Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays owners deserve thanks; fans deserve an explanation

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Wednesday, December 15, 1999

IceRays owners deserve thanks; fans deserve an explanation
Organizational mistakes evident from city's only pro team
By Bart Wright
Sports Editor

In the wake of the latest bad news surrounding the Corpus Christi IceRays, general manager Bill Davidson was on the phone Tuesday explaining his side.
   When he calls Chris Robertson a quitter, the words will no doubt linger awhile in the ears of players and fans.
   "I don't know that (losing) Chris Robertson is a problem," Davidson said Tuesday. "He quit on us. He's a quitter. We talked to all the players and the players are happy about it, they want to play with winners."
   "This creates new possibilities for us," Davidson said. "It opens doors."
   Team captain Jody Praznik repeated that opinion in a press release the IceRays faxed out minutes after the Davidson phone call.
   "I wasn't aware of any of the complaints Robertson spoke about," Praznik said in the fax. "Management has given me everything I ever requested and I know a lot of the guys feel the same way. The truth is management is better this year then (sic) last year."
   It ought to be pointed out, however, that this is an organization that has made some mistakes since its new owners came in last spring.
   It happens. Hockey fans in South Texas should still be grateful.
   Without this group of local business interests, there might not be a hockey team in town. One owner recently "guaranteed" that the city would be hockeyless without their involvement.
   Maybe, maybe not.
   All we know for sure is that the previous owner wasn't going to make it. Whether the league or someone else was able to locate another buyer is debatable.
   Let's just say that those of us who like hockey should be appreciative of having a team in town.
   But there have been mistakes:

One of last year's All-Stars, defenseman Regan Harper, left the team shortly after the new ownership group came in amid a cloud of curious circumstance. Harper didn't say he didn't like the city, didn't say publicly that he had a problem with any specific person. He went to one of the worst teams in the league.
   Strange.
   You would hope your top defensive player would want to be a part of the "new" team.

When ticket prices were increased, the new ownership group said it was done by the previous owner, and there was nothing they could do about it.
   That's a little weak. They own the team; they can do anything they want. Refund the money, apply it to playoff tickets, whatever.

Management overreacted when it decided to ban a chant that had been used all last year and is common throughout hockey. When it conducted its own survey and concluded most fans don't care one way or the other about the chant, management relented and the banned chant is now in evidence at games more than ever.
   In effect, management, through the help of no outside sources, made itself look bad while angering a significant percentage of the team's fans.

Chris Robertson.
   No offense to the fans. Nothing against Regan Harper, either.
   The major mistake so far this season is losing the best player in the league.
   Sorry, you don't place all the blame for this on the player, even if Robertson was determined to have had unreasonable demands.
   He's the best player in the league. You listen to him. You keep him happy because you know when he's happy, you're chances of winning go up like a skyrocket.
   Without him, so far, the IceRays are performing below their level of play a year ago.
   By the time the season is over, it ought to be clear what they got from those new possibilities that opened up when Robertson left.


Sports Editor Bart Wright can be reached at 886-3745 or by e-mail at wrightb@caller.com

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