The Salt Lake Golden Eagles' 25th-anniversary season, which turned to slush on ice with one of the poorest records the club has ever posted, will be the last for the once-proud franchise.
The Eagles survived through two league failures and pressed on when other city sports landmarks like the baseball Gulls and Trappers, basketball Stars and even the Salt Palace itself fell. But now the team has run out of lives.Larry H. Miller, who has owned the Eagles since September 1989 and also owns the Utah Jazz and the Delta Center, called a news conference at noon Thursday in the Delta Center to announce that he will sell his International Hockey League franchise to interests within the Detroit Pistons and the Palace of Auburn Hills (Mich.), where the IHL franchise will be relocated next season.
The franchise will compete against the NHL Red Wings for Detroit-area hockey fans, much the way the new Chicago suburban IHL club will compete with the NHL Blackhawks.
The Eagles, 17-42-5 with 17 games left and last in the IHL, will complete this season in the Delta Center. The season ends April 12. The last home game is April 6. They will not qualify for the IHL playoffs, for the second straight year.
The sale leaves Salt Lake City without a professional hockey team for the first time since 1969, and with the Delta Center sightlines being so poor for hockey that some 8,000 seats are unsuitable to be sold, it is unlikely Utah will get another pro team for some time.
"Obviously, this thing came up very quickly," said Darcy Regier, New York Islanders' assistant general manager, who is in charge of that NHL club's minor-league operations. The Eagles have been affiliated with the Islanders this season and have another year on the contract. Regier met in Salt Lake City Feb. 10 with Eagles management to map strategy for next season that would make the Eagles more competitive than this season.
Regier received a phone call this morning from Eagles president Tim Howells informing the Islanders of the sale. Islanders general manager Don Maloney, traveling with the team to San Jose, Calif., was not yet aware of the circumstances, Regier said. Regier said the Islanders will likely look for a new affiliation.
"You may as well have shot me in the head with a .22," said Eagles general manager Mike Forbes. "Ten days ago, everything was a go." Forbes was trying to sign free agents for next year as late as Tuesday, when he was first informed of the pending sale by his Eagles bosses.
"No more Eagles after this year. It is a sad thing to be part of," said Forbes, who said he is not happy about the arrangement because his family thought it was making a long-term commitment when it moved here last summer. Forbes had been an executive and part-owner of the IHL Cleveland Lumberjacks. He said he will pursue purchase of a Colonial League team to be located in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"Having played there, it is a disappointment," said Regier, who was an Eagle during the 1976-77 season and who was instrumental in the Islanders wanting to affiliate with Salt Lake. "I feel badly for the Salt Lake community."
Eagles coach Dave Farrish was completely unaware Wednesday night of the happenings within the franchise, although management staff was informed of the sale during meetings at the Delta Center Wednesday afternoon.
The deal still must be approved by the IHL, but it's almost certain that would not be an obstacle, said Forbes, who is among Eagles employees who will be looking for work come April.
Former Eagles owner Art Teece said he was informed of the sale as a courtesy Wednesday night by Miller.
Forbes said it is strictly a business decision for Miller. "Forget the 25 years and emotion," Forbes said. "When you look at it from a straight business perspective, I understand."
When Teece bought the IHL franchise in 1984, he paid a $250,000 franchise fee. Now, the IHL franchise fee is $6 million. Forbes said the last four existing IHL franchises sold for $4 million each, so anyone wanting to join the IHL would obviously save money buying an existing franchise. That is apparently the case with the Golden Eagles.
The Eagles have lost money the past five years, reportedly as much as $1 million in one year. Forbes said they would lose less this season, perhaps $250,000, but he said it would take a couple of good years before the franchise could begin making money again, so when this opportunity came along, it made sense.
Obviously, the move leaves the Delta Center without events for the 41-plus dates that the Eagles used, but Forbes said a few more concerts could make up for some of the loss.
The cost of maintaining ice and changing over from hockey to other events makes hockey marginal unless attendance is much higher than the 4,000-5,000 the Eagles have averaged.
Other possibilities to fill dates during the winter season could be the Central Hockey League, which is a much lower level than the International League with cheaper franchise costs and located mainly in Oklahoma and Texas, and the Major Professional Soccer League, an indoor winter soccer group.