So if a lease in Evansville can be worked out with an SPHL team, why couldn't one be worked out with the Icemen? Does the new owner of the SPHL team need a loss for a tax write off?
Has the ECHL "officially" approved the move of the Icemen to Kentucky?
To answer your first question, the hang-up on working out a deal with the IceMen was Ron Geary's oversized ego. The new owner is apparently more grounded in reality and doesn't expect the city to pay his bills.
The second question is still shrouded in mystery. If the ECHL approves this insane plan to relocate the IceMen to Owensboro, the league is openly courting disaster. But, that is what minor league hockey does best...so I'm betting the BOG has given a green light to the move.
I'm not sure Geary is going to follow through, even if he wants to. No respectable bank is going to loan him $7 million to redecorate a dump that probably should be torn down. Unless he plans on financing this himself (not likely, since the dude is quite literally a cheapskate) I don't see where the money is coming from to make it happen.
I fully expect some awkward announcement in the middle of May stating that Geary could not secure the necessary financing. That's good news for him, since an economically-priced SPHL product in Evansville will vacuum up what few crumbs remain of his fan support.