The thin ice underneath the Lubbock Cotton Kings gave way over the weekend as the Central Hockey League decided the Lubbock Cotton Kings must take a year off.
"The Central Hockey league had their league meetings and it was decided that the Cotton Kings are going to seize operations for the 2007-08 season," said Brien Rey, the director of media relations and broadcasting for the Cotton Kings.
Rey said difficulties in preparing for the upcoming season provided the primary reason for the year-long hiatus.
"It has reached the point now that it is not possible for the team to be prepared and ready to operate during the 2007-08 season because we were trying to get the lease negotiations done," Rey said. "After that we needed to come up with a head coach. After the head coach, we needed to put together a team. The window of time has gotten too small for all those things to happen."
Since the Hub City and the Cotton Kings never settled on a lease agreement for the City Bank Coliseum, some are predicting all other hockey in Lubbock will go down as well.
Although Texas Tech hockey coach Paul Fioroni said his team will try to keep Lubbock hockey going, the City Bank Coliseum is in need of a new ice plant.
The ice plant costs could range from $100,000 to $150,000, Fioroni said.
"We're in the process right now of getting funds together from various Tech alumni and obviously some people here in town to purchase the plant ourselves," he said.
Still, a new ice plant purchased by the Tech hockey team would not alleviate all the Cotton Kings' problems; the City of Lubbock and the Cotton Kings are negotiating the rights to operate concession sales.
Fioroni said Tech hockey has only one goal.
"We're not worried about concessions obviously," he said. "We're not in it to make money. We're just trying to get the situation set where we have hockey in Lubbock. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to save (hockey) and continue to keep this youth program and start building up again."
With the absence of the Cotton Kings, the Red Raiders would become the leading tenants at the coliseum. Fioroni said the team would be responsible to run the city's youth-hockey programs and adult-hockey leagues.
Gross Ticket Sales for the Lubbock Cotton Kings
1999-00 $1,722,444
2000-01 $1,481,573
2001-02 $963,172.52
2002-03 $746,468.18
2003-04 $582,980.10
2004-05 $461,033.50
2005-06 $320,790.12
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