ACHL to Return Ice Hockey to Tallahassee March 29, 2002

WCTV's 6:00 news reported that ACHL Commissioner Bill Coffey stated that the chances of Tallahassee having an ice hockey team next season is between 100 and 110%.

The new ACHL is led by Coffey, who helped create the ECHL in 1988 and was the first owner of the Knoxville ECHL team that is now the Pee Dee Pride. There is no indication as to who the owners of a new Tallahassee hockey franchise might be.

Six cities are expected to be charter members of the new Atlantic Coast Hockey League. Other cities named in an article that appeared on March 23rd in the Fayetteville Times are Fayetteville and Winston-Salem,N.C., Knoxville, Tenn., and Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla.

The ACHL, which is expected to make a formal announcement of its formation shortly, could have as many as 12 teams by the time its season begins in October.

Other cities rumored have been Macon, Savannah, and possibly Augusta, Ga., Knoxville, Tn., Asheville, N.C., Mobile and Birmingham, Al., and Daytona Beach and St. Petersburg, Fl.

The new league will play a 60-game schedule and feature a strict salary cap, along with other measures designed to help keep operating costs down, they said.

An official announcement on the new league/Tallahassee team is due the week of April 8.