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Saturday, November 10, 2001
Bumstead: I’m not playing.
Hall: We didn’t want you to.
By Richard Tijerina
Caller-Times

File photos/Caller-Times

Geoff Bumstead (left) was never assured a spot on the IceRays roster, general manager Taylor Hall says.

Geoff Bumstead isn't retiring. But he's not playing hockey, either.
   The former Corpus Christi IceRays forward, one of the team's most popular players over the past three years, said that although he is not hanging up his skates, he also will not play for the team again as long as general partner Bill Davidson and general manager Taylor Hall remain in control.
   Hall, in turn, said Friday that Bumstead wouldn't have been in the IceRays' plans anyway this season, and that the right wing was a fan favorite who "just wasn't getting the job done."
   Bumstead also said he would not seek to play hockey anywhere else, including the Central Hockey League or any other hockey minor league.
   At a press conference to show his public support for former IceRay Dustin MacArthur's suit against the team, Bumstead said the product that the ownership is putting on the ice is hurting the team.
   "I've seen far too many broken promises made to players," Bumstead said. Bumstead said he and new IceRays coach Dale Henry met this summer, and that he was offered a contract to sign, but declined.
   IceRays players and coaches were out of town to play in Austin and could not be reached for comment.
   Hall, however, said that even though the team offered Bumstead a contract this summer, the IceRays likely would not have kept him on the roster.
   Bumstead's contract wouldn't have been guaranteed, Hall said, and the team probably would have tried to trade him or receive some other type of compensation.
   With the new Central Hockey League's rule that teams may keep only five veterans, keeping Bumstead would have been improbable, Hall said.
   "Sometimes the truth hurts, but we didn't really want Geoff Bumstead to play. We just didn't think he could get the job done anymore," Hall said. "Last year, his play dropped off from the year before. Sometimes, guys lose their hunger."
   But Bumstead, 29, said he still believes he could play for at least five more years, and that he would not rule out never playing for the IceRays again, under the right circumstances.
   Bumstead was a finalist for Most Valuable Player of the Western Professional Hockey League in the 1999-2000 season, the year he led the league in scoring.
   Last year, Bumstead played in 60 games, scoring 19 goals with 34 assists.
   "Sometimes, it's better to retire on a semi-high note," Hall said. "I'm sure for Geoff, that's tough to swallow. I saw the frustration in his eyes all last year. It wasn't for lack of effort. He just wasn't getting the job done. And that's reality."
   MacArthur, who was released from the team just before the start of this season, is alleging a breach of contract. IceRays officials have said that MacArthur was injured and - according to a loophole in his contract - thus eligible to be released.
   Bumstead, however, said he believes that MacArthur would have been healthy for the start of the season, and that the team was wrong to cut him.
   He also said that he had been asked by "hundreds" of fans about his status for this year.
   "As important as it is to answer hockey fans, it's also important that I support Dustin," he said. "I'm proud of Dustin, and am proud to call him my teammate."
   Another IceRays' lawsuit, filed by a group of IceRays investors wanting a court-supervised accounting of the team's financial information, may begin pre-trial discovery work as early as next week, said David J. Dunn, an attorney for local law firm Dunn & Weathered, who represents the investors.
   Hall said he and Davidson are committed to fielding a winning team. He added that the IceRays were named the WPHL's franchise of the year in 1999, and were runners-up for the award last season.
   "There's nobody else to thank more than Bill Davidson for hockey here," Hall said. "You can fire bullets at him and say whatever you want, but there's 15 other teams in the CHL who would like the problems we have from a business standpoint."


Contact Richard Tijerina at 886-3745 or tijerinar@caller.com

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