Knights not on market
The Ice House will see its last OHL action on r Friday, Sept. 13, when the London Knights play the Owen Sound Attack in a r preseason game. r
The Knights will hold training camp at the Ice House and then practise r there until moving into the London Entertainment and Sports Centre for the r home opener on Oct. 11 against the Plymouth Whalers.
rThe Knights will begin the regular season with five games on the road. r
rThe arena’s sale to Guy Russel of Toronto and Bobby Biro of Montreal r won’t be completed until Oct. 22, after the Knights have settled into r their new downtown digs.
rDale and Mark Hunter bought the Ice House, its 12 acres, the major r junior Knights and the junior B Nationals teams for $3.8 million from the r Tarry family of St. Thomas in May 2000. The Hunters then sold the r Nationals to Rene Vilon.
rAn OHL franchise now will fetch at least $3 million Cdn after the North r Bay Centennials were recently sold to Richard Garber of Saginaw, Mich. The r Saginaw Spirit begin play next season.
rOne source said with the Knights moving into a new 9,500-seat, r $45.3-million arena, the London franchise is worth $5 million today.
rMark Hunter, the Knights general manager, said yesterday he and his r brother have no plans of selling the team, even if it could bring that r much money.
rThe Knights have signed a 20-year lease with the city to play at the r new arena.
r“It’s something we don’t even think about because this hockey team is r part of our family,” Hunter said.
r“This is something we really enjoy. The enthusiasm these guys (Russel r and Biro) have for motocross is the same enthusiasm Dale and I have for r hockey.
r“You don’t sell something you enjoy doing.”
rHunter said they hadn’t yet put the Ice House on the open market when r the first call came from Russel and Biro in February.
r“This all came up pretty fast,” Hunter said. “They were looking around r and there was nothing like this available.”
rThe OHL office released the 2002-03 schedule to its teams yesterday. r Hunter said the Knights and Sarnia Sting will play a home-and-home series r at New Year’s — in Sarnia on New Year’s Eve at 6 p.m., then in London on r New Year’s Day at 2 p.m.
r“We want to make this a tradition,” he said. “It would alternate; next r year we’d be at home on New Year’s Eve and then in Sarnia New Year’s Day. r We think it’ll work.”
