Second ACHL Mutiny Creates Another New League.
The Southeast Hockey League Takes All But One. Even the Parrot isn't Squawking.

Jonathan Roybal & Ketan Dhawan
MinorLeagueNews.com

08.15.03 - With 4/5ths of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League exiting the league yesterday, the ACHL appears to have been dealt a fatal blow that is likely to terminate their 2003-04 season.

MLN has learned that four of the five teams slated to play in the ACHL this season have left the league to form the new Southeast Hockey League [SEHL].

"We are no longer part of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League," stated Adam Minnick Director of Communications for the Cape Fear FireAntz. "We are now part of the Southeast Hockey League."

Minnick declined to comment on the reasons why the FireAntz jumped ship. "I haven't talked to my GM yet about the specifics," he said.

John Cherney, owner of the Huntsville Channel Cats, did not want to confirm his team was leaving, but seemed certain an announcement was forthcoming.

"Anything is possible. It is still premature, but there will be news out shortly," Cherney stated.

When Three Equals Five

Minnick told MLN that the SEHL will be comprised of five teams including franchises in Huntsville AL, Birmingham AL, Tupelo MS, and Knoxville TN and Cape Fear in Fayetteville, NC.

The league may only have three operating franchises at this time. The Tupelo T-Rex may have prior league affiliation issues to resolve, and the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center tells MLN that there will be no hockey league taking the ice in Birmingham this year.

Thought to be Extinct, May Still Be Extinct.

The T-Rex, which last played in the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) backed out of the league when the WPHL and the Central Hockey League (CHL) merged. The owners operated as a semi-pro team in the years following that.

MLN has learned that the Tupelo market is still under territorial contract to the CHL, which assumed all rights and obligations of the old WPHL.

Further, parties familiar with the situation who asked that their names not be disclosed told MLN that the ownership of the T-Rex, which is still believed to be the same group that operated in the WPHL, owes the Central Hockey League an undisclosed amount for franchise fees.

While the Central Hockey League refused comment on outstanding issues with the T-Rex organization, it is likely that they would attempt to collect the back-money owed them before releasing the T-Rex from its territorial obligations.

Land of Many Hockey Teams May Still Be A Solo Act

Birmingham, coveted by many, apparently is still the sole domain of the WHA-2 by way of its suburban Pelham, Alabama franchise, the Slammers.

At this hour conflicting reports continue to surface about a team occupying the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC).

Peter Young, Director of Operations for the WHA-2 and also a key mover in the major league World Hockey Association, tells MLN that a deal for the BJCC was struck yesterday.

"Too bad. We were close to putting a deposit down on the arena for the WHA franchise for next year, which goes out the window now."

Young described a situation relayed to him by Al Howell of the WHA, where Frank Poe, the Executive Director of the BJCC, was being urged by the city council to take a deal to fill the arena for this year.

Poe acknowledges that he has been in discussions with John Cherney, who owns the Huntsville Channel Cats and appears to be one of the principal players in the new SEHL. He says that there is no signed deal at this date.

Poe goes on to say that it would be late in the year before a team with a contract signed today could take the ice. "Even if [Cherney] were interested in doing it in Birmingham, the soonest we could have the building ready to play hockey on a one year deal would be Thanksgiving."

The BJCC confirmed that the SEHL is not yet ready to do a deal. "John [Cherney] told me he does not even have all the local ownership tied down, nor does he have a company."

Disposition of the ACHL

"The ACHL still exists, Mr. Coffey still owns it and Winston/Salem is still part of that," Minnick said.

MLN tried to contact the ACHL for comment, but the phone number listed on their website was disconnected. Emails and faxes sent to the ACHL offices received no reply as this story went to publication.

The lone remaining franchise, the Winston-Salem Parrots, owned by Bill Coffey, who is also president of the ACHL, had a message machine on its phone and was not answering telephone calls when MLN tried to contact them earlier today.

Rumors that the league has filed for bankruptcy appear to be premature. MLN was unable to find a record of a bankruptcy filing for either Mr. Coffey or the ACHL.

The ACHL had been locked in a "turf war" this summer with the WHA-2, a collection of teams that had played in the ACHL for its inaugural season, then defected this spring citing administrative problems and alleged financial improprieties.

In May the ACHL and the WHA-2 reached a settlement releasing the teams from the ACHL and ceding the territories for the franchises to the WHA-2.

Since then, the ACHL has struggled to find enough franchises and places to play to form a full league. The WHA-2 left an open offer to bring teams from the ACHL into the league prior to the setting of the schedule for the 2003-2004 season. Peter Young, Director of Operations for the WHA-2, stated that he had been in conversations with the Knoxville Icebears as late as last week.

"We did everything we could to get these teams in the league, but they were determined to go their own way," Peter Young, co-founder of the WHA2 stated.

When asked if the door to the WHA-2 remained open this week, Young replied categorically "Absolutely not." The league's schedule has been set. No new teams will be admitted to the 2003-2004 inaugural season.

Why would the remaining ACHL franchises not want to form a stronger league?

Concerns about the WHA-2's single-ownership of multiple teams may have come into play.

"The teams expressed some concern over the WHA2 being a one owner league," Young said, in a reference to David Waronker, who owns several teams in the league. "But we will be announcing new ownership of several franchises in a few days."

The Same Sinking Feeling That The Rats on the Titanic Must Have Had

At least 10-12 players have already jumped ship from the ACHL teams and have contacted members of the WHA-2. "We didn't call them," Young stated. "They called us looking for a more stable place to play."

Announcements, Announcements, Announcements...

Formal announcement of the SEHL's formation is expected within the next few days. A temporary page sits on their new website, www.southeasthockeyleague.com. How the lost tribe of the ACHL will fare as a four team league remains a significant question at this hour remaining to be resolved.