There have been rumors of teams going into Huntsville since the Blizzard moved, and none of them have come to fruition for myriad reasons: The arena is a dump, the ice plant doesn't work, Marshall University is the main sports draw in the town, the town has a small population, it is located in coal country and isn't exactly doing well economically, and no ownership group is interested in losing their ass on a hockey team in a dead town. Remedy several of those, not the least of which being the arena and the town's economy, and there's a chance a long way down the road.
Everything you said is spot on. Discussion of returning pro hockey to Huntington has intermittently reared its head ever since the Blizzard packed their bags for Texas. Jim Bermingham was there back around 2004-05ish talking about getting the SEHL/SPHL there, as he was coaching the Knoxville IceBears at the time, and had played for the Blizzard. Then the NPHL, which never got off the ground, had Huntington and Johnstown, amongst a few others, listed as charter members. After that, I heard by mouth-a source that I cannot verify- that the USHL kicked the tires on Huntington as late as 2015. This same source also told me that the ECHL never intended initially to go into Huntington in the first place back in 1993, but wanted that franchise in the civic center in Charleston WV. Somehow, Charleston fell through, so they kicked the team down the road to Huntington as a last resort rather than not icing the team at all in 93.
Had Huntington not had the Blizzard for 7 seasons, I don’t think they’d be a blip on on any hockey radar. The city has a terrible economy that somehow finds a way to just keep on swirling instead of having any respite of a recovery period. It is crime ridden and overrun with drugs, and most of the city looks like the bad areas in Detroit.
I can’t speak for the arena, as I played there in the 90s but haven’t seen it in a long time- at the time it wasn’t bad but not great either. It had short ice, and all of the seating was retractable, so 200ft could have fit in there if they removed the portable seating off one of the ends- capacity was 5,400-5,600, they didn’t need all of that- the place was half full on a good night after the newness wore off after the first couple of years. I think the city is in worse shape than it was 20 years ago, if they couldn’t support it then, I can’t see it working now.