BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The saga of the XL Center remains in limbo as the change of state government has begun.
“We haven’t had a meeting with the Governor-Elect or his transition team. I would think in about six weeks we’ll have a chance and lay out our case. Right now, between the transition and the upcoming holidays, the schedules are tight,” CRDA Executive Director Mike Freimuth commented.
The one variable that has changed since August, is that the $250 million dollar renovation that had been favored and the quasi-state agency has been pushing for over two years has fallen by the wayside.
“There hasn’t been an appetite to fund this re-boot of the arena by the state. The needle hasn’t moved before, or even after the election so we have to move to a more workable economic model. We’re looking at eliminating the second concourse as a way to reduce construction costs by half. We have to address the limitations inside the building and deal with tired, aging and fatigued mechanical systems, that hasn’t changed either.”
The calculus is still the same, but now within a $125 million model that will seek to have what is likely to be a 10,000 to 12,000 seat arena will still be able to drive new revenue streams particularly with UCONN basketball and hockey, and the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack as well.
“There are still components and features we can include in the very necessary re-boot of the arena to make the building as modernized as its necessary to compete in a whole new landscape that exits the marketplace,” Freimuth said.
The XL Center nears entering its third decade of the 21st century.
The formula remains as clear as it was five-and-a-half years ago when the CRDA started this process.
“The three elements haven’t changed,” Friemuth said. “We need to have the atrium, reboot the building, and modernize it for the fans and to do a complete upgrade of the seating, wiring, heating, and cooling. We have done our best to keep the building open and functional, and I know it sounds stale, but we are whistling past the graveyard. The costs haven’t changed and have gone up in some cases, and the need grows larger every month that we don’t deal with this.”
The atrium negotiations with Northland remain in the same state it’s been for almost two years- no agreement.
“We’re talking, that’s always good. However, they have come back with some new appraisals but we’re no closer to anything like an agreement. We’re very far apart in numbers, but until a new governor is seated and legislature convened, not much is happening until then.”
There is also a matter of the bid by Oak Street CapItal, LLC of Chicago to buy the XL Center. That is also unresolved.
“Unfortunately, that too remains in a holding pattern because anything with that proposal is going to go through the legislature one way, or the other. We’re thinking the new modified arena proposal might be a model that work within their proposal of what has been discussed between the parties. We’re anxious to talk to folks in the legislature regarding the concepts that have been presented. In all of this, there is no set timetable, but we have to start making decisions, the calendar year is moving quickly.”
PLAYERS MOVES
Former Yale goalie, Alex Lyon, continued his shuttle between Philly and Lehigh Valley.
Tanner Fritz returns to Bridgeport from the Islanders.
Ryan Donato, the son of ex-Pack, Ted Donato, was recalled from Providence and forward, Anders Bjork, was sent to P-Town.
Ex-Pack, Ryan Sproul, was released from his second AHL team this fall by Laval. The reason was that the Canadiens assigned two defenseman to the Rocket in Karl Azner and Victor Mete.
Reid Boucher is once again sent back to Utica by Vancouver.
Former UCONN goalie, Tanner Creel, was loaned by Roanoke Valley (SPHL) to Reading (ECHL).
Ex-Pack defenseman, Calle Andersson, signs an extension with SC Bern (Switzerland-LNA). His younger brother, Rasmus, is playing in Calgary. Their father, Peter, is an ex-Ranger and the head coach with Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL).
Several ex-Pack players are skating in Canadian senior league hockey. Sam Klassen and Garett Bembridge skate for the Rosetown Red Wings while Matt Stefanshion is with the Stony Plain Eagles of the Allan Cup West League that was formerly known as the Chinook Senior Hockey League.
PACK PLAY CHARLOTTE IN LONE GAME OF THE WEEK
The Wolf Pack record stands at 10-9-1-2 (23 pts) and has them sitting in fifth in the Atlantic division, just four points behind the second place Sound Tigers. The Pack, who has been playing quite often over the first two months, have see their schedule slow down this week with just one game. They took Wednesday off for practice and they meet the division-leading, and the top team in the AHL, the Charlotte Checkers whose record is 16-5-1-0 (33 pts).
The Checkers lost their last game, 2-1, to Providence last night have a three-in-three weekend before heading back to Providence on Sunday.
However, both teams lost big parts of their offensive from their lineup in the last 24 hours.
The Wolf Pack lost Vinni Lettieri to a Rangers recall after they were shutout in Ottawa Thursday and third shutout in 10 games. He has five points in four games and in his last two games was a dominanting offensive force.
The Checkers saw Valentin Zykov, a 33 goal scorer last year year, no goals and three points with Carolina and just two goals in six games with the Checkers this season was taken off waivers by Edmonton.
Given his play of late, it would be a good bet Dustin Tokarski will start in net Saturday night.
The Pack have just two home games in the next week and five for the month. They play Charlotte next week and also travel North Carolina fopr two games go to Bridgeport and host Providence on the 19th before Christmas. See the Pack now as they will be around for a limited time in December.
The Checkers are led in scoring by Janne Kuokkanen with 22 points in 22 games and Andrew Poturlarski 20 points in 22 games. The Wolf Pack are led by Peter Holland with 19 points including 16 assists plus a team high six game points scoring streak and defenseman John Gilmour 15 points in 22 games.
