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ESP Mastehead
July 28, 2004

Hockey league hitmen ice the generals

By AL THOMY

The puck has been iced. For good. Or at least, until such time as a knowledgeable ownership, with the financial means, step up to the net and invest in reinventing the Greensboro Generals.

It became official last week that the Generals, operated by the city for the last year, are no more when the East Coast Hockey League axed the team after a five-year run in the Greensboro Coliseum. The city had reported a half-million dollar loss during the season, and howls went up from the usual naysayers, the critics of all sports in the Coliseum and, more specifically, everything the Coliseum does.

Managing director Matt Brown tried to save the franchise and the 36-40 dates on the Coliseum calendar, but, it was to no avail. The net loss, plus the suit by former coach Jeff Brubaker, seeking $200,000 in what he claims the Generals owe him, was too much for a burden and the ECHL moved to end the controversy. (At the same time, it was reported that Roanoke had also lost its franchise.) The Generals' paper trail is indeed long and somewhat confusing.

It started with lawyer Art Donaldson as owner and then the franchise was leased to businessmen Bill Black and Don Brady, who, reportedly, shopped around for a permanent owner or owners.

Black hinted that the process could continue if and when the legal ramifications of the Brubaker and other suits are settled, and, it is thought the ECHL would be amenable to reinstating the franchise. In fact, Black added that it might be better to rub the slate clean and start all over.

All that remains to be seen.

The loss of the Generals is a blow to the Coliseum programming since hockey has been a staple in the building for 33 of the last 45 years. Players have played major roles in indoctrinating several generations of young Triad kids in the fine arts of the game, and the franchise has built a fervent, if small, number of regular fans.

The Greensboro Coliseum is one of the showcases of the South, and, as such, it needs to be utilized and enjoyed. It does us no good if it just sits there like a bump on the log of civic inertia.