FHL hoping for an L/A dream

Since the Lewiston Maineiacs were sold to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and dissolved, there have been several leagues that have shown preliminary interest in calling Lewiston, Maine home.

Both top-tiered junior leagues in the United States, the USHL and NAHL, have been mentioned as possibilities to replace the Maineiacs, but another possible league is the Federal Hockey League, which is currently an eight team league operating at the single-A level and is based primarily in the Northeast United States and Ontario.

The FHL first expressed interest to Firland Management President Jim Cain, owner of the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, back in December when rumors of the Maineiacs relocating began to sprout; however, they were short-lived due to current lease agreements.

“(Cain) told us at the time he couldn’t really pursue anything because of the contract that was currently in place,” said FHL Vice-Commissioner Andy Richards. “If things were to change that he would be interested in see what we might propose. We respected that and didn’t have any further contact until the announcement of the Maineiacs folding.”

“Since then we’ve just reopened the dialogue.”

Cain said that he did speak with the FHL in December, but is not aware of such current dialogue, and although he is willing to listen under the right circumstances. He isn’t about to jump at the first thing to come along unless it makes sense for the Colisee.

“I’m willing to talk about anything if it makes business sense,” said Cain. “But, I’m not rushing into anything. We intend speak with a number of junior hockey organizations, in particular and we’re not going to rush into anything.”

Richards wants Cain to know they’re available.

“If there is no longer a team (at the Colisee) we would certainly like someone to consider an FHL team there.”

“Nothing from our standpoint has changed,” said Richards. “We’ve always thought it would be a terrific location and we still feel that way and we’re giving every bit of our attention to see if we can get this done to operate (in Lewiston) this year. We don’t like to see the fans there sit without a caliber hockey program.”

The league is scheduled to meet for their league meetings on June 21st with hopes of finalizing a schedule to be released to the public. Richards said that only gives them 10 days to complete a deal to play in Lewiston for this season.

“We’re very interested in getting something done, but we’re on a very short fuse to get something done for this year,” said Richards. “If we can get something completed within the next 10 days that is comfortable for the investment group that has expressed an interest, we’ll be able to operate for the 2011-’12, if not we’ll look for the following year.”

As for the local ownership group, Richards wouldn’t divulge who is apart of the group, but did say they are involved with the local community of Lewiston and have been previous sponsors of the Maineiacs with the hopes of being involved with a new team.

Richards points to how Lewiston would fit into the FHL’s footprint with franchises in Jay, Vermont and Hyannis, Massachusetts. He also indicated that he’s held conversations with former Maineiacs owner Mark Just about acquiring the Maineiacs name and logo, if the price was right, in order to maintain brand identity that has been well-established in the community for the last eight years.

“It just fits our geography,” he said. “The building is a great fit for us, and it’s a storied hockey community. We’d like to be able to say that the Lewiston Maineiacs are still in existence, but in a different league under different ownership. We did talk to Mark (Just) briefly about acquiring the name and logo and if it would be available for the right price that we both felt was fair.”

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