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Dennis Hextall May Be The Next IHL Commish
by Paul on 08/27/09 at 03:10 PM ET
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from Justin A. Cohn of the Journal Gazette,
Dennis Hextall, who played in the NHL for 13 seasons, has been offered the post as commissioner of the International Hockey League, he and a league source confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Minor League | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Dennis+Hextall, IHL,
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I understand the intent of going after Hextall—his name is obviously recognizable and the league thinks that will instantly help their reputation.
The biggest problem the IHL is facing right now though is that their 2 expansion franchises for this upcoming season (Dayton and Quad Cities) are both already undergoing lawsuits (and the Dayton one was stupid and the owners deserve it—you don’t just get to walk away from paying bills because you’ve lost interest in the business and suddenly want to own a hockey team instead), the Flint franchise showed no signs of life until last week or so (and then only after other several franchises bailed it out financially), and a continuing problem where the public perceives that everything having to do with the league has to be run through the office of the Fort Wayne team’s owner first (a team which—coincidentally or not—has won the last two Turner Cups).
The league need to stabilize its markets first and foremost (including team owners—can’t have any more disaster owners like Perani in Flint), and a commish that will go out and hit the road a lot and be seen to pump the league. And they need a blitz campaign to all media in all IHL and prospective IHL markets (Evansville is slated to join in 2 more season pending an arena being built in time).
However, they also made the mistake of adding another player to rosters this offseason almost solely for the purpose of trying to bring in more goons. I’m sorry, that’s NOT going to add credibility to their claim of being a “AA” minor league, that’s the stuff you expect from the senior leagues in Quebec.
If Hextall takes it on… good luck. It’s a trainwreck right now and I’m not sure he’s the choice they needed. They need someone with good business acumen, a great and dynamic personality, and tireless work ethic as commish to try and drag them back, not just a recognizable name.
And if Fort Wayne wins it all yet again this year I predict more franchises will ditch the league like Kalamazoo already did.
Posted by Primis on 08/27/09 at 06:14 PM ET