Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - [Rumour] Lethbridge Hurricanes and Kootenay Ice to relocate

Derek Sutton · 04-30-2014, 12:53 PM

The last five years have been a downhill slide. Made league finals in 2008, lost in the second round the following year, turned out some NHL'ers Sbis, King, Sceviour. Haven't been .500 since. After 12/13 season coach and gm (Rich Preston) was let go. Former scout Brad Robson was hired as new GM, he immediately hired is son as head scout. New coach (drake Berehowsky) was hired after Robson said he received over 70 applicants. Team could have drafted Kale Clague (who's comparable is Doughty) but traded the pick for an overage goalie. Promises were made, lies were told and the team sucked. Top end players. A 30 and a 25 goal score asked to be traded and were both sent home, then trade. The teams best NHL prospect left and asked for a trade. Asst Coach Brad Lukowich was "sick", turns out he had gotten fired ( and it came out two days ago that he is suing for wrongful dismissal) the team had to borrow money to make payrol, while losing by 6 and 7 goals a night. People quit going to watch, the #canetrain became #trainwreck.

A lot of the public backlash started after the 2009 season when head coach Mike Dyck (a hometown guy) did not have his contract renewed by a GM (Roy stasiuk) who was let go. Then it was made pretty public that the Board of Directors (12 guys who are elected by the shareholders) are quite involved in the day to day operations of the club (this is a whole other story) Dick (ABSOLUTE CRAP!!) Gibson, who was one of the biggest Hurricanes boosters in the city, resigned from the BOD it's much speculation it was because of the bod involvement.

What I don't know I out of all of this is how the team could lose money. Teams like PA, Swift, Moose Jaw and Brandon all seem to be thriving while having similar attendance. The lease agreement the team has with the city/ enmax center hasn't been made public and they are negotiating a renewal, which I believe is part of the reason this presentation was made to the city council, though no terms of anything were brought up. Being community, there is no threat to move the team so this does work against the club in a situation like this.

04-30-2014, 12:53 PM	#119
Derek Sutton First Line Centre Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sunnyvale Exp:	The last five years have been a downhill slide. Made league finals in 2008, lost in the second round the following year, turned out some NHL'ers Sbis, King, Sceviour. Haven't been .500 since. After 12/13 season coach and gm (Rich Preston) was let go. Former scout Brad Robson was hired as new GM, he immediately hired is son as head scout. New coach (drake Berehowsky) was hired after Robson said he received over 70 applicants. Team could have drafted Kale Clague (who's comparable is Doughty) but traded the pick for an overage goalie. Promises were made, lies were told and the team sucked. Top end players. A 30 and a 25 goal score asked to be traded and were both sent home, then trade. The teams best NHL prospect left and asked for a trade. Asst Coach Brad Lukowich was "sick", turns out he had gotten fired ( and it came out two days ago that he is suing for wrongful dismissal) the team had to borrow money to make payrol, while losing by 6 and 7 goals a night. People quit going to watch, the #canetrain became #trainwreck. A lot of the public backlash started after the 2009 season when head coach Mike Dyck (a hometown guy) did not have his contract renewed by a GM (Roy stasiuk) who was let go. Then it was made pretty public that the Board of Directors (12 guys who are elected by the shareholders) are quite involved in the day to day operations of the club (this is a whole other story) Dick (ABSOLUTE CRAP!!) Gibson, who was one of the biggest Hurricanes boosters in the city, resigned from the BOD it's much speculation it was because of the bod involvement. What I don't know I out of all of this is how the team could lose money. Teams like PA, Swift, Moose Jaw and Brandon all seem to be thriving while having similar attendance. The lease agreement the team has with the city/ enmax center hasn't been made public and they are negotiating a renewal, which I believe is part of the reason this presentation was made to the city council, though no terms of anything were brought up. Being community, there is no threat to move the team so this does work against the club in a situation like this. __________________ The only thing better then a glass of beer is tea with Ms McGill Last edited by Derek Sutton; 04-30-2014 at 01:26 PM.