SCORCH SCRATCHED
Before the Tucson Scorch could even play a game in the WPHL, the league pulled the plug.
Here's why.

Brian ROSS
Sr. Editor
MLNSportsZone.com

10.2001 - PHOENIX - The Western Professional Hockey League pulled the plug on the expansion Tucson Scorch just hours before the team hit the road for El Paso and Albuquerque. The revocation of the Tucson franchise sent the first week's schedule into brief chaos as teams were rearranged to fill in the void of the now defunct team.

Team Tucson Hockey LLC had its franchise rights revoked Friday morning. The organization had failed to satisfy the terms of the WPHL's licensing agreement, most notably in the area of selling enough season tickets and corporate sponsorships. They had also failed to provide proper insurance and other guarantees to the City of Tucson.

The WPHL, which had suffered the expansion blues last season, when the league swelled to seventeen teams, only to see four close and one, El Paso, teeter on the edge, had established new guidelines for accepting new franchises in an effort to stabilize the league.

The Tucson operation, had been grandfathered into existence by an expansion agreement made two years ago. The rules in place to prevent this kind of late pre-season collapse did not come into play in the Scorch deal.

Plans to cover the scheduling problems began late Thursday when New Mexico Scorpions GM Nick LoBue and Coach Tony Martino were notified that their team would be playing in El Paso on Friday.

This caused a mad scramble to locate bus transportation for the team, as the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which concludes this weekend, had taken up all available transportation. A bus was sent from Tucson, and the Scorps departed for El Paso early Friday morning.

LoBue said he was "surprised" by the call from the League office. "You need to have the funds and resources to carry you through the first two to three years," noted LoBue at a Scorps pre-season press luncheon.

He went on to say that the League was "probably embarrassed" by having to make the last minute call to pull the plug, but that it was "better to do it now and put resources toward the teams that have the most potential."

The league will now have thirteen teams. No change in the divisions or the post-season will be made. A clean-up operation will happen in Tucson to take care of loose ends. League Public Relations Director Steve Cherwonak said that "We will be meeting with the management of the Scorch and the City of Tucson to see what needs to be done."

As to the future of hockey in Tucson, Cherwonak said that "the league always will examine the future opportunties in any community," but noted, "for now, there has been no active discussion of any future for hockey in Tuscon."