Ice Dogs denied home games
Published Thursday, April 17, 2008
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Stumble It!The Fairbanks Ice Dogs have played their last game at the Big Dipper Ice Arena this season.
On the eve of Game 1 of their North American Hockey League playoff series against the Topeka RoadRunners, Rob Proffitt and the Ice Dogs learned that they’re going to have to play every game of the best-of-five series in Topeka, Kan.
“I don’t blame the league at all. I wish this was set in stone a while ago,” Proffitt said. “There wasn’t a plan laid out. This is just disappointing to our fans and our players. They worked hard. They deserved to play at home.”
The two teams open the series at 4 p.m. ADT today and play at the same time Friday. They then wrap up the series the following week at 4 p.m. on, April 24 and April 25, and Game 5 will be at 2 p.m. on April 27 if necessary.
Proffitt struck a deal Monday with Topeka coach Scott Langer and league commissioner Mark Frankenfeld to play the first two games in Topeka, then come back to Fairbanks for the final three.
Proffitt even agreed to give Topeka some of the revenue from Game 5, should there be one.
“I was willing to revenue share with them on the fifth game, even though I was paying all their expenses,” he said. “It was the right thing to do, and our revenue would have been more than their revenue there.”
But that deal fell through Tuesday night, leaving Proffitt scrambling for a new solution.
“After I got the deal all done on Monday night, the person that we were dealing with from the Topeka side wasn’t the decision maker,” Proffitt said.
Proffitt had already bought plane tickets to bring the RoadRunners up to Fairbanks. The Ice Dogs pay the majority of the travel costs for all their opponents.
But Topeka owner Mary Magdalene Lorang didn’t want her team, which won the South Division and earned the higher seed, to have to play three away games.
“At some point, I can’t say it was agreed to, we never agreed to anything, that we were going to play two here and play three,” Topeka operations manager Arch Ecker said. “Our owner was very adamant, she said ‘We fought hard for the No. 1 seed, why should we sacrifice it because our opponent’s so far away?’
“It’s not so much a matter of going up to Fairbanks. The problem lies with, we were a higher seed. We earned the higher seed. In a perfect world, you’d do a 2-2-1 series. Practically, there’s no real way to make that happen.”
There is a precedent for the original plan — two in Topeka, three in Fairbanks. The Ice Dogs agreed to give up home-ice advantage in their last series with Wichita Falls to cut down on travel costs. The first two games were played at the Big Dipper and the last three were to be played in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“I figured the precedent was set. I gave up home ice with Wichita,” Proffitt said. “But They put me in such a spot. They wanted a third home game.”
If the teams were to play the first three in Topeka, Proffitt said there wasn’t enough time to get two teams up to Fairbanks, play two games and then get a team to St. Louis in time for the start of the Robertson Cup Championships.
“They painted me in such a corner, they didn’t give me an option,” Proffitt said. “It’s not like bus trips that they think we’re dealing with. It’s very disappointing for me for our fans. It’s very, very disappointing. I was up until 2 trying to get this to work.”
Ecker emphasized that the decision was based on financial realities, and that they weren’t avoiding the Dipper.
“I hope it’s clear, our relationship with the Ice Dogs organization is a good strong healthy one. There’s no animosity, there’s no backstabbing, there’s no behind-closed-doors meetings,” he said. “I think we came out of it with an agreement that, given the difficult situation that we’re both in, is really going to end up working out best for everyone.”
The players weren’t willing to give Topeka the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s kind of been a big joke the way Topeka has been trying to jerk us around a little bit,” goaltender Cody Reichard said. “We thought for a couple of days that we were going to come back to Fairbanks and it all went down the drain with Topeka there. They couldn’t handle playing in Fairbanks.”
If there is a silver lining in the Ice Dogs’ eyes, it’s the fact that they’ve been the best road team in the NAHL all year, improving their record to 24-5 away from the Dipper after finishing off the Wildcats with two wins in Wichita Falls last weekend.
“Like I said before, we’ve been a great road team all year long,” Reichard said. “We’ve come off two great wins in Wichita Falls. The people I feel bad for are our fans, our sponsors and our host families. I feel bad that we’re not going to be able to get back to the Dipper and play for them.”
And they plan on taking it out on the RoadRunners.
“We’re definitely going to use it as motivation,” Reichard said. “It’s not going to give them any excuses when we beat them in their barn and we’re headed to St. Louis.”
Game watch
While fans won’t be able to catch the Ice Dogs at the Dipper, they can watch them battle for the South title as one of the Ice Dogs sponsors, the Fairbanks Family Moose Center, is streaming the games live on big screens today and Friday.
The Moose Center is located behind the Regency Fairbanks Hotel, and the event will feature three big screen TVs streaming the game live, 50/50 drawings, giveaways and food.
For more information, contact Ryan Bush at 460-0205.
