I received an e-mail Tuesday from the owner about the Icebats being officially homeless. As much as I loved going to their games at Chaparral Ice for the last two seasons, I knew it wasn’t economically feasible. Sure, many of these Canadian players would love to live in Austin but I don’t think they were too impressed by having to play at a tiny venue while Odessa and Corpus Christi have 5000-seat (or higher) arenas. My fandom does give way to reality so I won’t begrudge the owner for moving the Icebats to another city or state.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars are pushing ahead with bringing an AHL franchise to Cedar Park. The headline on the official page of the Iowa Stars state that the team has ended its affiliation with Dallas yet the AHL guarantees there will be another team next season. Who it will be cannot be discussed until the Calder and Stanley Cups are awarded. I don’t know why they pulled the plug this Spring, Cedar Park’s “Entertainment Center’ (which is nicer than calling it a multi-million dollar money pit) will not be completed until late 2009, if the city is lucky. Dallas will either have no AHL affiliate (unlikely) or they’ll sign a one-year deal with Houston again when Utah dropped out.
More as it happens I guess. If the San Antonio Rampage survive, there could be an I-35 corridor rivalry similar to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.