http://www.lubbockonline.com/updates/update3.shtml
Cotton Kings officials talking to San Angelo
BY Adam Zuvanich
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Team president Dave Groulx said the Lubbock Cotton Kings are moving forward, even though they couldn’t secure a lease at City Bank Coliseum for next season.
Now, the minor league hockey franchise might be moving south.
Groulx said Wednesday that he and Cotton Kings owner Mark Adams will meet with San Angelo city officials today to explore the possibility of relocating the team. Groulx and Adams will tour the San Angelo Coliseum, a 5,265-capacity building that housed the former San Angelo Outlaws and San Angelo Saints hockey teams for eight seasons beginning in 1997.
“This will be our first meet and greet,” Groulx said. “It will be a good gauge for us as to whether we can move forward or not. We’ll take a day and meet with people and see where we can go. ... We want to be in a place that wants us.”
Groulx said the Cotton Kings also have considered moving to El Paso or Kansas City, Mo., and all three locations already have the necessary infrastructure for hockey — an ice plant, dasherboards, glass and dressing rooms.
If the Cotton Kings decide that San Angelo is a suitable market, the next step would be to negotiate a lease agreement with city officials.
“I would say it’s in the preliminary stages,” San Angelo civic events director Mike McEnrue told the San Angelo Standard-Times. “They’re looking for a new home, and we have the equipment and infrastructure. It’s just if the city and team can reach a stance that’s beneficial to both parties.”
If the Cotton Kings hope to play in San Angelo next season, they’ll need to move quickly. The team would have to submit a relocation application to the Central Hockey League and have it approved by the league’s board of governors by June 16, because the CHL must begin planning for the 2007-08 season that begins in October[
