nccanes
05-08-2003, 07:19 AM
Karmanos folds Compuware Ambassadors
May 8, 2003
BY GEORGE SIPPLE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Success is a choice.
That was the motto of the Compuware Ambassadors, owned by Peter Karmanos. Unfortunately for junior hockey players in Michigan, the successful organization chose to cease operations on Tuesday.
"It wasn't a happy decision, but it was a business decision," said team president Mike Vellucci, who also serves as coach of the Karmanos-owned Plymouth Whalers. "The cost of operating a Junior A franchise got to be too much. The expenses kept going up and up each year, from a quarter of a million to just under a half a million dollars."
The Ambassadors were the only Junior A franchise in North America to win the USA Gold Cup national championship four times -- in 1985, 1994, 1999 and 2002. They also won the North American Hockey League championship 11 times over the past 16 seasons, and several of their players moved on to the NHL, including Jimmy Carson, Pat LaFontaine and Eric Lindros. Countless more went on to play hockey in college and in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Ambassadors apparently spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to convince the other teams in the NAHL to move up from a Tier II to Tier I designation, which would have required teams to take on more of a financial burden.
Vellucci said he had talks about joining the Tier I U.S. Hockey League, but "we got to a place where we had to make a decision: Continue to do it or cease operations. We decided we couldn't keep spending that amount of money.
"We've done it for 20 years," Vellucci added. "It's been a good run. Peter Karmanos put in millions of dollars for this program, and I think it was just time."
The decision was a shock to many in the hockey community.
"It's disappointing," University of Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They've had a great tradition in creating an opportunity for Michigan kids to play Junior A hockey."
Detroit Compuware will continue to operate its youth hockey programs, including seven AAA programs that were founded in the late '70s by Karmanos and partner Thomas Thewes.
Karmanos also owns the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, the Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League and the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League.
"I guess you can't say forever is forever anymore," said Wayne State coach Bill Wilkinson, who recently signed Frank Furdero from the Ambassadors. "That's a storied franchise. It'd be like the Red Wings saying, 'We've had enough of the NHL.' "
The NAHL announced Wednesday that a dispersal draft of players from the four franchises that opted not to return next year -- Compuware, Danville (Ill.), Capital Centre of Lansing and Chicago -- was held Tuesday. The league, based in Farmington Hills, will return with the seven teams that played last season, and might add more in expansion.
Asked if the Ambassadors are gone for good, Vellucci said: "Never say never, but as far as we're concerned, if the costs stay at this amount, yes, it is for sure."
May 8, 2003
BY GEORGE SIPPLE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Success is a choice.
That was the motto of the Compuware Ambassadors, owned by Peter Karmanos. Unfortunately for junior hockey players in Michigan, the successful organization chose to cease operations on Tuesday.
"It wasn't a happy decision, but it was a business decision," said team president Mike Vellucci, who also serves as coach of the Karmanos-owned Plymouth Whalers. "The cost of operating a Junior A franchise got to be too much. The expenses kept going up and up each year, from a quarter of a million to just under a half a million dollars."
The Ambassadors were the only Junior A franchise in North America to win the USA Gold Cup national championship four times -- in 1985, 1994, 1999 and 2002. They also won the North American Hockey League championship 11 times over the past 16 seasons, and several of their players moved on to the NHL, including Jimmy Carson, Pat LaFontaine and Eric Lindros. Countless more went on to play hockey in college and in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Ambassadors apparently spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to convince the other teams in the NAHL to move up from a Tier II to Tier I designation, which would have required teams to take on more of a financial burden.
Vellucci said he had talks about joining the Tier I U.S. Hockey League, but "we got to a place where we had to make a decision: Continue to do it or cease operations. We decided we couldn't keep spending that amount of money.
"We've done it for 20 years," Vellucci added. "It's been a good run. Peter Karmanos put in millions of dollars for this program, and I think it was just time."
The decision was a shock to many in the hockey community.
"It's disappointing," University of Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They've had a great tradition in creating an opportunity for Michigan kids to play Junior A hockey."
Detroit Compuware will continue to operate its youth hockey programs, including seven AAA programs that were founded in the late '70s by Karmanos and partner Thomas Thewes.
Karmanos also owns the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, the Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League and the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League.
"I guess you can't say forever is forever anymore," said Wayne State coach Bill Wilkinson, who recently signed Frank Furdero from the Ambassadors. "That's a storied franchise. It'd be like the Red Wings saying, 'We've had enough of the NHL.' "
The NAHL announced Wednesday that a dispersal draft of players from the four franchises that opted not to return next year -- Compuware, Danville (Ill.), Capital Centre of Lansing and Chicago -- was held Tuesday. The league, based in Farmington Hills, will return with the seven teams that played last season, and might add more in expansion.
Asked if the Ambassadors are gone for good, Vellucci said: "Never say never, but as far as we're concerned, if the costs stay at this amount, yes, it is for sure."