Community Discussion
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I'm not much of a hockey fan, but this is a travesty! Shame on you Mary Magdalene Lorang! Fair is fair, and fair is right! You, Mary, are not right! GO ICE DOGS!
That's freaking outrageous, especially if the Dogs already paid for their tickets!
This is totally unacceptable and shame on the league for allowing this to happen. If we are a full, good-standing member of a league, then we should enjoy all of the benefits associated with the league, including post-season play. Either fix this or get out of the league. This is NOT the way to gain community support for a local team. Why pay money for a team that we won't see in the playoffs. What a sham of a league. Wake up Ice Dog ownership and fix this.
This is most definately WRONG!!!! What would the MLB playoffs be like if one team said "We don't want to play any away games!"????? The Dogs have earned the right to have their games at home!! Why is it that Ms Lorang has so much pull? If she refuses to bring her team to Fairbanks where the games are scheduled, then those games should be forfieted to the Ice Dogs!! THe deal had already been set with the league. An individual owner of any team shouldn't have the right to over ride such a decision!
As a loyal fan of the Ice Dogs, I find the NAHL to be a somewhat spineless organization when an owner can make decisions that go against the league and suffer no adverse affects.
Kick Butt, Ice Dogs!!!!!!!
Wow coach... way to whip your fans into a useless frenzy. Now they can go all summer long blaming Topeka's owner for something that was your idea in the first place. Machiavelli would be proud.
Tankarus,
The Dogs earned the right to have two games at home not three. Topeka earned the home ice advantage by winning the south division and Mary was standing up for her team, coaches and fans. She didn't refuse to play in Fairbanks she refused to play three games up there. That deal you refer to was only for the first round not the second.
oldakcuss,
Topeka is also a good-standing member of the league, and we should enjoy all of the benefits associated with the league, including post-season play. We shouldn't have to give up the rightfully earned home ice just because Fairbanks is in Alaska.
Offers were made and Proffitt turned them down. Now he is spinning this to make himself look as good as possible. While I do understand this the truth will come out and you will see that he hasn't been exactly truthfull with this newspaper.
Topeka says, "There’s no animosity, there’s no backstabbing, there’s no behind-closed-doors meetings . . ." BALONEY! It is an absolute sham that Topeka gets to have ALL 5 PLAYOFF GAMES ON THEIR HOME ICE. The league is obviously giving them preference and allowing them a huge advantage in the series. And, its an insult to Fairbanks fans to expect us to believe otherwise.
It is a shame we won't get to see them play again. But I think we need to look at the big picture. The boys are doing great and have a great record on the road. Proffit has to do what needs to be done no matter how hard of a decision it is. Most of the time things aren't fair but the boys are okay with the decision so we need to back them 100%. Good luck guys, and bring home the trophy!
akjak,
Proffitt had choices and this is what he chose, don't blame Topeka. The sham is your coach not being honest with his players or fans.
Without having the complete information regarding the logistical issues surrounding travel and timelines, a somewhat reasonable solution (due to the complete lack of planning by the NAHL) would be: The first two games of the five game series in Fairbanks, the final three in Topeka as they earned the number one seed. This IS NORMAL in most tournament situations. Then both teams are situated close for travel to St. Louis whoever comes out on top after five games.
What is not reasonable is for the league to penalize the Ice Dogs and their Fairbanks fans. I don't care where a team is located, fair and equitable treatment should prevail to all teams.
Topeka's operation manager Ecker is quoted as saying "working out best for everyone". Wow, I guess the Fairbanks Ice Dogs fans are not part of that "everyone". It does make sense though, considering how selfish Topeka's ownership (Lorang) appears through the news article so, as we understand ... IT all rolls downhill! Sure, Topeka fought hard for the #1 seed and she has to watch out for her interests but the Ice Dogs have earned their spot as well. A class or seminar regarding "Improving Business Communication" should be attended by the Roadrunners organization and it should be a mandatory requirement for the owner, operations manager and coaching staff. We can hope at that point that they will all be on-the-same-page!
A League Commissioner that strikes a deal and then is over-ridden by an owner? Now that's carrying some clout! It does not appear as though the position has much authority in presiding over the NAHL.
If we never know the whole story of how this all happened, I can only feel confident through this article that Coach Proffitt did his best to represent the Ice Dogs and fans of the Fairbanks hockey community. So much for the "good relationship" between the Ice Dogs and the Roadrunners organization in my eyes!
I've sent e-mails to both the NAHL organization and to Ms. Lorang herself. Neither one has had the guts to offer me a reply! Then, come to think of the amount of pull that Ms Lorang seems to have with the NAHL, if she told them not to reply, they wouldn't! God knows I really didn't expect her to anyway. She got what she wanted, and she's happy. She doesn't give a damn about Fairbanks, whether it's the Ice Dogs or we fans!!!!!!!!!
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