Financial woes leave WHA2 in stormy seas

Joe Seroski had made up his mind. He'd pack everything in his apartment, put his past in the rear-view mirror and quit the Lakeland Loggerheads midway through their inaugural season.

He was serious, too. Serious enough to urge his World Hockey Association 2 teammates to bail on the league if they could find another job. Serious enough to make living arrangements with his mother-in-law in Louisiana.

"Three months ago, we sat down as a team and had a meeting," Seroski said. "We told each other, 'If you have a place to go, then go.' We realized it's going to be the same way all year."

But Seroski didn't have a viable backup plan. So he stayed because he had no other choice.

Perhaps as a minor-league hockey player, he should have expected this. But he has played in other leagues, and things never got this bad.

In Lakeland, the team can't even afford to buy sticks for its players. As a result, players have to buy their own or borrow from teammates. What's worse, the team hasn't practiced for months because ownership can't afford to rent ice time at a local rink.

"At one point, the owners said we'd have sticks within three weeks," said Seroski, a former Orlando Seals player. "Three weeks later, they came to us and told us they couldn't afford them."

No doubt, Lakeland's franchise is struggling. But the Loggerheads aren't alone. Each of the six WHA2 teams, including the Orlando Seals, has run into financial trouble, so the question arises: Just how long can the league last?

David Waronker, the league's co-founder and president who has a stake in four franchises, admits he isn't happy. The league has yet to meet most expectations, and unforeseen problems continue to pile up.

"I'm disappointed with the productivity of most of the hockey teams," said Waronker, who has slowly given up chunks of ownership in Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville and Macon, Ga. (The league's sixth team is based in Pelham, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham.) "I would have thought at this stage they'd be producing more revenue. We're frustrated because we owe people money. We're mentally struggling.

"But we're trying to do our best to make sure it works."

In Orlando, the financial woes have made a dent to the tune of $1.4 million in expenses this year. And although Waronker wouldn't disclose the exact amount, he said the income is far less.

Bill Becker, director of the Orlando Centroplex, which encompasses TD Waterhouse Centre, the Orlando Seals' home arena, was on vacation and unavailable last week to comment on the team's finances as they relate to the city's lease.

To top it off, Brian Flick, the team's general manager, turned in his resignation last week to pursue a baseball career in Europe. Though not significant to the league's future, Flick's departure only adds to the team's growing instability.

"It seems like we have a very valuable asset down the road there," Waronker said. "But we're a little tired now. It's a frustrating time."

Management has tried to stem the tide by spending more in line with its income rather than like a big-league club. But some poor decisions in the past still haunt the team.

Last season, when the Seals played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, they purchased three styles of bobblehead dolls. But because they couldn't secure a sponsor to pay for the bobbleheads, Flick said the team ended up spending $40,000 to have them made and shipped from China.

Mistakes such as that have forced the Seals to cut their staff and lower their expectations.

"We had a great start," Waronker said. "But then we realized we were on a cloud and we were about to get kicked off. We were on a path to lose a lot of money. We needed to realize we weren't the NHL."

But there's another problem -- one that played a role in the Orlando Solar Bears' demise and now impacts the Seals as well. Before he left the franchise, Flick said it would be tough for the Seals to continue if they keep playing at TD Waterhouse Centre. The venue seats 17,000 fans, far more than needed for a team that sells about 3,000 tickets per game.

Then again, at least the Seals have a venue. The Miami Manatees, also owned by Waronker, recently announced they would play their remaining schedule on the road. Waronker opted out of his lease through a clause that allowed him to leave a potential money drain if the team's average attendance at Miami Arena didn't reach 1,500.

Another Florida franchise, Jacksonville, leads the WHA2 in attendance at 4,247 fans per game and has the best record. So can the Barracudas save the rest of the league?

Waronker had hoped so. Unfortunately, in the world of minor-league hockey, hope isn't always enough.

"There's not a day that goes by we think about closing the doors," Waronker said. "But we always worry about keeping them open. We need a lot of help from a lot of people."

The WHA2 had gone into the season with the thought that starting with the 2004-05 season, it would serve as a feeder league for the WHA. At the time, the WHA had hoped to not only play in up to 16 major North American cities but also be able to lure a few NHL stars by paying them much more than everyone else on the roster. Under the plan, WHA teams would also help finance WHA2 teams, and provide other organizational support.

But since then, talk of such plans has been intermittent at best. The WHA has announced it has firm plans to start play in five cities next season, but still won't disclose one of those. The WHA2, meanwhile, formally confirmed it plans to start a franchise next season in Asheville, N.C., but if the WHA struggles to start, it's only natural to wonder if that will ever come to fruition.

Despite the problems, players and management agree the league can survive if it makes it through the season.

Both leagues are rooting hard for the NHL to enter a prolonged labor struggle, which has been predicted for months by the league's players, management and fans. If the NHL stops operations for a year or more, as many foresee, the WHA2 hopes to snag fans and possibly even some players who want to satisfy their hockey fix.

In addition, the league could try to lure some teams from the 31-team East Coast Hockey League, though a number of its teams face financial problems of their own. With more teams, the WHA2 could add more competition and produce a larger, more consistent fan base.

"It's a lot easier to get people interested and get more sponsorships when you have more teams available," Seals assistant coach/player Chris LiPuma. "If we get things moving forward, there's no question in my mind you'll see more fans in buildings and more stability within the league."

Waronker will continue to give the league he created one last push. In turn, he'll attempt to answer the question that continues to linger: Will this league survive another year?

"I don't make guarantees," Waronker said. "But we're already working on our plans for next season. I strongly expect this league to go on."

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