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
or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.
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