas, Detroit (Pontiac, Michigan), Halifax and Quebec City for the 2004-2005 season.Brian in Boston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardWitham Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 (nelsonmunz)HA HA(/nelsonmunz) The Danimal said: Texas is the state that gave us George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. 'Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmee Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Okay...everyone who could see and hear the WHA collapse upon itself from a mile away and six months ago, please raise your hand in a response. I'll start.::Raises hand:: The world's foremost practitioners of professional tag-team wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTank Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 If the NHL labor disputre is short the WHA will barely last 1 year. www.sportsecyclopedia.com For the best in sports history go to the Sports E-Cyclopedia at http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardWitham Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 ::raises hand:: The Danimal said: Texas is the state that gave us George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. 'Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJR Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I'm surprised that the WHA gets so little support on this board, considering that most people here are hockey fans who complain about the way the NHL is run.Until a couple weeks ago, Jacksonville and Orlando weren't even options for the WHA, so this just sets them back a few weeks. It looks bad because the league had announced the "Original Six" in that time but two (or was it three?) of the original WHA's first teams moved before playing a game so what's to say these franchises won't play next season in Cincinatti and Birmingham (or any number of other cities)? Hell, what's to say the WHA won't try to screw over Waronker and put the teams in Jacksonville and Orlando anyway? FantasyHockeySim.com || DetroitHockey.Net || DetroitHockey.Net FHL || cjr.dev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puckguy14 Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Wow. I'm really shocked. LOL Question is will they replace Orlando and Jacksonville or just go ahead with 4 teams? 2004 San Jose Sharks 7th Man Fan of the Year San Jose Gold Miners - 4x Lombardi Cup Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmee Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 The trouble is, YzerFan, that these guys were trying to buy teams that are already running and well organized. He just wanted to buy the teams, probably rename them, and switch the league that they play in. Now they're faced with the daunting task of building an organization (two, actually) from the ground up in time for the start of the WHA's innaugural season when the original plan did not include that option at all. It's a very major setback. The world's foremost practitioners of professional tag-team wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJR Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I've repeatedly heard that the original WHA wasn't nearly as far along with this much time left before the start of their inaugural season as the new WHA is. I guess that's why I don't see what the big deal about these two teams is. Cincinatti is going to get a team (Mark Messier owned, I think) and then they just need one other "replacement" market.And I still don't see what all the hate for the WHA is. You don't see it for the ABA (just their logos). FantasyHockeySim.com || DetroitHockey.Net || DetroitHockey.Net FHL || cjr.dev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmee Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Dammit...if my hero is buying a team than I have to support this crap. I'll be finding me a Cincy jersey if the team ever exists I suppose.And honestly, when I first heard that they were building up a new hockey league based on the original WHA I was very excited. But after hearing about its lofty goals and struggles to secure owners, markets, and facilities, I started to turn my back on it. I think you're hearing a lot more backlash against the WHA than the ABA on this board for a few reasons. I think the WHA is taking itself much more seriously trying to contend with the NHL than the ABA is, which knows it's still a minor league team. Plus, the ABA already exists and is just expanding (though at a ridiculously high rate) while the WHA is just starting up. On top of that, a lot of people on this board, myself included, are hockey fans first and foremost, with all other sports taking a backseat. Not many here, AFAIK, are primarily basketball fans. That's why the ABA isn't getting as much heat. The world's foremost practitioners of professional tag-team wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJR Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I think the WHA is taking itself much more seriously trying to contend with the NHL than the ABA is, which knows it's still a minor league team. The WHA repeatedly states it's not trying to compete with the NHL. It's going to try to lure some players away during the lockout and it will try to act as a replacement league while the NHL is shut down, but with a salary cap of $15 million there's no way they can compete at the NHL's level, even if the NHL returns with the $30 million cap they say they want. If they really wanted to compete with the NHL, they wouldn't have set the cap so low.And Messier owning a Cincy-based team is a guess. He's done as a Ranger (Sather already bought the retirement gifts) and the WHA says there is a current NHL player who'll be a free agent on July 1 who is going to own an as-of-yet unannounced team. Added to that, officials from US Bank Arena in Cincinatti have been at all the recent announcements and you get the theory that Messier will own a Cincy team. FantasyHockeySim.com || DetroitHockey.Net || DetroitHockey.Net FHL || cjr.dev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 NOTE:TO: World Hockey AssociationSUBJECT: FYIMake sure, if you want to expand into 2 cities by way of buying to existing teams, that you makesure the new owners pay when and what they are supposed to; and when you are supposed to find replacement cities, DO IT! Athletic Director: KTU Blue Grassers Football Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroseed Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 BLAST IT! I was actually looking forward to getting a WHA team to cheer for in Jax! Grrrr... Oh well. At least we get an AFL team again in 2006 (and not the af2 this time, either!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stampman Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Yeah, the original WHA was taken lightly and was less unsuccessful than predicted--but my main beef is their attitude...They claim they're going to fix what's wrong with hockey, when they were a mjor contributor to some of it in their original incarnation...A lot of the out of control salary stuff started with the WHA and the WFL.For that reason alone I can't take them too seriously... Comic Sans walks into a bar, and the bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve your type here." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJR Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 More drama surrounding the aborted sale of the teams...http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.asp?story_id=36922 FantasyHockeySim.com || DetroitHockey.Net || DetroitHockey.Net FHL || cjr.dev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopernv Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 ::raises hand:: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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