Hockey gives city cold shoulder June 29, 2002

Team to leave Macon for Lexington, Ky.; Whoopee nickname to stay here

By Phillip Ramati
Telegraph Staff Writer

The Macon Whoopee skated closer to being part of the city's sports history Friday when its franchise was leased to a pair of Canadians who will place the team in Lexington, Ky.

The East Coast Hockey League and new lease holders Jean Gagnon and Michel Cadrin made the long-rumored move official Friday when they announced the franchise that played the 2001-02 season in Macon would take the ice in Lexington's Rupp Arena next season.

The Elmore-Tuttle Sports Group, which owns the franchise and in 2001 leased it for one season to the Macon Sports Group, sold the lease to Gagnon and Cadrin. The men have a two-year deal to play in Rupp. Elmore-Tuttle officials were unavailable for comment after Friday's announcement.

The move puts the future of hockey in Macon on life-support. No one from MSG was available for comment Friday. ECHL president Rick Adams said the league is not planning on having a team in Macon next season.

"It's not currently being contemplated," Adams said. "It's obviously a great slot geographically for the ECHL. We were hopeful that the rivalries we brought would bring about increased support (for the Whoopee), but that didn't happen."

Although it no longer has the franchise, MSG owns the Whoopee nickname. It's possible that it could secure a team in another league - like the start-up Atlantic Coast Hockey League - and play as the Whoopee. However, ACHL founder Bill Coffey has said on several occasions that he has had no formal discussions with anyone about a team for Macon in the fall.

And at this point, getting a team ready would be extremely difficult. None of the Whoopee front office staff was retained after the season, and head coach/director of player personnel Gord Dineen left last month to take the same position with the ECHL's Richmond Renegades.

The city already will be without baseball come September. The Macon Braves, a minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, announced in November they were moving to a new stadium in Rome after this season. That leaves only the Macon Knights, a member of arenafootball2, as the city's lone professional sports team.

Macon Mayor Jack Ellis, who already is working to find a replacement for the Braves, said he had been following the Whoopee situation.

"I've been having conversations with Brother Stewart," Ellis said of MSG's majority partner. "We did everything we could to keep the Whoopee here. We renegotiated their lease. We did everything we could do to assist them to become a successful franchise. I hate to see them go, but I wish them well."

Ellis, who has hired a consulting firm to seek another baseball team, said he also will work to return hockey to the city.

"We're going to get our heads together," he said. "I'm going to consult with the business leaders, the government leaders and decide where and how we go from here. The things about both teams leaving is that as far as the city was concerned, the taxpayers gave more than their fair share ... At the end of the day, the citizens of the region have to buy more tickets, be more supportive."

The Whoopee played its first five years in the Central Hockey League, but last year moved to the more-prestigious ECHL. The Whoopee attendance last season was just 2,791 per game, 26th in the 29-team league. According to figures obtained from the Macon Coliseum, for the actual number of fans through turnstiles rather than game tickets sold, the Whoopee drew about 1,100 less per game than its average.

The Whoopee's future has been an offseason topic each of the past three seasons. This is, however, the first time even the most die-hard fans are convinced that the team won't be dropping a puck in October.

"We already knew (Stewart) wasn't going to bring the team back," said former booster club president Nancy Walthall. "We were hoping that another ownership group would put a team here. The ACHL was looking better with all the changes they made. But everyone resigned themselves to no hockey, that we'd be going to Augusta to watch games. It's very sad."

Added season-ticket holder John Radford, "I hate it for Macon, but I expected it. It sucks that (MSG) won't tell us anything, that we have to learn everything from newspapers or the Internet. It seems like a total disregard for the fans to me."

Current Whoopee Booster Club president Glenn Wise said the group still would be active even if there were no hockey next season.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed," Wise said. "We've been holding out the last few months to see what would happen. But our booster club is not going to go away. We're here to promote hockey throughout Middle Georgia. We're here to work with anyone who wants to bring a team to put in the ACHL or ECHL. ... We'll have to see what Brother decides. I feel bad for the fans of Macon. We've lost another team; our entertainment options are dwindling. Everyone's been pointing the finger at someone else, but I think they have to realize that it's a combination of a lot of factors."

Elmore-Tuttle president Dave Elmore had reportedly been looking at other options besides Macon for months. At one point, he apparently contemplated having his franchise go dark, but Adams said the league rarely grants that except in "unusual circumstances."

Adams said Elmore sought franchise ownership in Macon to keep the team in the city, but none surfaced.

"If a local group had purchased the team, he would've worked with them," Adams said.

Gagnon previously owned the ECHL's Dayton Bombers and Mississippi Sea Wolves and had been looking to put a team in the Lexington area since October. He said he spoke with Elmore about the Whoopee franchise a couple of months ago.

Lexington has been without hockey since the Kentucky Thoroughblades of the American Hockey League left at the end of the 2000-01 season after not being able to reach a lease agreement with Rupp Arena. That franchise moved to Cleveland.

Gagnon said support for the new team, which will be named by a fan poll, already is strong.

"I've already gotten orders for over 100 season tickets in the last four hours," he said. "We feel we have a pretty good base for tickets here."

Most of the players who played this season for the Whoopee may end up in Lexington, Adams said.

"All the players given qualifying offers (by the franchise) would move to Lexington," Adams said.

WHOOPEE FACTS

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE (1996-2001): Record of 168-137-41 (Made playoffs four times, reached as far as second round once.)

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE (2001-2002): Record of 29-31-12

NOTABLE FACTS: Had one player, goaltender Andrew Allen, reach NHL roster after having played with Whoopee in same season. Had partial affiliation with NHL Florida Panthers. Drew 2,791 fans per game this season, 26th in the 29-team ECHL. The first pro hockey team in Macon was the Macon Whoopees of the defunct Southern Hockey League in 1973-74. The coach of that team, Keke Mortson, was recommended for the job by Bill Dineen, father of Gord Dineen, the Whoopee's coach last season.

Home