The 2010-11 EIHL will, after all, have a full complement of 10 teams after Coventry Blaze assumed full control of the Hull Stingrays.
Hull back in action thanks to Blaze takeover
The 2010-11 Elite Ice Hockey League will, after all, have a full complement of 10 teams after the Coventry Blaze ownership team of Andy Buxton, Mike Cowley and Paul Thompson, along with Blaze General Manager James Pease, have assumed full operational control of the Hull Stingrays.
The quartet have confirmed that after extensive preliminary discussions and thanks to support from the local council and outgoing owners, Mike and Sue Pack, the Stingrays will take their place in the league this season.
It is anticipated that the team will play its opening league fixture on Sunday October 3, although this is subject to league confirmation this week.
Whilst there remains a significant amount of work to do before the team can take to the ice, it can be confirmed that last season's player-coach, Sylvain Cloutier has committed himself fully to the new organisation and will fly into the UK this Wednesday to take an active role in getting all aspects of the organisation up and running.
Whilst several of the originally announced roster have already found new clubs, Cloutier has been speaking to all of the other players who were keen to wait in the hope that a new operator could be found. He hopes to re-sign several players in the next few days and has already started the process of recruiting replacements for those who have moved on.
Attractive
"It's been a crazy few days to say the least," said Buxton. "We've only had a very short time to get our heads around this to make sure that we believed we could make a success of it.
"Right now we don't have all of the answers to the many questions I'm sure people are going to have but over the coming few days and weeks we'll hopefully be able to communicate just about everything that people want to know.
"It was important to us to get the news out now that the fantastic Hull Stingrays fans and sponsors are going to have an Elite League team to support this season and we are going to really need them to continue to get behind the team and us as an organisation as we look to move the club forward.
"Until we have a more permanent presence in Hull, for any additional information or if there are any businesses who would like to get involved with the club, we'd like to invite them to contact the Coventry Blaze office on 02476 223220 or via email at blazeoffice@btconnect.com."
Alison Walker, Hull City Council's City Arts and Leisure Manager, added: "We are delighted that the Stingrays will now not leave their home at Hull Arena, and we are committed to continue to support the Club and look forward to working with the new owners, who already field a successful team.
"We are pleased that the Coventry Blaze owners felt that the Stingrays, and the support on offer from Hull City Council at the Arena was an attractive proposition, which is great news for the city, the fans and the Arena, and we are excited at the prospect of being part of a partnership that will help move the club forward."
