Yesterday, ESPN’s top pairing of hockey experts, Barry Melrose and Steve Levy joined the media for a conference call, previewing the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. So for all the hockey zealots that think ESPN hates the NHL…well, they did this conference call, and they devoted “Outside The Lines” to the Cup Final. I think the WWL covers hockey as much as the market demands. Obviously, it’s not their focus, but I don’t see a huge groundswell of online interest that would command a huge increase in NHL coverage.
After I got my Cup questions in, I brought up what Steve Levy mentioned when he met the media couple weeks ago when I was in Bristol. He mentioned that one of his career highlights was owning the Adirondack Frostbite. So I wanted him to tell us more about that. Here’s what the SportsCenter anchor had to say.
Steve Levy: It was the Adirondack Frostbite of the United Hockey League, which was not that far different from the old Slapshot Iron League.
Barry Melrose: Federal League.
Steve Levy: Federal League, yeah. Barry and I talked about buying or investing in a minor league team. Actually started off being a junior team, because that’s where all the money apparently could be made. We of course went in a different direction on that, and in Glens Falls, New York, which is traditionally a great hockey town. They were forever the top American Hockey League team, the Red Wings. Barry played there, won as a player there. Barry coached there and won as a coach there. And his summer home, I guess now you could say is in Glens Falls New York. He’s lived there for a long time. That became available. We had a big money third investor — obviously it was not the majority of our money.
Bottom line is Barry said he could cut me in for 10 percent, and turned out to be 50 percent of the losses. We had the team for two and a half years. Got to fire the head coach, so there was a lot of enjoyment. Got involved with trades. Got to ride with the guys in bus and skate in morning practice. Kind of like fantasy sports for me. It only cost me 100 grand. Hell of a two-and-a-half years. Thanks, Barry, for that.
I know, that is the coolest name ever for a professional sports franchise. When I first learned of the existence of the Adirondack Frostbite from Steve Levy, the world became a better place.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk radio stations across the country. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)