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Hurricane Katrina may have knocked the Mississippi Sea Wolves out of the East Coast Hockey League.
The Sea Wolves home, the 9,100-seat Coliseum, located on the Biloxi, Miss., waterfront, suffered structural and flood damage from the devastating Aug. 29 storm. A casino across the street from the rink was torn from its foundations. A posting on the ECHL website lists the Wolves' status for this season as "unknown," adding that getting any accurate information in the Gulf Coast region remains difficult.
"Our first concern was that the staff of the team and the people inside the building were safe," ECHL communications director Jack Carnefix said yesterday. "What happens next will be up to our commissioner (Brian McKenna) and our board. There have been conference calls with the (Wolves) owners, but as everyone knows, the whole area has serious problems right now."
Options could include folding the team or relocating it. The Pensacola Ice Pilots, an ECHL team affiliated with the Maple Leafs, survived Hurricane Ivan this time last year and were able to open the season on schedule.
Just four days before Katrina, the New York Islanders announced an affiliation with the Wolves. The coach of the Wolves is former Leafs farmhand Steffon Walby.
LEAFS WIN
The first Maple Leafs game of 2005-06 took place last night at the Corel Centre at the Ottawa Senators' rookie tournament, where the Leafs beat the Sens 2-1 in overtime.
"This is going to be a good experience," Leafs defenceman said Phil Oreskovic before the game. "The speed of the game and the (NHL) atmosphere here is a huge mental adjustment, but it will be a good all-round experience I can use when I go back to Brampton."
Oreskovic, Toronto's second pick in the 2005 draft, is from the OHL Battalion.
ROCKING RIVALS
Most NHLers are in favour of the new schedule that focuses on divisional rivalries.
"It's awesome," New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said. "For so many years I thought that for us in New Jersey, it was a waste of time having teams come in from out west. We didn't draw more. It wasn't more exciting. It was tougher to get up for games.
"Now, adding these important games in our own division -- now we'll see (Pittsburgh's Sidney) Crosby four times, I know my kids are excited -- is going to bring back a lot of interest in hockey."