Not the news I wanted to hear, but thank you for the update, Billy.
Augusta Lynx co-owners Dan Troutman and Jan Hodges Burch didn’t hide from their fan base on Friday afternoon when they held a news conference to discuss the future of Augusta’s minor league hockey team.
Tonight, the Lynx owners are hoping the team’s fans won’t hide from them when Augusta takes on Charlotte at 7 at James Brown Arena. Troutman said the team will fold if an investor or partner isn’t found “in a matter of days.” After tonight’s game, the Lynx aren’t schedule to play at home again until Dec. 16.
Though nothing has been decided yet, tonight’s contest might be the final home game in the 10-year history of the Lynx.
“We hope the Augusta Lynx finish the season,” Troutman said. “We’re going to continue to operate it as long as we can.”
But that could be a short time frame .
“I think we’re in the days category and not weeks, certainly not months,” Troutman said.
The Lynx, who have averaged 2,741 in attendance through the team’s first six home games, might get a much larger crowd at tonight’s game from fans hoping to show their support in keeping the team afloat. The Lynx have discounted all tickets to $10 each, but even a season high in attendance wouldn’t directly save the team at this point.
“I think we’re going to have to have an investor,” Troutman said. “Quite frankly, we’ve got one more home game and then we’re gone for three weeks... The long story short is we’ve got to have some money quicker than we can do it with just attendance.”
But Troutman did hint to the fans that a big attendance number could make an impact on the team’s future in an indirect way .
“We’re very hopeful that one or both of the folks will be in town that are talking to us from out of town,” Troutman said. “It might make the conversation easier if the building is flat full of people. It can’t hurt anything at all.”
The Lynx, at the bottom of the standings in the six-team ECHL South Division, will face the fifth-place Charlotte Checkers tonight.
Reach Billy Byler at (706) 823-3216
Comments
Not the news I wanted to hear, but thank you for the update, Billy.
Who cares? Hockey is not a Southern sport!
Give it back to the wimpy Canucks.
I hope an investor is found. The Lynx are great entertainment in a town lacking quality entertainment.
This is so sad! I really wish them the best, and thank them for all the years of awesome entertainment. I had some great times with them.
We all knew Coach Marks would close down the team,it was just a matter of time. It took him two years to close his last team and now he did it in less than 1/2 a season.With a stupid move he has fired about 1/3 of the players when the team was in the top of the division.And the last 5 straight losses have shown what a bone head move that was.The owners have only them selves to blame for the fall of this team. High price tickets,team changes the fans hated and a loosing coach were the 3 strikes that put the team on the skids out the door.
i could have told you the lynx were going to fold! it's george w. bush's fault. he caused katrina, stephon marbury and allen iverson not to show up for the nba, ga. losing to fla. and ala., regency mall knew he would be president, the bcs fiasco, michael vick going to prison and even o.j. knew he would become president and murdered nicole brown and ronald goldman! let's place the blame where blame belongs, right lowell greenbaum?
when you shot yourself in the leg trying to hunt for deer just after you made love with your sister...
to dan lehr I sure wish that people did there homework before opening there mouth and spitting out words that does not hold any facts!!!!!! I have looked into this and when he coached the Greenville Growl they shut down due to not coming to an agreement with the bilo center. When he coached Pensacola Ice Pilots according to the Pensacola news journal they shut down due to an absentee owner and Coach Marks was even blindsided in the mess there.I am not taking up for him by any means. He used to get under our skin when he coached Greenville.I didn't care for him then and i don't now. But he is not the reason we attend and he would not be the reason that we don't.
I hope the greenjackets are not far behind. When they don't get there little ballpark downtown, they will go looking for greener pastures fields to play on. Just look at what happened to the RIchmond Braves.
People like "Soapcreek Slim", "iletyouknow" and idiots of that ilk are part of the problem. Just because it isn't a "Southern sport", they automatically decide to not support their hometown team. Idiots.
People that post the negative comments are IDIOTS and evidently dont know NOTHING about hockey. For those of us die hard fans that have been there through it all, this is a very sad time. I cant imagine us not having hockey anymore. Thanks to the owners that kept it here as long as they could!!! Maybe we will have some kind of a miracle happen!!!
I know how it feels to not know if your team will be there. I have been in that position before. And to the person who said that hockey doesn't belong in the "South".... let's see, Tampa, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, Norfolk Admirals, San Antonio Rampage, Houston Aeros, and the list goes on. Much less the teams over in California. Let's be serious! Augusta is just as good a place as any other.
In an indirect way August not being there will affect Norfolk and Tampa. And as you can tell, I am a Norfolk Admirals fan! I will always root for the Lynx. And I hope they find an investor soon!
People don't have the money right now to go see sports events. They are too busy buying necessities and worrying about this winter's heating bills and Christmas and all the other stuff. Sports teams are luxuries and everyone's luxuries are having a hard time.
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