For the record, T-Sharks are gone

For the record, T-Sharks are gone June 14, 2001

By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Hockey franchise is heading to Macon

David Elmore

The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks are history.

The East Coast Hockey League's Board of Governors on Thursday unanimously approved the relocation of the franchise to Macon, Ga., ending the Tiger Sharks' seven-year stay in Tallahassee. And in a knockout blow to the Capital City's chances of keeping professional hockey, the league also approved the dormant Hampton Roads franchise's planned move to Columbus, Ga.

Macon and Columbus, both at the end of five-year sanctioning agreements with the Central Hockey League, will leave their old league hurting in the Southeast. The defections ruined any chance Tallahassee, now more than 400 miles away from any team in the CHL, had of gaining an expansion franchise in the rival league.

The Macon Sports Group, which owned the CHL's Macon Whoopee, agreed to lease the Tiger Sharks franchise from the Elmore-Tuttle Sports Group for the 2001-02 season. The deal could be stretched to three seasons and also includes an option to buy.

The ECHL would not comment but plans to issue a press release today. The Macon Whoopee have scheduled a press conference for Monday.

"(Brother Stewart) and his group will be running the team," Tiger Sharks co-owner Dave Elmore confirmed. "The franchise will still be mine, of course. I'm not going to be involved in any sort of way."

Elmore, it turns out, also helped kill Tallahassee's bid for a CHL team by luring Macon into the ECHL. Columbus needed to follow to stay alive.

"That was the thing that bewildered me," said Brad Lund, chief executive officer of Express Sports, which had hoped to replace the Tiger Sharks with an expansion CHL team. "Elmore was the one who contacted me about getting into Tallahassee, not Ron Spencer. And my goodness, then he jumps into one of the key rivals."

Lund, citing the city's poor track record with hockey, admitted he had developed many doubts about going through with the plan anyway. He said he had already given up hope by the time the ECHL voted in Macon and Columbus.

"You couldn't start up a franchise this late," Lund said. "You'd have to assemble a team and a marketing staff. There's not an existing staff there. It would mean death."

The Tiger Sharks were an attraction when they arrived from Huntsville, Ala., averaging 6,046 fans per game in announced attendance during their first three seasons. But the novelty wore off. And so did the success on the ice. Coach Terry Christensen, who led the team to two appearances in the league semifinals and then the South Division championship in 1996-97, was let go following a last-place finish in 1997-98.

Christensen returned for the 1999-2000 season but couldn't get the Tiger Sharks back into the Kelly Cup playoffs. Rookie coach Gerry Fleming came up short this past season, too. But that's only because turmoil in the front office - a constant under Elmore's out-of-town ownership and Michel Cadrin's one-year reign as acting owner - turned into a salary-cap scandal that effectively barred them from the postseason.

The Tiger Sharks went 38-27-7 in their final season, falling four wins shy of the franchise record. Empty seats, however, still outnumbered fans at the Civic Center. Only 2,804 fans turned out on average.

Elmore-Tuttle will lose $180,000 remaining on a secured note with the Civic Center and will likely face a lawsuit for breaking the final three years of its lease.

TIGER SHARKS Arrived: 1994 Last home: Huntsville, Ala. Years in Tallahassee: 7 Playoffs: 3 New home: Macon, Ga

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